Research Development & Collaborations for staff
Research Collaboration
There are a number of opportunities and mechanisms through which you can undertake sponsored research projects with the University of Bath:
Full funding: This type of project is supported fully by industrial, public or private funding. Cost, duration and type of project are dependent on the outcome sought. The benefits to external stakeholders of this type of research are the development of focussed research projects, IPR ownership and direct transfer of knowledge.
Match funding: There are a number of public funding streams which can provide match funding to facilitate collaborative research between universities and business, examples include Technology Strategy Board, EPSRC and EU. The University has a strong track record in winning funding for large, industrially collaborative projects. The financial and resource burden on business in this type of project varies depending on project size and business size. The benefits to external stakeholders are de-risking of investment, developing larger scale projects increasing innovation and decreasing time to market.
Contribution funding: Apart from financial resources for collaborative research projects, the University welcomes “in-kind” contributions to funded collaborative projects such as staff time, access to specialist equipment and facilities. The benefits of providing contributions are, access to the latest thing, using existing facilities / people and reduced direct cost.
Contract research: The University undertakes straight contract research with a number of partners particularly in relation to the analytical services and facilities that it can offer.
Studentships: These projects have a duration of 3 – 3.5 years, can focus on fundamental or applied research and can be fully or match funded. The focus of the research is developed in conjunction with the industrial partner to ensure industrially relevant outcomes are achieved for the sponsor and high quality publications are possible for the student and their supervisor. Students can either be based at the University or embedded with the industrial partner.
Student projects: The University strives to produce students who on graduation have the necessary skill set to enter business or carry on to further research. Student placements within business and externally sponsored student projects (under or postgraduate) are a key part of this process in providing practical skills to complement theoretical knowledge. For further information on student placements or sponsoring student projects please click here (goes to placements people).
Proof of concept funding: The University undertakes proof of concept projects through a number of mechanisms to allow companies to de-risk projects, test new ideas and develop prototypes. The benefit of proof of concept projects is to provide key information to plan future investment by de-risking initial work.
MTAs / NDAs: Material Transfer Agreements / Non-Disclosure Agreements: allow external stakeholders to discuss ideas, issues and problems with Bath with a view to developing collaborative solutions. An example of this would be the provision of samples for initial screening.