Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects are part funded by Innovate UK, other government co-funders and the participating company, to apply the world-leading knowledge and expertise of academics to business-critical projects. KTPs are a three-way collaboration between:

• a university or research organisation
• a company or not for profit organisation
• a talented graduate/ postgraduate (known as the KTP Associate) recruited and employed by the university to work within the business, supported by the academic.

• The UK industrial strategy emphasizes the importance of driving innovation and increasing access to talent, which are key outputs for the KTP programme;
• they promote developments in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, creative industries and life sciences, as well as Professional and Business Services;
• these projects operationalise research and development to promote innovation and economic growth through effective collaboration between business and academia;
• the £200m invested from 2010 to 2020 generated £2.3BN for the UK economy.  They produce £5.50 in economic benefits for each £1 invested;
• they make meaningful career development opportunities for graduates from a wide range of disciplines, allowing them to put research into practice to tackle real world challenges.

• Each KTP project lasts between 12 and 36 months, depending on the time required to deliver real outcomes;
• KTP is delivered on a full economic cost basis, which means that the 10% of the academic’s time involved in KTP is 100% funded; Typically, academics can expect to commit half a day of their week to a KTP project, mainly at the premises of the business partner;
• all businesses must be financially viable and committed to strategic change. A KTP is expected to deliver a step change in the organisation’s capability and performance.