University news

The University of Glasgow, King’s College London and the University of Bristol have won funding from the Intellectual Property Office to pioneer easy access to their intellectual assets.

Five months ago, Glasgow became the first UK University to offer Intellectual Property – including ground-breaking medical and scientific research - to business and entrepreneurs free of charge.

Now the £80,000 award from the Intellectual Property Office will be used to fund a collaborative project led by Glasgow, Kings College London and the University of Bristol to move the free IP concept on to create a consortium of open-innovation universities.

The project aims to collectively promote free IP opportunities to industry and increase awareness of the vital role universities have in stimulating innovation and economic competitiveness.

Dr Kevin Cullen, Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Glasgow, who is leading the project, said:  ‘We hope to run an open and accessible project which aims to embed and test a new approach to licensing whilst stimulating debate around the issues of university and company collaboration, and the role which universities have in encouraging innovation for the benefit of UK society and the economy.’

Dr Alison Campbell, Managing Director, King’s College London Business, said “This project allows us to capitalise on our ethos of open innovation at King’s. Our ambition is that it enables more effective engagement with industry across the sector.”

Dr Neil Bradshaw, Director of Enterprise at the University of Bristol said. "This pioneering project will advance the use of IP created by our three Universities by innovative growth companies and offers a new way for Universities to contribute to the growth required in the UK economy"

The University of Glasgow, Kings College London and the University of Bristol successfully bid for the funding through the Intellectual Property Office’s recent Fast Forward Competition. The University was only one of 10 projects funded in the highly competitive awards.

Further information:
Martin Shannon, Senior Media Relations Officer
University of Glasgow Tel: 0141 330 8593

Notes:

King’s College London

King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, it has nearly 23,500 students (of whom nearly 9,000 are graduate students) from 140 countries and approximately 6,000 employees.

King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’sCollege Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit:www.kingshealthpartners.org.

University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is consistently ranked among the leaders in UK higher education.  Research-intensive and with an international reputation for quality and innovation, the University has 17,000 students from over 100 countries, together with more than 5,500 staff.

The University was founded in 1876 and was granted its Royal Charter in 1909.  It was the first university in England to admit women on the same basis as men.  It is located in the heart of the city from which it grew, but is now a significant player on the world stage as well as a major force in the economic, social and cultural life of Bristol and South West England.

The University is also recognised as a leading centre for the exploitation of knowledge through partnership with industry and the creation of spinout companies, and for imaginative engagement with the public.

Bristol is a member of the Worldwide Universities Network and of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive universities in the UK.

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First published: 9 March 2011