Business support
Scale
For established businesses with the ambition and the evidence to grow fast. Space at Think Tank, a direct route into University research, and the funding routes that make serious innovation affordable.
Innovation with the University behind it
Scale is for established businesses whose next move is innovation. What sets this tier apart is access: to University of Lincoln academics, to specialist facilities and equipment, and to the funding that makes a serious R&D project viable.
Its home is Think Tank, our innovation centre, with free parking, an on-site cafe and space designed for teams doing research-led work alongside others doing the same.
What is Scale?
The tier for businesses whose next step is innovation: the workspace, the research partnerships and the funding routes to make it happen.
Think Tank workspace
Offices at our innovation centre, with free parking, an on-site cafe and meeting space, built for established teams.
Research collaboration
Work directly with University of Lincoln academics on research and development, with access to specialist facilities and equipment.
Student and graduate talent
Bring University of Lincoln students and graduates into a research or development project, or hire directly from the graduating cohort.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
A KTP embeds University expertise in your business to deliver a strategic innovation project, with government funding covering a large share of the cost.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Fund the expertise you need
A KTP places a qualified graduate, known as an Associate, in your business to deliver a strategic innovation project. A University academic supervises it, and government funding covers a large share of the cost. For SMEs, that typically means around two-thirds of the cost is covered.
Shorter, competition-based variants such as Accelerated Knowledge Transfer run periodically, aimed at a single well-defined challenge. Ask us what is currently open. Between them these are among the most substantial things the University can offer, and the least well understood.
Commercial services
The rest of the University's toolkit
Beyond research and KTPs, the University can bring consultancy and business development expertise to a project, and its Contracts and IP team can help set up the agreements behind a collaboration so everyone is clear on who owns what.
You do not need to work out which parts apply to you. Start a conversation and we will map it to what you are building.
Funding and expertise
Where the money and the specialists come from
Scaling on innovation usually means combining University expertise with outside funding. These are the routes we help businesses navigate most often.
Not sure where you fit?
Tell us what you are building and we will point you to the right support, whether that is Scale, a KTP, or something else entirely.