Liverpool University wins £3.5 M for tech transfer

Charles T. Troy, charlie.troy@laurin.com

The University of Liverpool has been awarded £3.5 million to improve the transfer of knowledge between academic researchers and industrial partners.

The funding, from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), will be used to create a Knowledge Exploitation Laboratory. The initiative will accelerate the transfer of research into industry, exploiting £43 million of EPSRC-funded research at the university in the fields of molecular engineering, advanced manufacturing, and sensors and monitoring.

The laboratory will enable the engineering, electrical engineering and electronics, physics and chemistry departments to share research and expertise with industrial and manufacturing partner organizations. The grant also will provide funding for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships to further staff training and aid the transfer of research into businesses, allowing university staff to provide advice and expertise to projects on a flexible and individual basis.

Professor Jon Saunders, deputy vice chancellor of the university, said, “We are delighted to be one of just 12 UK universities to have been awarded this funding, which highlights the excellence of research at Liverpool in the areas of science and engineering. The Knowledge Exploitation Laboratory will combine a variety of technologies and bring together technology users, academics and technology suppliers to accelerate knowledge exchange with industry.”

The laboratory will be funded under the EPSRC’s Knowledge Transfer Accounts programme and is expected to be open to industrial collaboration by autumn.