UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership Grants 2025 to 2026: How Universities Can Share in £10 Million for Business Innovation

If you work in a UK university, college, research organisation or Catapult and you keep thinking, “This idea would actually work in the real world… if only we had the right partner and some proper funding,” this is exactly your kind of scheme.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2025 to 2026 round five is open, with up to £10 million on the table to support innovation projects between academia and UK businesses. In plain English: you bring the expertise, they bring the commercial need, Innovate UK brings a serious chunk of the money.

KTPs have been around for decades for a reason. They’re one of the few funding routes that genuinely sit in the messy middle between research and full-blown commercialisation. Not basic science. Not a straight consulting gig. Something in between, where a talented associate embeds in the business, your team guides the project, and a new capability or product actually gets built.

This particular round is for UK-registered academic institutions, RTOs and Catapults that are ready to work with a UK business that has at least two full‑time employees and is willing to co-fund the project. If that sounds like your world, keep reading – because this is a competitive scheme, and “just filling in the form” won’t cut it.

At a Glance: Knowledge Transfer Partnership 2025 to 2026 Round Five

What This Opportunity Really Offers

Think of a KTP as a three‑way collaboration:

• You (the academic/RTO/Catapult)
• A UK business partner that has a real commercial problem or ambition
• A KTP Associate (a graduate or postgrad-level hire) who sits inside the business and drives the project day to day

Innovate UK funds a large share of the costs so the project can be more ambitious than a standard consultancy contract.

While this call doesn’t spell out individual project caps, typical KTPs often run from 1 to 3 years, with overall project values frequently in the six‑figure range. Innovate UK’s contribution usually covers a substantial portion of eligible costs, with the business paying the rest. That means you can propose work that’s technically serious and resourced at a realistic level: associate salary, academic time, travel, training, equipment and overheads.

What you stand to gain isn’t just money.

For academic institutions, a strong KTP can mean:

• Long‑term strategic partnerships with businesses that keep coming back with new challenges.
• Impact case study gold for REF and institutional reporting: real‑world adoption, new products, changed processes.
• Opportunities for staff to apply research practically, generating new questions and future publications.
• A pipeline of topics for MSc and PhD projects tied to genuine industrial needs.

For research and technology organisations and Catapults, KTPs can:

• Deepen engagement with priority sectors.
• Turn existing technical capabilities into robust, repeatable services.
• Support the recruitment and development of promising associates who may later become staff or key collaborators.

For business partners, the scheme often feels like access to a “fractional R&D lab”: they receive direct support from researchers and an on‑site associate backed by institutional expertise, but without hiring all that capability permanently from day one.

Done well, a KTP doesn’t end when the project finishes. It leaves behind embedded know‑how inside the company, new teaching or research angles inside the institution, and often a long‑term collaboration.

Who Should Apply (And Who Should Not)

The scheme is clear about one thing: the lead applicant must be a UK‑registered knowledge base. That means:

• A higher education institution (university)
• A further education institution
• A research and technology organisation (RTO)
• A Catapult centre

If you are a business reading this, you cannot lead the application – but you absolutely can (and must) be the business partner. You’ll need to work closely with the academic/RTO team to shape the proposal.

Core eligibility in practice

To lead a KTP project under this call, your organisation must:

• Be legally registered in the UK as a higher or further education institution, RTO or Catapult.
• Collaborate with a UK-registered business that has two or more full‑time employees.
• Ensure the business is prepared to contribute to the project costs (this is not 100% grant funded for them).

The business partner can be almost any sector: manufacturing, digital, creative, health tech, food, professional services, environmental services, and more. The critical thing is that they have a clear, innovation‑centred challenge that can benefit from structured knowledge transfer.

Real-world examples of good fits

• A university computer science department partnering with a growing logistics SME to develop an AI‑driven route optimisation tool the firm could never design alone.
• A Catapult centre working with a manufacturing company to implement advanced robotics, with the KTP associate focused on integration and process redesign.
• An RTO collaborating with a food producer to introduce novel processing techniques based on recent research, improving shelf life and sustainability.

Who is likely a poor fit?

• A sole trader or micro‑business with just one employee. The call explicitly requires two or more full‑time employees in the business.
• Organisations looking only for cheap consultancy or a student internship rather than a structured, strategically important project.
• Academic teams with no capacity to supervise an associate or engage regularly with the business; KTPs require active involvement, not just a name on a form.

If you have a strong UK business partner, a clear innovation objective and the capacity to support an associate, you’re squarely in the target audience.

Insider Tips for a Winning KTP Application

You’re not just competing on whether the idea is “good.” You’re competing on readiness, credibility and clarity. Here’s how to stack the odds in your favour.

1. Start with the business need, not your latest paper

A common failure mode: academics start with their favourite methodology and then try to bolt on a business. Reviewers spot this instantly.

Instead, sit down with the company and ask:
What is painful or limiting in your operations or strategy right now? What could genuinely shift your competitiveness?

Then link your expertise to that need. The proposal should read as: “The business needs X, and this knowledge base is uniquely positioned to provide Y, which will help them reach X.”

