Support and funding for academic collaborations

Finding and engaging with the relevant academic experts to support your own research and development efforts can be challenging. The Data Lab has an extensive network of academic contacts across Scotland’s universities. This means we can match you with the right academic partner. We can also help you find the necessary funding.

How can we help?

We can link you up with academic collaborators whether you need specialist technical advice, support on data science techniques and methodologies, help to develop new data-driven products or services, or strategic university partners for long-term research and collaboration.

We can help find funding for industry-university collaborations that will deliver economic or social impact for Scottish-based businesses or organisations. These projects will likely be:

• Early scoping engagements with new academic partners to assess opportunities for data-driven innovation around new products, services or processes.
• Short feasibility projects to push forward internal R&D plans.
• Larger R&D projects (TRL levels 2 – 6) where data science innovation is required to develop new products, services or processes.

If you already have an existing partnership with a Scottish university, we may be able to fund projects which further strengthen that strategic R&D relationship.

Use our experience and contacts

Our experienced business development team will work to connect your business with Scotland’s wide-ranging network of academic experts. Our team will also:

• Provide expertise, guidance and support to help you scope and manage your project, wherever you are in your data journey.
• Assist with the completion of funding application forms.
• Provide project governance support to industry-university collaborations.
• Support follow-on activities to help project deliver impact, including assessing other grant support options across the Scottish and UK funding landscape.