Collaboration Opportunities
There are several ways in which partners may collaborate with Horizon, enabling different levels of engagement that may change over time as activities are initiated, executed and wound down. In addition to the initial partners noted within the Research Councils UK funding Horizon encourages requests from new partners aligned with Horizon’s objectives. Horizon currently has a portfolio of over 200 partners across a broad range of sectors
External Funding
Applying for external funding is the most frequent way in which our partners collaborate with us – our researchers/partners respond to an external funding call relevant to their area of research/work. It is strongly encouraged in these types of application that the University collaborate with Industry partners; this links the work of Industry with that of the University and vice versa. Often there can be a tremendous amount of overlap which will allows for mutually beneficial research to occur. Often our industry partners have access to actual data but may not necessarily have the expertise or time to conduct the research that would be of great interest to both the company and Horizon.
This work often involves “in-kind contribution”, money does not change hands. Partners offer us their time and expertise, potential access to their facilities, data, networks etc. As part of the funding process we include this in-kind contribution in the application to give the funders a better idea of the real value of the research. Please contact the Horizon team to discuss the possibilities and specific details of costing.
Examples of external funding bodies are:
- Research Councils
- Technology Strategy Board (TSB)
- European Funding (EU)
- Other (e.g. E-ON, Google)
The Horizon website is updated weekly with current funding calls. Please have a look for opportunities that might interest you.
Internships
There are two types of Internships:
Horizon Internships – these may involve collaboration with our industry partners, and are based at Horizon throughout the calendar year with a significant number during the summer vacation. The 10- to 12-week internships are open to applications from students at any higher education institution and will be advertised at the Internship Page, with links from our News page and Twitter feed.
DTC Internships - Horizon Doctoral Training Centre students are required, as part of their studies, to undertake an internship with an industry partner, relevant to their chosen research project. These placements generally last 3 months but are flexible in duration. If you would like to host a doctoral student please see our webpage for further information.
Horizon Funded Projects
Within Horizon’s funding, we have an allocation for small-scale research studies that allow for development of a research idea, and enable the research team to build relations with external project partners. These studies are generally 6-12months in duration with the longer term goal of leveraging external funding to allow preliminary research to be explored further.
Further ways to Collaborate
PhD Studentships
As a partner you can sponsor a PhD studentship. These generally are four years in duration and involve the student spending periods of time with the partner developing their research. If you would like more information about these please contact the Horizon team.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Partners can collaborate more generally with the University and Horizon through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).