Universities: Research

(asked on 3rd December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage the commercialisation of university research in the UK.


Answered by
Amanda Solloway Portrait
Amanda Solloway
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This question was answered on 11th December 2020

University-business collaboration and the effective commercialisation of university research is critical to achieving the Government’s ambition to spend 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027. The Government has introduced a range of incentives and investments to support universities, charities and businesses to work together, such as:

  • The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund funds collaborative research with business;
  • £900m UK Research Partnership Investment Fund has generated over £2bn in private co-investment to create research centres and facilities in universities across the UK in collaboration with business and charities;
  • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), which help businesses to innovate and grow by linking them with an academic or research organisation and a graduate;
  • Mechanisms to broker new connections, include Konfer (an online platform to connect universities and businesses) and the Knowledge Transfer Networks (bringing together businesses, academics, government agencies and research organisations); and
  • Stimulating access to finance through Innovate UK and the British Business Bank.

As well as supporting universities in England through:

  • Higher Education Innovation Funding has increased to £250m p.a. by 2020 - underpinning universities’ capacity to work with business and others;
  • The £100m Connecting Capability Fund is helping universities to collaborate and pool Intellectual Property and resource so it is easier for investors and business to access; and
  • The Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), which benchmarks university performance in working with business and research commercialisation - encouraging universities to increase external engagement with business.

Reticulating Splines