Knowledge Exchange Newsletter - October 2023
Academic expertise for business impact
Welcome Welcome back to the new academic year. DMU campus is once again buzzing with the arrival of students and academics. We hope you had a great summer and have come back with a new zest to apply/transfer your research and expertise through KE and innovation activities and projects. The summer has been busy with our existing Innovate UK-funded KTPs and engaging with academic colleagues on KE activity. Please get in touch to identify how we can support you. Best wishes, KTP team
In this issue... New resources New Head of KE and Innovation
Project updates
Upcoming Events
Academic expertise for business impact
New Head of Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Anjuu Trevedi MBE joined DMU recently to take up the new role of ‘Head of Knowledge Exchange and Innovation’. Anjuu brings with her wealth of knowledge and experience of successfully delivering KE and innovation in partnership with businesses and a wide variety of funding bodies. Anjuu’s focus is to help accelerate and grow the breadth and depth of KE and innovation activities at DMU by supporting academic colleagues to identify, manage and commercialise their IP (Intellectual Property). Anjuu Trevedi said: “I am excited to be joining DMU, meeting with and working closely with colleagues from across the university to make DMU the ‘partner of choice’ for KE and innovation collaborations and projects! For me, success translates to a growth in the number of academic colleagues interested and engaging in KE, an increase in income from KE via collaborative and contract research, consultancy, IP licensing, and spin-outs, in summary activities which deliver improvements across the board in the KEF (Knowledge Exchange Framework) metrics. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can support you to apply/commercialise your research and expertise through knowledge exchange and innovation.”
Academic expertise for business impact
DMU KTP project updates Innovate UK currently supports 3 types of KTP programmes: Traditional KTPs – focusing on an innovation need of a business, between 1 to 3 years in duration with UK organisations (SMEs, charities, large organisations)- funding calls throughout the year. Management KTPs – similar to traditional KTPs but focussed on holistic business transformation – integrating a change across the whole organisation – funding calls throughout the year. Accelerated KTPs – shorter projects (max 4 months) to deliver proof-ofconcept/feasibility studies – There will be only 1 round this year opening 6 November with a deadline 6th December. Get in touch if you have an industry partner and a project idea that could be suitable for this opportunity! The number of live KTP projects at DMU is now 5.
Academic expertise for business impact
New KTP associates We have recruited to two of our standard KTP projects: Luke Matthews has joined as the associate on a project between Alistair Duffy, Ismaeel Maricar, and Global EMC (Nottinghamshire) Matthew Needham has started working as an associate with Kevin Farrugia and West Technology (Bristol). We’d also like to extend a warm welcome to our new KTP Associates and look forward to seeing what they will achieve on their projects. Recruitment Recruitment will soon be underway for the associate to work on our first management KTP. This project is in partnership with FABRIC CIO and involves Hiu Man Chan and Sally Doughty in Humanities and Performing Arts. The project will develop new business opportunities and increase the earned income potential of FABRIC by reviewing and enhancing its strategic use of a digital infrastructure. The advert for the associate vacancy should be launched in October.
Academic expertise for business impact
KTP Webpage and Resources update Our KTP webpages have had an exciting refresh and now include a range of resources that we have developed to help academics and businesses navigate the process and explore leads. The pages also feature the video campaign that we worked on with Tale Productions earlier this year. If you have an idea or a potential KTP partner you wish to collaborate with then please do reach out to us and we will be glad to support.
Faculty and School KTP events We attended the BAL subject group lead meeting organised by Percy Emmett on 28 September to inform colleagues about KTPs and how they can be exciting as part of academic activities. The session was well received with some fantastic questions; we look forward to following up with colleagues to develop their project ideas.If your subject group academics would benefit from a similar presentation then please do contact us to arrange a session.
Academic expertise for business impact
Engage with Knowledge Exchange workshop A lively session was held on 20 September entitled ‘Influencing Policy: Case Studies’. This event built on a session hosted at the Innovation Centre in March, conducted by Kelly Auty from NTU’s Institute of Knowledge Exchange Practice, on Influencing Policy. At this latest workshop we showcased the experience of some DMU academics who have engaged with the policy making process; many thanks to Mario Gongora, Tracy Harwood, Ross Little and Bertha Ochieng for speaking at this event.
Academic expertise for business impact
Forthcoming KTP Events and Engage with Knowledge Exchange workshops Engage with Knowledge Exchange: Understanding the KTP process Thursday 26 October 1pm to 3pm at the Innovation Centre We are thrilled to announce the upcoming Engage with Knowledge Exchange workshop will be focussed on How to Engage with KTPs. Aimed at demystifying the KTP process and empowering academic colleagues with practical strategies for successful engagements, we’ll be going through some of the resources we have on our web pages to highlight how KTP activity is supported at DMU. We are also pleased to have Professor David Rae and our local Knowledge Transfer Advisor, Kamran Hussein, join us as speakers for the event. Key Event Takeaways: Acquire practical strategies to foster meaningful collaborations with businesses. Understand the funding structure and roles within KTP collaborations. Learn from experienced speakers about their involvement in successful KTP projects, and the benefits to academic colleagues. For any KTP project ideas or questions, our Knowledge Exchange team will be available after the session to provide one-to-one advice and guidance.
For more information & to book your place
Academic expertise for business impact
Brewing Innovative Ideas Roadshow: Blaby District Monday 13 November 9.30 am to 2:30 pm For this years’ Leicester Business Festival, we will be going out on the road with colleagues from the University of Leicester and Loughborough University, to talk to local businesses about how they can work with us to innovate; including through KTPs. We’ll be showcasing examples of KE and Innovation projects during the event which will be held at the Blaby District Council Offices on Monday 13th November at a drop-in style event from 9.30am – 2.30pm. Please join us on the day and share with your network as relevant.
For more information & to book your place
Next Steps Contact the Knowledge Exchange team at DMU for more information and support to secure KTP grant funding (team have a 100% success rate).
KnowledgeExchange@dmu.ac.uk @DMUenterprise DMU Business Services dmu.ac.uk/business