KTP Best of the Best Awards 2020 - Categories Announced
After their successful reintroduction last year, the KTP Best of the Best Awards are back celebrating the most outstanding impacts resulting from these unique collaborative partnerships. Nominations are due to open on Monday 3 February and close on 21 February.
Over the last 45 years, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) have been helping organisations of all sizes and in all sectors right across the UK to realise innovation. How? By partnering them, via a KTP, with the UK’s world-class academic institutions, creating dynamic teams where the freshest thinking and deepest expertise are transferred and embedded to solve real-world innovation challenges.
Right now, over 800 organisations are involved in a KTP. And there have been over 12000 KTPs since the programme was first introduced. In most, the outcome of the KTP goes well beyond realising a specific innovation project: fostering a new culture of innovation, KTPs can be transformative.
The KTP Best of the Best Awards shine a spotlight on some of the very best of these partnerships, and the categories for this year’s awards have just been announced as follows:
1. Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership
This award honours the most outstanding overall partnership; that which has brought the most significant benefits to all three participants, and which best exemplifies innovation through collaboration. For more information click here.
2. Engineering Excellence Award
Here we celebrate excellence in the application of engineering skills, interpreted in the broadest sense, to recognise the continuing evolution of this field. Partnerships completing the Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership Award may also enter this award. For more information click here.
3. Business Impact Award
To be considered for the award, a Business must be able to demonstrate substantial ongoing impact from their KTP beyond the expectations as set out in their Partnership’s original KTP proposal. For more information click here.
4. Future Innovator
This award is for Associates who have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills, above and beyond the normal expectations of a KTP Associate. For more information click here.
5. Most effective initiative from a KTP Office – inspired by David Woolard and supported by PraxisAuril
This award is for the team which has introduced an innovative new approach or initiative to any aspect of KTP promotion, management or delivery, achieving significant benefit in terms of innovation or impact; and in so doing providing a model of best practice for KTP offices. For more information click here.
6. The Societal Impact Award – supported by UKRI
This is a new Award which recognises the wider impacts of KTP – those projects which have delivered significant societal/social or environmental benefit. For more information click here.
As well as creating partnerships that deliver positive impact, KTPs provide a huge recruitment platform for talented graduates and post-graduates (known as the KTP Associate), with approximately 300 vacancies each year.
Applications for funding a KTP are open throughout the year, so if you think a KTP might be the right mechanism to help your organisation introduce innovation impact, find out more here or talk to one of our specialist Knowledge Transfer Advisers.