27 April 2004

Dundee's universities serving the needs of industry

Photo opportunity, 3.30pm, Tuesday 27 April, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, 45 North Lindsay Street, Dundee.

The Universities of Dundee and Abertay will launch a new initiative this week that will allow knowledge to be shared between academia and industry and give recent graduates the opportunity to get work experience in companies, putting their skills to the test.

Principals of both Universities will meet on Tuesday 27th April to launch the new initiative. Professor Bernard King from Abertay will meet Sir Alan Langlands at the University of Dundee.

The initiative, supported by Scottish Enterprise Tayside, is the creation of a new Tayside centre for promotion and management of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, a Department of Trade and Industry initiative which supports knowledge transfer by placing recently qualified graduates (known as KTP Associates) in companies to manage challenging projects central to the companies' development needs. During the course of the placement the graduate is closely supervised by an academic who is a specialist in the relevant area.

Sir Alan Langlands Principal of the University of Dundee said: "Links between research and industry are critically important in the knowledge economy. I am delighted to welcome this initiative for our students and staff so they can set their minds to using their knowledge and skills to solving issues in industry and commerce.

"At the University of Dundee we see this scheme as a great opportunity for our students and staff in areas such as Design, Architecture, Engineering and Applied Computing. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is a very successful programme which has an excellent track record elsewhere in helping businesses to develop solutions and to increase their profitability by working closely with a University."

Professor Bernard King, Principal of the University of Abertay Dundee said: "For Abertay, the Partnership represents a new phase in our hundred-year-long tradition of working with industry and business locally to devise new solutions and new products. Scotland's future in an increasingly competitive global economy depends on the synergy between her universities and her industries, and we are proud to bring our knowledge and experience to bear in making this new Partnership work for Tayside.

"Our staff and students are looking forward to developing new relationships with local companies and supporting the continued growth of key sectors such as the creative industries. We are already assessing the tremendous potential that exists in some of our centres of excellence, such as Digital Media, Environmental Science, Business Policy and Planning, and Device Design and Usability."

Scottish Enterprise Tayside has also contributed financial support to the initiative. Chief Executive, Shona Cormack, said: "Projects such as KTP have a vital role to play in ensuring that Scotland's economy benefits from our company base linking more closely with the knowledge, skills and expertise that exist within our Universities. I warmly welcome the partnership of the Universities of Abertay and Dundee in supporting Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in Tayside. Experience elsewhere suggests there will be significant benefits both to companies who take on associates and to the students and academics who participate."

Scottish Enterprise Tayside has supported the initiative by partly funding the cost of a consultant Neil Stewart who will be working on behalf of both Universities to promote the expertise within the universities and identify potential KTP projects which could be worth £80k or £90k each.

By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk