Food Science and Technology Pub Date : 2020-05-28 , DOI: 10.1002/fsat.3402_8.x
Shivaun Meehan of the National Centre for Universities and Business explains the benefits of using konfer to develop partnerships for innovation .
How do you feed a growing global population safely and sustainably during a global pandemic? The Institute of Food Science and Technology and the National Centre for Universities and Business[ 1] (NCUB) share common ground in believing old approaches are unlikely to work and the challenges facing society and industry today will more likely be addressed through research and innovation. Partnerships between UK universities and innovative businesses are key to this.
Promoting and supporting collaboration between universities and business is central to NCUB's role. Yet businesses in the UK cite difficulties and barriers to accessing experts and finding their way through the winding paths and many doors of UK universities. Unsurprisingly, it is a relatively small number of firms that make up the lion's share of R&D spend in the UK and only around 12% of firms[ 2] that are ‘innovating’ currently cooperate with a university.
Konfer
To address these challenges, the NCUB developed a simple idea: to create one single access point to the wealth of knowledge within UK academia. The result is a digital R&D match‐maker, konfer, providing a single entry point for easy access to experts, research, grant funding opportunities, university equipment and facilities and UK businesses likely to be interested in innovation.
WHAT IS KONFER?
konfer connects UK academics and businesses through a single digital access point.
You can explore konfer to:
• Find experts
• Explore research
• Locate equipment and facilities
• Access R&D funding
• Publish collaboration or funding calls – shared with over 150 UK universities
• Find consortium partners
• Connect with universities, experts or businesses with a single click
Business directory
Resources
Konfer's latest release uses machine learning and natural language processing to give even easier access to the host of information across 23 industry sectors in the UK. More than a million research papers, expert profiles and other data assets now incorporate topic and concept analysis, enabling unique search and discovery capabilities. An enhanced user experience facilitates konfer's expanded capability to connect industry and academia.
WHAT ARE THE SOURCES?
konfer harvests data from a range of sources, including:
• University web pages
• RSS News Feeds
• Gateway to Research (GtR)
• REF Case Studies
• ORCiD
• Equipment.data.ac.uk
• Companies House
• Video (YouTube)
• Latest funding opportunities from Innovate UK
Response to COVID ‐19 crisis
Undoubtedly, COVID‐19 has changed the way we work, live and consume, with the importance of maintaining sustainable food supply chains a central concern. Konfer has been sharing funding and collaboration calls relating to the pandemic with UK universities and relevant businesses from our business directory. Despite the short deadlines, it has been heartening and encouraging to see the amount of interest these calls received – a clear message that despite the disruption COVID‐19 has caused in business operations, the UK's universities and companies are working hard to find ways to stop and mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus.
UK Universities have been developing ventilators, providing vital equipment, such as donating protective personal equipment to local hospitals, making laboratories available to support clinical lab work, researching genome sequencing and more[ 3] . The Government's introduction of fast‐track approval of medical devices has enabled manufacturers to quickly switch production to produce ventilators, fashion producers to switch to making PPE and distilleries to switch from alcohol to sanitisers.
Food economy
The NCUB has long recognised the importance of the food industry to the UK economy. In 2015, the Food Economy Task Force[ 4] looked at ways of boosting the UK's food economy through world‐class collaboration between businesses, universities and government and explored how the UK could integrate collaboration to develop a more competitive and sustainable UK agri‐food sector.
If your business has an innovation challenge that you think a UK expert can help with, konfer can push out your collaboration call to all UK universities.
| WHAT'S ON KONFER | ||
|---|---|---|
| Funding |
29 Funding opportunities |
Millions in grant funding available for innovation across all sectors |
| Experts |
135,855 Review university staff profiles |
Find an expert to help you in your area of research and innovation |
| Publications |
1,60,992 Research papers |
One of the largest single searchable databases of research |
| Collaborations |
19 Active collaborations |
Business and institutions looking for your help |
| Equipment |
15,359 Items of equipment and facilities |
Form lasers to virtual reality, MRI scanners to photon microscopes |
| Universities |
153 Universities across the UK |
Experts and research from various institutions |
| Businesses |
27,722 Businesses across the UK |
Find businesses working in your areas of research and innovation |
The task force had three points of focus:
• developing the right talent for the Food Economy,
• science and translation and the race to the top of global innovation,
• the optimisation of sustainable land use, resources and pull through into innovation.
