As part of its Industrial Strategy, the UK government is investing an additional £8m into a programme aimed at commercialising university research. The programme is funded by Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The money will be used to expand an existing pilot programme, Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe). Through the expansion, the University of Warwick and Queen’s University Belfast will join the programme. £3m of the funding will be used to support start-ups that emerge from funded university research.
Of the investment, UKRI Chief Executive, Sir Mark Walport said,
From converting Medtech discoveries into new treatments to developing portable devices to counter infectious diseases, this additional funding will support ground-breaking projects that will enable us to meet future challenges and remain at the cutting-edge of research and innovation.
While the research teams that receive this funding will certainly be pleased by this development, some within higher education fear the growing emphasis on the marketability of research as a basis for distributing funding.
Source: £8 million expansion of programme to commercialise research – GOV.UK
