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Research Collaboration
- EngD projects
The Department of Biochemical Engineering at UCL manages an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded Industrial Doctoral Training Centre in Bioprocess Engineering Leadership. The IDTC provides opportunities for collaborative research with companies via tailored one-to-one Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programmes.
Graduates work for periods up to three years at company sites while pursuing their enhanced doctorates at the UCL Centre. Under the EPSRC scheme each graduate works under your managers and our specialised staff. Over a 4 year period we will help to plan a tailored study of an aspect of bioprocessing including validation and development issues on which all these graduates are trained. Because they can also take courses developed with the London Business School they can also bring your company wider skills.
See how other companies are using the EngD scheme to tackle their research challenges.
The EPSRC provides about 50% of the costs of an EngD. We seek cash and in kind company inputs to match this and to provide the necessary costs of consumables and equipment infrastructure and will work with you to decide how best to finance the project.
- Collaborative Research in response to funding calls
e.g. from TSB, BRIC, Horizon 2020
The Centre for Innovative Manufacturing already has a strong record of working with companies on collaborative R&D project. It is keen to partner with companies on new projects funded by TSB, BRIC, Horizon 2020 and other agencies in all areas related to the Centre programme.
The Centre welcomes discussion with companies about potential research projects and will be organising workshops to help develop research projects in response to future funding calls.
For further information please contact Andrew Davidson.
Knowledge transfer, training and access to facilities
- Knowledge Exchange Associates
Knowledge Exchange Associate (KEA) is a 3 to 9 month appointment to deliver a knowledge-transfer collaboration between a small or medium-sized enterprise and UCL.
UCL PhD students near completion or recently graduated PhD students can apply to become a KEA and apply, test or validate the research generated within their PhD alongside a host company who will really benefit from exposure to their specialist knowledge.
Although an employee of UCL, the KEA’s place of work will be within the company for much of the time. The KEA acts as their own Project Manager for their collaboration. The project will be challenging and central to the needs of the company and its development
Funding for KEAs is administered by UCL on behalf of EPSRC and for SMEs there is no charge.
- Industry Secondments
Funding is available to support staff secondments to industry to apply research developed in the Centre and is available for academic, reesearch staff or PhD students.
The project specification is created jointly with the industrial partner to ensure benefit to both the company and UCL. The project is led by UCL.
Up to £50k funding is available and the project cost to the company is dependent upon length of secondment
Funding for industry secondments is administered by UCL on behalf of EPSRC.
For further information please contact Andrew Davidson
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) supports UK businesses wanting to improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance by accessing the knowledge and expertise available within UK Universities. Projects should be focused on a company problem and have significant potential impact.
KTPs, from 6 months to 3 years, enable business growth and spearhead innovation through the creation of a collaborative partnership between a UK organisation and an academic team within a University.
The partnership recruits a recently qualified graduate (Associate) to facilitate the transfer of academic knowledge into the company. It is also possible to recruit an Associate with a PhD. Employed by UCL, the Associate works within the company and is jointly supervised by company personnel and a senior academic.
This is a very flexible mechanism for companies to apply research developed by the Centre to their problems and is funded by the Technology Strategy Board. The cost to the company varies according to company size, length of the partnership and the qualification of the Associate.
For further information please contact Andrew Davidson
Bioprocessing Matters
News from the Centre will be regularly reported in editions of Bioprocessing Matters. Bioprocessing Matters provides regular updates on the activities of the Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering and has an international circulation of more than 5000.
To be added to the email circulation list for this publication please contact Dr Karen Smith: karen.smith@ucl.ac.uk
Training
The Centre is actively involved in the Departmental post experience training activities through MBI and VISION and runs a regular series of Centre Briefings.
- MBI programme
The Modular Training for the Bioprocess Industries Programme (MBI®) is run by the Department of Biochemical Engineering at UCL. It comprises a series of UCL-accredited short courses in bioprocessing, designed specifically for industrialists, that can be taken as stand-alone modules or can be combined for Certificate, Diploma or Masters qualifications. More than 200 companies have attended MBI modules since the start of the programme.
New research findings and techniques developed by the Centre are incorporated into the MBI programme as they become available.
Further information
- VISION Senior Executive Programme
VISION is a ground-breaking programme specifically tailored for senior level executives in the biopharma and related sectors.
The courses, briefings and workshops provide invaluable insights into the major challenges faced at Boardroom level every day. They also highlight the opportunities and creative solutions that can be utilised to tackle those challenges head on.
Further information