The findings of the Taskforce showed that the entire value chain, from laboratory to landfill and field to fork, is full of stories of successful innovation within both firms and universities. By making it easier for firms to find expertise within the UK, the NCUB is doing its bit to promote innovation.
Agri‐food opportunities
Agriculture, Food and Drink, is a key industry sector within konfer, where you can find over 16,000 experts and nearly 60,000 pieces of research on ‘food’ alone. Konfer's business directory includes over 1,000 companies associated with Agriculture, Food and Drink which we believe are likely to benefit from opportunities in relation to innovation grant funding and/or university collaboration. We also detail company research activities, including grant funded research, where available.
Research funding is highlighted on konfer[ 5] , for example the £10m Seafood Innovation Fund and the UK‐Canada fund to transform food production. Using konfer, you can find academic experts with whom to collaborate on funding applications and use the ‘Connect’ feature to discuss working together on funding opportunities.
The Seafood Innovation Fund supports the UK's fishing, aquaculture and seafood industries to deliver cutting‐edge technology and innovation and build a sustainable long‐term future. This programme will fund projects that take innovative ideas from early‐stage research to commercial viability and welcomes applications both inside and outside the seafood sector. The fund for innovative R&D projects that involve UK businesses working with Canadian partners has earmarked £2m to transform food production using data‐driven precision approaches, taking into account the needs of farmers and growers, whether in crop, livestock or aquaculture systems.
Using konfer
The ‘connect’ feature sends your request through to both the expert and their university's knowledge transfer office, to ensure connections are made. Or if your business has an innovation challenge that you think a UK expert can help with, konfer can push out your collaboration call to all UK universities. Recent opportunities for collaboration with businesses have ranged from a start‐up through innovation agencies to large enterprises, such as Walgreen Boots, which is seeking support for the development of products and services in gastrointestinal health conditions, and the Catalonia Government's agency for foreign investment and business competitiveness. Its Tecniospring INDUSTRY programme[ 6] has been developed to attract talented researchers to Catalonia, enhance business innovation and foster international collaboration; its targets include the food industry.
For some businesses, knowing how you might work with a UK university can be daunting, so we provide information about some of the many ways you might work together, such as the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme, which helps businesses in the UK to innovate and grow by linking them with an academic or research organisation and a graduate.
