Funding landscape
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships explained
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership embeds a graduate and academic expertise inside your business to deliver a strategic project. How KTPs work, what they cost, and when they are the right route.
What a KTP actually is
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership is a three-way arrangement between a business, an academic institution, and a graduate employed as the KTP associate, delivering a defined strategic project inside the business over a period typically between one and three years.
Unlike a project grant paid directly to a business, KTP funding is part-funded and administered through the academic partner, with the business contributing the remainder as its own cash contribution rather than in-kind time.
What kind of project fits a KTP
KTPs work best for a business-critical project requiring new knowledge or skills the business does not currently have in-house, where an academic partner's expertise can be embedded directly into day-to-day delivery through the associate.
This might be introducing a new technology, developing a new product or process, or building a capability such as data science or advanced manufacturing that the business wants to retain permanently, since the associate is often expected to develop into a strategic role within the business.
How the funding and costs work
The proportion of costs covered depends on the size of the business, with smaller businesses receiving a higher level of support than larger ones. The business contribution covers the remainder, including the associate's salary, academic supervision time, and a training and development budget for the associate.
Costs are structured as a grant to the academic institution rather than the business, which then employs and manages the associate on the business's premises, working under joint supervision from an academic supervisor and a workplace supervisor.
Finding an academic partner and building the case
Most KTPs start with a business identifying the strategic challenge first, then approaching a relevant university department, or a university's knowledge exchange team, to find a supervisor with the right expertise.
The application itself needs to demonstrate the strategic importance of the project to the business, the specific knowledge gap the academic partner fills, and a credible plan for the associate's project, since assessors judge KTP applications on business impact as much as academic merit.
What to expect once the partnership starts
A local management committee, typically including the business supervisor, academic supervisor, the associate and an independent adviser, meets regularly to review progress against the agreed plan and adjust it as the project develops.
Successful KTPs frequently lead to the associate being retained as a permanent employee once the partnership ends, and the capability built during the project becoming a lasting part of the business rather than a one-off deliverable.
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