What are the costs ?

How are KTPs funded?

Each KTP is part funded by a Government grant to the University. This contributes to the costs it incurs through participating in that particular Knowledge Transfer Partnership, whilst the balance of the costs directly attributable to the project is borne by the business partner.

What does the grant for a KTP pay for?

The largest part of the cost is the employment of one or more KTP Associates (normally graduates) and the cost of academic experts from the University who are involved in the KTP. The remainder includes:

• equipment and travel costs
• indirect and administrative costs incurred by the University
• personal and professional development budget for the KTP Associate(s).

How is cost calculated?

The cost is determined by the number of KTP Associates to be employed, the length of their project, whether the company is, or is part of, a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) or a large enterprise. 

How much will a company contribute?

As described above, the budget for any individual Knowledge Transfer Partnership, and a company's contribution to it, depends on the details of the specific Partnership. However, as a guide annual company contributions per KTP Associate employed on a first project are likely to be around a third of the project costs for an SME business and around half for a large company or a group.The average annual project costs for a KTP are around £60,000.

The Knowledge Transfer Centre can discuss exact costs with you.

Are there any other costs?

Companies need to cover the full overhead costs of their own participation in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, for example, supervisory effort, additional materials and capital equipment. There may also need to contribute to the cost of equipment purchased specifically for use during their project work above the contribution provided for in the grant.

In addition to this, companies should be prepared to enhance the salaries of KTP Associates to reflect pay levels in their organisation, business sector and location.

Companies are invoiced by the University on a monthly basis.