2. Make the associate role crystal clear

The associate isn’t a vague “research helper.” They’re the engine of the project.

Define:

• What they’ll do in month 1 vs month 12 (or beyond).
• What skills they need (technical and soft).
• How you’ll support their development (training, mentoring, exposure to both worlds).

Reviewers like seeing that the associate will grow into someone the business might want to hire permanently. It shows sustainability of the knowledge transfer.

3. Show that the business has skin in the game

The call is explicit: the business must contribute to project costs. But beyond the numbers, you need to demonstrate commitment.

Include detail on:

• Senior staff time devoted to the project.
• Facilities, data, or systems the business will provide.
• Internal champions who will support the associate and implement the results.

A letter that simply says “We think this is nice” won’t cut it. The application should show that the business leadership is genuinely invested and ready to change how they operate.

4. Translate your technical plan into reviewer‑friendly English

Many KTP reviewers are savvy but not necessarily specialists in your microscopic subfield.

Strip out jargon where you can. Where you can’t, explain it. Use diagrams and stepwise logic:

“First we will design X, which will allow us to test Y, leading to a deployable Z inside the business.”

If someone from a related discipline can’t summarise your project in two sentences after reading, it’s too dense.

5. Nail the “why now” argument

You’re competing for a share of £10 million. The panel is asking: why is this the right moment for this project?

Maybe:

• Regulation is changing and the business needs to adapt quickly.
• New research findings or technologies have just become mature enough to apply.
• The business has reached the scale where more sophisticated methods are finally viable.

Spell this out. Urgency and timeliness make proposals much more persuasive.

6. Be honest about risk and mitigation

Innovation involves risk. Pretending everything will be straightforward makes you look naïve.

Instead:

• Identify key technical or adoption risks.
• Explain your backup plans.
• Show how the academic team and business together will manage those risks.

Reviewers don’t mind risk; they dislike unplanned risk.

A Sensible Application Timeline (Working Back from 4 February 2026)

You technically could start this in January and panic your way to submission. You’d also drastically weaken your chances. A better plan:

September – October 2025: Shape the partnership and idea

• Confirm your eligible status as a lead institution and check the business meets the “two or more full‑time employees” requirement.
• Hold 2–3 structured meetings with your business partner to pin down the problem, objectives, and what success looks like.
• Agree internally who will be the academic supervisor(s) and who in the business will act as project sponsor.

November 2025: Develop the project structure

• Draft the high‑level workplan: phases, milestones, and major outputs.
• Outline the associate role and required skills.
• Sketch a provisional budget and discuss the business contribution frankly – don’t avoid the money conversation.

December 2025: Write the full application

• Produce working drafts of all narrative sections.
• Gather supporting information from the business (company background, strategy, market).
• Ask a colleague who isn’t involved in the project to review for clarity and logic.

Early January 2026: Refine and get internal approvals

• Finalise the budget with your finance or research support office.
• Polish all sections, focusing on impact, additionality (why this wouldn’t happen without KTP), and feasibility.
• Secure internal sign‑off – remember your institution may have internal deadlines well before 4 February.

Late January 2026: Final checks and submission

• Check every required field in the online system is complete.
• Validate the budget numbers and ensure they match all references in the text.
• Aim to submit at least 48 hours before the 11:00 deadline on 4 February 2026. Online portals fail, Wi‑Fi drops, people get sick; don’t gamble.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

The full list sits on the official call page and the Innovation Funding Service, but you can safely expect to need:

• Project description / case for support
  This is the core narrative. It should cover the business challenge, project objectives, technical approach, workplan, and expected outcomes for both partners. Treat it like a persuasive business‑research hybrid, not a pure academic paper.

• Descriptions of the partners
  You’ll need concise but informative summaries of both the lead institution and the business: capabilities, track record, and why each is credible in their role.

• Impact and benefits section
  Explain how the project will strengthen the business (new product, improved productivity, new market) and how it will benefit the knowledge base (impact, research questions, teaching material, long‑term collaboration).

• Associate role description
  A clear job‑style description for the associate: responsibilities, expected outcomes, required qualifications, and development opportunities.

• Budget and financial details
  Itemised costs, including associate salary, academic supervision time, consumables, travel, management overheads, and the business contribution. Work closely with your finance team – KTP cost models can be fiddly if you guess.

• Letters or statements of support from the business
  Get a senior decision‑maker to sign, and ensure the content is specific: why this project matters, what they will contribute, how they will embed the outcomes.

Preparing these early, particularly partner descriptions and the associate profile, makes the rest of the writing much easier.

What Makes a KTP Application Stand Out

When reviewers have a stack of proposals chasing the same pot of money, they tend to look for a few key things.

Strong, mutual additionality

The project should clearly not happen at the same quality or speed without KTP funding. Show that:

• The business lacks in‑house expertise to do this alone.
• The academic team would struggle to secure this applied work via standard research grants.
• The KTP structure (associate + supervision + co-funding) is uniquely suited to the problem.

A sharp, concrete business outcome

“Enhance innovation capacity” is vague. “Launch a data‑driven predictive maintenance service within 24 months” is specific.

