Industrial Collaboration

The School of Mathematics is always eager to work closely with industry, upon a wide range of topics. To help create the perfect fit between your company and cutting-edge mathematical technology, numerous and diverse collaborative opportunities exist, as well as government grants to part-fund the research. Please read the below points for further information.

• How relevant are mathematical sciences to my company?
• What type of company works with the School of Mathematics?
• What does 'collaboration' actually mean?
• What happens to the intellectual property?
• Are there any government-backed subsidies for funding projects?
• Who should I contact to find out more?

If your company is interested in hearing more about how mathematics, and the quantitative sciences, can help your company, then please do contact us today. In doing so, you will be opening the door to all the scientific advances going on right now, from all around the world.

 

How relevant are the mathematical sciences to my company?

Applications of research and development from within the School of Mathematics have great relevance to many areas of industry. In fact, as the world becomes ever more quantitative, mathematics is underpinning ever more diverse areas of science. This can include fluid dynamics, materials science, imaging, real-options, probability, statistics, finance, population dynamics, genetics, and energy/power systems, to name but a few of the research areas.

 

What types of company work with the School of Mathematics?

The scope of our existing partnerships is broad, and range Manchester-based companies, such as  Inventive IT, to national companies such as Thales, through to multi-national corporations such as AstraZeneca,  Rapiscan and Federal Mogul. In addition, the applications of our work need not be physical, as we also work with software companies such as Gemcom Software International and the Numerical Analysis Group (NAG). In short, we are happy to work with all companies who require the usage of mathematics.

 

What does 'collaboration' actually mean?

Collaboration can come in a variety of forms, such as:

Masters Projects (approx 3 months)
Ph.D. projects (approx 3.5 years)
Ph.D. industry placements (approx 6 months)
Post-doctorate research projects (6 months to 3 years)
Consultancy from full-time academics
Secondments from industry into the University
Secondments from the University into industry
Sponsorship of Research Centres

In short, a form of collaboration suiting your company's needs will almost certainly be able to be found.

 

What happens to the intellectual property?

As with many industrial contracts, the of terms of agreement are open to negotiation.   As such, the share of  the IP Is typically reflected by the size of the contribution from the company. Other options  include giving the company IP ownership for their own commercial sector, and  the University maintains the IP in other sectors. To help aid this process, and the process of patenting and trademarking, the University of Manchester Intellectual Property team (UMIP) are always at hand to help with such matters.

 

Are there any government-backed subsidies for funding projects?

There is good chance that project subsidies exist for individual collaborations. The University of Manchester currently has a Knowledge Transfer Account  primarily set up to help part-fund research projects between industry and the University. In addition, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has collaborative grants to subsidise research between companies and UK universities. The subsidies will depend upon the form of collaboration, and the company itself. As such, it is best to contact us in advance, and we can see what options are available.

 

Who should I contact to find out more?

If you would like to hear about how the School of Mathematics -and the Physical Sciences- can form general partnerships with you company, then please contact the School of Mathematics Director of External Affairs Prof. Bill Lionheart. If you would like to discuss specific potential research projects,  or find our about our research specialities, then please contact our Knowledge Transfer Fellow, Dr. Geoff Evatt.

Address:

The School of Mathematics
The Alan Turing Building
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL

Professor Bill Lionheart
Email - Bill.Lionheart@manchester.ac.uk
Tel - 0161 306 8978

Dr Geoff Evatt
Email - Geoffrey.Evatt@manchester.ac.uk
Tel - 0161 275 5830
Mobile - 07500 881916