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Consultancy Services

Consultancy guidance for providing expert advice to businesses and organisations, on a range of industrial or commercial problems.

Consultancy Services
Providing advice, testing and research services to deliver real world benefits and build relationships.

About Consultancy Services

Consultancy Services provides advice, guidance and support throughout the life-cycle of your project. Consultancy is defined as the provision of expert advice, or testing, which draws upon and applies existing knowledge and expertise. The work should have clear and well-defined deliverables. The client organisation would expect to own the results of the work.

Consultancy is important for developing research with industry and achieving early stage impact. It can also generate longer term research collaborations. The University recognises and encourages consultancy activity, as it contributes to its aim of promoting external engagement, enterprise and innovation.

See the policy and procedure document including Q&As on the new Consultancy Services Policy which came into effect from 1 August 2024.

Examples of consultancy

  • Expert witness work
  • Routine analysis, testing and validation work
  • Expert advice and opinion
  • Feasibility and scoping studies
  • Professional practice work, such as accounting, architecture, or social work
  • Market research and technology audits
  • Aligning products and technology with business and marketing strategies
  • Advising on protocols for clinical trials
  • Reviewing policies and procedures

Benefits of consultancy

  • Enhancing academic and professional disciplines
  • Being covered with University contracts for confidentiality, indemnities, or conflicts of interest
  • Having staff professional indemnity insurance
  • Financial contributions to your KA account, supporting research and conferences
  • Financial management of your National Insurance and tax, through payroll
  • Fully funded studentships
  • Software Licence Agreements
  • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
  • Research collaboration agreements
  • Academic publications

Make a consultancy proposal

Complete the Consultancy Contract Proposal Form if you want to undertake a consultancy project.

Costing your consultancy

Consultancy policy

Private consultancy

If you are undertaking private consultancy, the University must minimise the likelihood of conflicts of interest. Both the consultant and their clients must be clear that the University has no liability for work carried out privately.

For private consultancy there must be:

Notification of private consultancies to your Head of Department must be consistent with the University’s Ordinance 18: External Work. Your statement on Conflict of Interest, in your standard contract of employment, must also be consistent.

The University owns the Intellectual Property generated by members of staff at the University. Therefore private consultants cannot, as part of any agreement they sign with a client, give rights to any University of Bath IP.

News

Examples of consultancy work between the University of Bath and external organisations:

Our academics talk Consultancy

Find out about Consultancy Services

Watch our video for more on Consultancy Services


Enquiries

If you have any questions, please contact us.


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