Tie your workplan directly to measurable outcomes for the business: new product, new service, step‑change in process performance, entry into a new market, regulatory compliance, etc.

Clear benefits for the knowledge base

This isn’t charity for industry. Reviewers look for:

• How the work will generate impact case studies, teaching material, publications or new research collaborations.
• How the staff involved will benefit professionally.
• How the institution might embed the partnership longer‑term.

Credible delivery team

You don’t need Nobel prizes, but you do need coherence:

• Academic supervisors with relevant expertise and time.
• A business sponsor with authority to act and influence change.
• A realistic picture of the kind of associate you’ll recruit and why they’ll be able to deliver.

A strong blend of skills and commitment can outweigh a slightly less glamorous topic.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (And How to Fix Them)

1. Treating it like a generic research grant

If your application reads like a standard academic project with “industry” stapled on at the end, it will sink.

Fix: Start from the business need and anchor every section to that need. Methods are a means, not the headline.

2. Hand‑waving the business contribution

Reviewers are alert to projects where the business wants maximum benefit for minimum commitment.

Fix: Be explicit and realistic about the business’s cash and in‑kind contributions. Show they’re sharing risk and reward.

3. Over‑ambitious scope

Trying to do too many things in one KTP is a classic trap.

Fix: Prioritise. It’s better to deliver one transformational capability than five half‑finished prototypes.

4. Vague impact statements

“Improved competitiveness” is not a result, it’s a slogan.

Fix: Quantify where possible. More throughput, fewer defects, reduced time to market, percentage improvement in efficiency – even illustrative figures help.

5. Leaving the associate as an afterthought

If the associate’s role is unclear, reviewers will doubt your ability to deliver.

Fix: Treat the associate description as central. Describe what they’ll actually do week to week and how they will join the dots between partners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a business lead the application?

No. The lead must be a UK-registered higher or further education institution, RTO, or Catapult. The business is an essential partner, but not the formal lead applicant.

Our business partner is very small. Are they eligible?

They must have at least two full‑time employees and be UK‑registered. If they’re below that threshold, they’ll need to grow or you’ll need to identify a different partner for this round.

Does the business have to pay cash, or can it just provide staff time?

The scheme requires the business to contribute to project costs, which normally includes a cash component. In‑kind support such as staff time and facilities is valuable, but it usually does not replace the need for co‑funding. Check the detailed guidance on the Innovation Funding Service for the exact cost model.

What types of projects are suitable?

Projects that:

• Apply existing or emerging knowledge to a real business challenge.
• Build genuine new capability inside the company (not just a one‑off report).
• Are ambitious but feasible within a typical KTP duration.

Examples range from digital transformation to advanced materials, new manufacturing processes, sustainable packaging, service design, and beyond.

Can there be more than one business partner?

KTPs are traditionally structured around a single core business partner. Occasionally, variants or consortia models exist, but assume one main business unless the official guidance for this round explicitly allows more complex arrangements.

Is this suitable for very early‑stage research?

Generally, no. KTPs are about application, not pure discovery. If your idea still needs basic proof‑of‑concept experiments with no clear business application yet, you’re probably too early. If the science is understood and the challenge is applying and embedding it in a real organisation, you’re in the right zone.

Can the associate be an existing employee of the business?

Sometimes an internal candidate can be considered, but KTPs traditionally fund a new associate recruited specifically for the project. Using an existing employee may weaken the “knowledge transfer” case unless they clearly step into a substantially new, development‑focused role. Check the detailed scheme rules.

What are the chances of success?

Success rates vary by round and field. Assume competition is serious. A strong, clearly articulated, business‑anchored proposal with a realistic plan and committed partners will always sit in a better position than something rushed or vague.

How to Apply and Next Steps

If you’re even mildly interested, the smartest move is to treat the next two weeks as an exploration phase:

1. Read the official call thoroughly
   Go straight to the source for all the small print, including any sector priorities, detailed cost rules, and the full assessment criteria:
   Knowledge Transfer Partnership 2025 to 2026 round five – official page

2. Talk to your research support office
   They’ve almost certainly seen KTPs before. Ask about internal deadlines, costings support, and whether your institution has KTP officers or experienced colleagues you can speak to.

3. Have a structured conversation with your business partner
   Don’t just say “Let’s do a KTP.” Ask: What specific change would you like to see in 2–3 years that you cannot realistically manage alone? That question often surfaces a strong project concept.

4. Sketch a one‑page concept note
   Capture the business problem, proposed solution, partner roles, expected outcomes and rough timescale. Share it with your internal KTP or funding team for early feedback before you start writing in the portal.

5. Register on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS)
   If you or your institution haven’t used it before, registration can take a little time. Get this done early so you are not blocked the week of the deadline.

When you are ready to move, everything you need – including the application link – is here:

Ready to apply or need the full rules? Visit the official opportunity page:
https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/knowledge-transfer-partnership-2025-to-2026-round-five/

If you have a willing business partner, a credible idea, and a bit of stamina for detailed forms, this round is well worth the effort. A successful KTP can transform not only the company’s future, but your own research, teaching, and professional trajectory too.