Five projects will share in £2 million worth of grants to develop groundbreaking knowledge transfer projects.
Knowledge transfer allows Scottish companies to innovate through adopting and commercialising new knowledge, technology or business techniques.
The Scottish Government's SEEKIT programme encourages co-operation in research and development and knowledge transfer between public sector science institutions and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said:
"Knowledge is a significant driver of economic growth and job creation. SEEKIT funding helps public science research bodies work effectively with business and ensure ideas transfer into the marketplace.
"With a knowledge based economy we need to be at the forefront of knowledge transfer, and today's awards will help SMEs innovate, support new technologies coming to market, and create and support the jobs which are vital to sustainable economic growth."
The successful projects are:
The Paisley Innovation and Knowledge Transfer project at University of West of Scotland has been awarded an additional grant of £207,812 (original grant award was £202,556) to expand its gateway for technical support and product/process development for SMEs. The project helps SMEs through seminars, a programme of visits and advice implementing science base solutions to business problems.
The University of Edinburgh (in partnership with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde) will receive £396,626 to form RENEW-NET (Renewable Energy Electrical System Technology Transfer), a knowledge exchange network focussing on electrical system design in renewable energy applications.
The University of the West of Scotland (in partnership with University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art) will receive £534,504 to set up the Scottish Centre for Enabling Technologies. The Centre will facilitate co-operation in R&D and knowledge exchange in content and knowledge management between the Universities' science base and companies, in particular SMEs in the creative industries.
The University of Strathclyde will receive a total of £942,234 for two projects. Firstly, essential II, which will build upon the success of the pilot essential (Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network) project. It will offer enhanced start-up support for alumni clients with new business ideas, giving them access to a wide range of University services to help them grow their businesses.
Their second project, KT for Company Growth, will implement the University's Knowledge Transfer Strategy, giving SMEs access to a seamless stream of first-class science-base business product and process support.
SEEKIT funding is available to public sector institutions to develop business-focussed proposals that will help Scottish companies innovate through the adoption of new knowledge, technology and/or business techniques. The scheme is a key part of Scottish Government's knowledge exchange strategy and it provides much needed support to help SMEs climb the innovation ladder.
The programme is not prescriptive and will support a wide range of knowledge exchange/outreach activities that impact on business performance. It has a current budget of around £4 million per year and some typical examples of SEEKIT projects are:
* actions which develop knowledge exchange links between Scottish Higher Institutes (HEIs) Research Institutes etc. and SMEs
* actions which encourage the dissemination and application of new and existing knowledge, processes and technologies
* actions which encourage the effective commercialisation of R&D activities and the outputs of HEIs and Research Institutes
* actions that encourage collaborative research and innovation through increased commercialisation of R&D related activity
26 SEEKIT projects have been funded so far, and the average length of time for each venture is between three and four years.