Funding Competition: Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (Round 1) – UK

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme allows a UK registered business or not for profit organisation, to partner with a ‘knowledge base partner’, which is either a UK higher education (HE) or further education (FE) institution, research and technology organisation (RTO) or Catapult.

The KTP partnership brings new skills and the latest academic thinking into the business partner to deliver a specific, strategic innovation project. The knowledge base partner recruits the ‘associate’ to work on the project. The associate has the opportunity to lead a strategic development within the business, developing new skills and gaining valuable experience.

Project Size

• Typically, a project’s total costs are £8,500 per month. Projects must be between 12 and 36 months. A proportion of the knowledge base partners’ costs will be funded by Innovate UK. The remainder of the project costs are paid by the business partner.

Projects they will not fund

• They will not fund:
  • projects that are not strategic for the business partner
  • projects that do not demonstrate a genuine market opportunity or viable route to market
  • research projects
  • projects where the business partner is an ineligible public sector organisation
  • projects which are classed as State aid under EC regulations or a subsidy under the EU-UK TCA
  • undertakings which gain a selective economic or commercial advantage from the funding

Who can apply?

• Each Knowledge Transfer partnership (KTP) is a partnership between the following:
  • a UK knowledge base, acting as lead organisation and submitting the application
  • a UK registered business, not for profit organisation or eligible public sector organisation
• They use the term ‘business partner’ for businesses, public sector organisations, not for profit organisations, charities or charitable businesses.
• The definition KTP uses for not for profit organisations, charities or charitable business include:
  • a registered charity
  • a registered Community Interest Company
  • a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation
  • a charitable company
  • an exempt or excepted charity
  • a registered charitable industrial and provident society or charitable Cooperative (Bencom)
• Public sector organisations can only apply for a Management KTP. The definition KTP uses for eligible public sector organisations is:
  • non-departmental public bodies and arm’s length bodies (ALBs)
  • the NHS
  • local authorities, bodies owned and controlled by local authorities
  • government owned companies, nationalised industries, most trading funds and regulators
• The following organisations are excluded from applying for any KTP project:
  • UKRI organisations and businesses owned or operated either wholly or partially by UKRI or one of its councils, including all businesses and organisations within the Innovate UK group
  • businesses that support the delivery of Innovate UK programmes such as Innovate EDGE and ICURe
  • Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA)
  • central government departments and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
  • any organisation eligible to become a KTP knowledge base
• Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
• Knowledge base partner
  • The knowledge base partner cannot work alone.
  • The knowledge base partner must lead the project and must:
    • be a UK registered higher education (HE) or further education (FE) institution, research technology organisation (RTO) or Catapult
    • be registered as a knowledge base with the KTP programme
    • invite one UK registered business, not for profit organisation or eligible public sector organisation into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) application
    • invite one knowledge transfer adviser to support the application
• Business partner
  • Business partners cannot work alone. They must develop the project with a UK knowledge base who can provide the right skills to meet the knowledge gap within the business. They encourage business partners to approach Innovate UK KTN or knowledge bases to discuss the suitability of KTP for their specific circumstances.
  • To collaborate with a knowledge base, the business partner must:
    • be a UK registered business, not for profit organisation or eligible public sector organisation
    • have two or more full time equivalent employees
    • determine the size of their business or group
    • declare the total number of employees within the business and if part of a group of businesses, within the group
    • complete the application form in partnership with the knowledge base partner
  • The KTP programme is accessible to any UK registered business. This is normally demonstrated on a public register, such as on Companies House.
  • The registered name and registration number provided must match the official public register.
  • UK subsidiary businesses of overseas parent companies are eligible, provided they are individually registered in the UK.
  • The knowledge base partner and the business partner must sign a joint commitment statement. The business partner’s registered name must be used for both the application and the joint commitment statement.
• Subcontractors
  • Subcontractors are not allowed in this competition.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.