News from King’s college, University of London
14 September 2006, PR118/06
Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao yesterday (13 September) held a joint press conference at 10 Downing Street on closer collaboration between the two countries. One initiative unveiled is a new technology innovation partnership, Innovation China UK (ICUK), in which King's will play a key role.
This new research and knowledge transfer partnership, will fund and support UK and Chinese collaborators to develop and commercialise their joint technology worldwide.
King's, along with its partners University of Nottingham, Royal Veterinary College and University of Southampton, and led by Queen Mary, University of London, have received a £5 million funding commitment from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF 3) to commercialise research with a number of Chinese participating institutions. They will include (but not be limited to): Tsinghua University, Beijing University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Chengdu University, Suzhou University and China University of Science and Technology.
The Chinese Government is providing a matching financial contribution through its Ministry of Science and Technology in partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Education.
King's has a broad number of collaborative research interests with Chinese institutions which range from developing new technologies for treatment of diseases arising from natural products, to pioneering metamorphic mechanisms with potential manufacturing applications, and multi-layer mirror technologies. Projects of this kind will receive a real boost from ICUK, through access to:
- development funding to enable UK and Chinese partners to develop and commercialise joint research and near-market innovations for the economic benefit of both countries.
- complementary initiatives for knowledge networking, exchange and dissemination.
- a well-defined framework for jointly developing and exploiting intellectual property and commercialising joint innovations.
Commercial potential
By focussing on research with commercial potential, the initiative will break new ground and generate valuable expertise in the management of bilateral technology and intellectual property rights.
Commenting on the announcement of this unique pilot scheme, which will run for two years in the first instance, Dr Alison Campbell, Managing Director of KCL Enterprises, said: ‘I am delighted that the potential of King's, along with its other UK partners, to engage in international technology transfer has been recognised through the creation of this partnership. I believe the initiative will provide a real boost to those academics at King's who have had a long history of fruitful collaboration with China, to accelerate new products to market.'
Notes to editors
King's College London Enterprises (KCLE)
King's College London Enterprises (KCLE) is the wholly owned enterprise and innovation company of King's College London. They are responsible for business development and commercialisation and for the management of the university's research grants and contracts.
Higher Education Innovation Fund round 3 (HEIF 3)
Funding under the third round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF 3) is designed to support a broad range of knowledge transfer activities which result in direct and indirect economic benefit to the UK. HEIF 3 is a joint initiative between HEFCE and the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) to provide funding to HEIs in England over the period August 2006 to July 2008. Up to £238 million was made available over the two years.
King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 5,600 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine and the sciences, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to four Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.
King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £100 million, and has an annual turnover of more than £363 million.
Further information
Public Relations Office, King's College London
Tel: 020 7848 3202 Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
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