Congratulations to the North of Scotland Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) Centre team, which was a finalist in the recent national Best of the Best Awards, delivered by the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) on behalf of Innovate UK.
The team was shortlisted in the ‘Most Effective Initiative From a KTP Office Team’ category for its collaborative work with Opportunity North East (ONE) - a private sector organisation - to help boost regional economic growth in life sciences.
The team worked closely with ONE’s Development Director (Life Sciences) Lorna Duguid, and lan Heywood, local KTN adviser, to extend its own collaborative life sciences initiative, which was originally developed as a strategic diversification from its usual core projects, primarily in the declining oil and gas sector.
The objective fitted well with ONE’s ambition to develop a life sciences cluster that is recognised nationally and internationally for excellence in biologics, by delivering innovative projects that aim to grow the sector and double the number of life sciences businesses in the region.
The KTP programme aims to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills within the UK knowledge base. A KTP connects an organisation with innovative ideas to the academic expertise needed to deliver it.
The North of Scotland KTP Centre is currently working with 40 businesses in collaboration with its six university partners, including the University of Aberdeen, to support their KTP Associates (who act as the KTP project manager) in creating positive change and driving innovation.
The traditional KTP programme is now complemented by a Management KTP (mKTP), with a specific focus on improving management effectiveness via collaborations with UK business schools.