Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are designed to build long-lasting and mutually beneficial collaborations between the working and learning worlds.

In every Knowledge Base (university, research organisation or catapult) around the UK, there’s a wealth of talent and innovative thinking. We apply these vital resources to businesses, via a KTP, by uniting people around the common goal of affecting positive change through innovation.

If you’re a business, forming a long-term partnership with a Knowledge Base offers direct access to research expertise and graduate talent, embedding knowledge and research for long term benefit. If you’re a university, research organisation or catapult, a KTP is a chance to apply research to a real-world challenge, contributing research impact, opening up commercial possibilities and tapping into additional funding. And if you’re a graduate, this programme could accelerate your career and put you at the beating heart of your chosen speciality.

KTPs – and the newer Management KTPs, focused on expanding management capability – are here to facilitate these relationships, matching the right businesses and institutions to work together and maximise the benefits for everyone. And those benefits are not just economic. KTP delivers positive environmental and societal impact too.

Our team has a wealth of experience in forming these critical partnerships. Talk to us now and start your journey to an inspiring and rewarding KTP collaboration.

KTP Awards

Every year we celebrate the best projects at the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards.

The 2025 Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards competition is now open, and we invite you to submit your application.

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, 30 April 2025. Applications will first be reviewed by our internal Knowledge Transfer Advisors and then by our Judging Panel, with the finalists announced on Tuesday, 10 June 2025.

Watch the recording of the 2024 Awards event, held in Birmingham on 27 November, and visit the KTP site for the full list of 2024 winners.

Closing dates for KTP rounds in 2025-26

• Round 1 – 9 April 2025
• Round 2 – 11 June 2025
• Round 3 – 17 September 2025
• Round 4 – 26 November 2025
• Round 5 – 28 January 2026

View the full list of dates on UKRI. Funding details will be available on our opportunities page once the 2025-26 competitions open.