Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)

Forthcoming call end dates

The KTP programme runs continuously throughout the year. All dates are subject to change.

• Start a strategic relationship with the University
• Find highly qualified people to spearhead new projects
• Access expertise to take an organisation forward
• Increase profits, knowledge and capability
• Devise innovative solutions to help an organisation grow
• Develop the capacity and capability to innovate more effectively beyond the life of the KTP

• Start a strategic relationship with a company
• Income counts towards the Knowledge Exchange Income of the University
• Contribution to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise
• Develop relevant teaching and research ideas
• Supervise and act as a mentor for postgraduates working on company-board projects
• Opportunity for early career researchers to gain supervision experience
• Publish high-quality journal and conference papers
• Apply knowledge and expertise to business problems
• Assist strategic change in business

A KTP is one of the UK’s largest graduate recruitment programmes which provides over 300 graduate job opportunities each year. You will be able to manage and deliver challenging strategic projects for a business, while being supported by the University.  You will be based at the company on a full-time basis but jointly supervised by an academic member of staff for the duration of the project.

Benefits include: 

• Fast track career development opportunities
• A competitive salary
• Employment within chosen academic discipline
• Working both with academia and industry
• Training and development opportunities
• Register for a higher degree during the project
• Access to a wide range of our facilities including laboratories and library services.

• UK based companies of all sizes from all industrial sectors
• Charities and not-for-profit organisations
• Education institutions (e.g. schools)
• Health organisations (e.g. hospitals and NHS Trusts)
• Councils and Local Authorities

A KTP may not be appropriate for every business. Very small businesses or very recent start-ups may not have the capacity to provide support for the Associate or the resources to commit to the project. Our KTP team will provide advice and guidance during the early discussions about the project, and will clarify whether the sponsors will be satisfied with the financial viability of your business, to ensure that your time isn’t wasted. If a KTP is not viable the team will discuss and propose alternative options.

“Prospecting hemp extract as an innovative anti-inflammatory therapy for porcine and equine mating-induced endometritis”

Overview

About this case study

TTS Pharma is a UK-based, vertically integrated company producing high quality, safe Cannabinoid products for the ethical market.  The company mainly focuses on extraction, separation and manufacture of Cannabinoid derived products for humans. However, the company in now expanding its research to explore the anti-inflammatory properties of Cannabinoids for porcine and equine mating-induced endometritis therapy.

The partnership between the company and Aberystwyth University was formed with the purpose of evaluating the anti-inflammatory properties of hemp extract as a novel therapy for porcine and equine mating-induced endometritis. The aim of this project is that, by the end of the KTP, the company will have optimised and validated a porcine tissue explant model, test crude hemp using both the porcine and equine model. This will provide the company will valuable information determining if hemp extract can be used to treat endometritis-related uterine inflammation in horses and pigs.

"OSSIE- Open Source Software for Information on the Environment"

Overview

Alexandra Elena Mates: As a young graduate, I consider the KTP as a rare, exciting and challenging project as I may not have the opportunity to find again. It was a real pleasure being part of two very friendly commercial and academic groups and I much appreciated the ethos of research, productivity, project management, care for the environment and people.

About this case study

Environment Systems (Aberystwyth, Wales) uses a range of software for processing Remote Sensing imagery that tends to be costly and lacking in flexibility. Company director, Steve Keyworth, had been aware of the developments of the RSGISlib open source image processing library lead by lecturer Pete Bunting at Aberystwyth University Geography Department.

The partnership between the company and knowledge base was formed with the purpose of assessing the challenges and opportunities that the RSGISlib and other open source image processing software (i.e. the OS-Geo stack) may bring to a geographical intelligence company in terms of scaling operations and integrating with High Performance Computing for high throughput of data. The aim of the project was that, by the end of the KTP, the company would be in a position to understand to what extent different software could be integrated into the Environment Systems worlflow, the level of knowledge required from analysts to use these systems, and the financial implications of doing so.

"Tween Audiences and Welsh-language Television Production: Impacts on Economic Prosperity and Cultural Life"

Overview

Dafydd Felix-Richards, Chair of Project Committee, Boom Pictures: "As a company working in the creative industries, being involved with this KTP focused and deepened our knowledge and understanding of the demographic, technological and cultural demands of our area of business. Overall, our experience of the project was very rewarding."

About this case study

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) emerged from an established strategic partnership that the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies (TFTS) at Aberystwyth University (AU) had with Boomerang+ (now Boom Cymru). Through the partnership with TFTS, the company offered master classes, contributed to academic modules, helped to develop student work, offered work experience opportunities, and supported other initiatives such as projects funded by KESS.

Boomerang+ is one of the largest independent media production companies in Cardiff, and is one of the UK’s most significant producers of original children’s television content. This KTP focused specifically on the Boom Plant (Boom Children) arm of the organisation, and aimed to investigate 7-to 13-year-old (‘tween’) Welsh children's media preferences and practices, to ‘map’ the attitudes of this audience sector in Wales and to create a model for production and delivery of children's television programming.