£350,000 available to commercialise research

LANCASTER University is encouraging innovative small businesses to tap into a £350,000 fund to help commercialise their ideas.

The Impact Acceleration Account – funded with £600,000 by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – is designed to stimulate collaboration between university researchers and industry and commercially exploit research.

It can be used to fund the commercial exploitation of any previous EPSRC research, including areas such as advanced manufacturing, energy, chemistry, and environmental technologies.

More than £250,000 of funding has already been allocated with £215,000 distributed to Lancaster researchers to support around 40 projects with a range of external partners that are mainly SMEs, but also large enterprises and charities.

Dr Mark Rushforth, head of business partnerships and enterprise for physical sciences at Lancaster University, said: “The funding allows organisations to explore a new working relationship with our researchers, gain access to expertise and facilities, and develop new products and processes that will open up new markets for businesses and facilitate economic growth.

“I’ve been impressed with the scope of the projects we have been able to fund through the Impact Acceleration Account so far and I’m really excited to see what develops in the future. The fund is a great way for SMEs to be able to explore product development and I would encourage businesses to get in touch to see how the funding can benefit them.”

More information about the fund is available at here.