Any registered user can create new opportunities and respond to those already published. All our features aim to maximise engagement between universities and business, and best of all, the service is free to use.
中文翻译：
使英国研究触手可及
国家大学和商业中心的Shivaun Meehan解释了使用konfer建立创新合作伙伴关系的好处。
在全球大流行期间，您如何安全，可持续地养活不断增长的全球人口？食品科技研究所和国家中心的大学和商[ 1 ]在相信老方法（NCUB）份额的共同点是不太可能的工作，今天的社会和行业所面临的挑战将更有可能通过研究和创新的解决。英国大学与创新企业之间的合作伙伴关系对此至关重要。
促进和支持大学与企业之间的协作对于NCUB的作用至关重要。然而，英国的企业在与专家接触以及在蜿蜒曲折的道路和英国大学的许多门户中找到自己的道路时遇到了困难和障碍。不出所料，这是公司组成的英国R＆d支出，只有大约12％的企业的最大份额的数量相对较少[ 2 ]这是“创新”目前与大学合作。
康弗
为了应对这些挑战，NCUB提出了一个简单的想法：为英国学术界的知识创造一个单一的访问点。结果是数字研发对接器konfer，提供了一个简单的入口点，可轻松获取专家，研究，赠款机会，大学设备和设施以及可能对创新感兴趣的英国企业。
什么是Konfer？
konfer通过一个数字访问点将英国学者和企业联系起来。
您可以将konfer探索为：
•寻找专家
•探索研究
•查找设备和设施
•获得研发资金
•发布合作或资助电话-与150多家英国大学共享
•寻找财团合作伙伴
•单击即可与大学，专家或企业联系
业务目录
资源资源
Konfer的最新版本使用机器学习和自然语言处理功能，使英国23个行业部门的信息访问更加轻松。现在，超过一百万篇研究论文，专家档案和其他数据资产结合了主题和概念分析，从而实现了独特的搜索和发现功能。增强的用户体验有助于konfer扩展连接行业和学术界的能力。
来源是什么？
konfer从多种来源收集数据，包括：
•大学网页
•RSS新闻提要
•研究门户（GtR）
•REF案例研究
•ORCiD
•Equipment.data.ac.uk
•公司大楼
•视频（YouTube）
•来自创新英国的最新资金机会
对COVID-19危机的应对
毫无疑问，COVID-19改变了我们的工作，生活和消费方式，而维持可持续食品供应链的重要性已成为中心问题。Konfer一直在与我们公司目录中的英国大学和相关企业共享有关大流行的资金和协作电话。尽管截止日期很短，但收到这些电话的兴趣却令人鼓舞和鼓舞–明确的信息是，尽管COVID-19中断了业务运营，英国的大学和公司仍在努力寻找停止的方法并减轻冠状病毒的影响。
英国大学一直在开发呼吸机，提供重要的设备，例如向当地医院捐赠个人防护设备，使实验室可用于支持临床实验室工作，研究基因组测序等[ 3 ]。政府对医疗器械的快速批准的引入使制造商能够迅速将生产转向生产通风机，时装生产商转向生产个人防护装备，酒厂从酒精转向消毒剂。
粮食经济
NCUB很早就意识到食品行业对英国经济的重要性。2015年，食品经济工作组[ 4 ]研究了通过企业，大学和政府之间的世界级合作来促进英国食品经济的方法，并探讨了英国如何整合合作以开发更具竞争力和可持续性的英国农业食品。部门。
如果您认为自己的业务面临创新挑战，而您认为英国专家可以提供帮助，则konfer可以将您的协作电话推向所有英国大学。
| KONFER上有什么 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 资金 |
29 资金机会 |
数百万美元的资助资金可用于所有领域的创新 |
| 专家级 |
135,855 审查大学人员资料 |
寻找专家在您的研究和创新领域为您提供帮助 |
| 刊物 |
1,60,992 调查报告 |
最大的单一可搜索研究数据库之一 |
| 协同合作 |
19 积极的合作 |
商业和机构寻求您的帮助 |
| 设备 |
15,359 设备和设施项目 |
从激光到虚拟现实，从MRI扫描仪到光子显微镜 |
| 大学 |
153 英国各地的大学 |
来自各个机构的专家和研究 |
| 业务领域 |
27,722 英国各地的企业 |
寻找在您的研究和创新领域工作的企业 |
工作队有三个重点：
•培养适合食品经济的人才，
•科学和翻译，以及争夺全球创新的冠军，
•优化土地的可持续利用，资源和创新能力。
工作组的调查结果表明，从实验室到垃圾填埋场，从田野到餐叉，整个价值链中充满了公司和大学内部成功创新的故事。通过使公司更容易在英国找到专业知识，NCUB正在尽其所能促进创新。
农业食品的机会
农业，食品和饮料是konfer中的关键行业，您可以在此找到超过16,000名专家和仅60,000件有关“食品”的研究。Konfer的业务目录包括与农业，食品和饮料相关的1000多家公司，我们认为这些公司很可能会受益于创新赠款和/或大学合作方面的机会。我们还将详细介绍公司的研究活动，包括可用的资助研究。
konfer [ 5 ]强调了研究资金，例如1000万英镑的海鲜创新基金和英国-加拿大基金，以改变食品生产。使用konfer，您可以找到可以与他们合作进行资金申请的学术专家，并可以使用“连接”功能来讨论在资金机会方面的合作。
海鲜创新基金支持英国的渔业，水产养殖和海鲜行业，以提供尖端的技术和创新，并建立可持续的长期未来。该计划将资助那些将创新思想从早期研究转化为商业可行性的项目，并欢迎海产品领域内外的应用。涉及英国企业和加拿大合作伙伴的创新研发项目基金已专门拨款200万英镑，以数据驱动的精确方法转换粮食生产，同时考虑到农民和种植者的需求，无论是在作物，牲畜还是水产养殖系统中。
使用konfer
“连接”功能将您的请求发送到专家及其大学的知识转移办公室，以确保建立连接。或者，如果您的业务面临创新挑战，而您认为英国专家可以提供帮助，则konfer可以将您的协作电话推向所有英国大学。最近与企业合作的机会范围从初创企业到创新机构，再到大型企业，例如Walgreen Boots（正在寻求胃肠道健康状况的产品和服务开发的支持），以及加泰罗尼亚政府的外国投资和投资机构。商业竞争力。其Tecniospring INDUSTRY计划[ 6 ]旨在吸引有才华的研究人员前往加泰罗尼亚，加强业务创新并促进国际合作；其目标包括食品工业。
对于某些企业而言，知道您如何与英国大学合作可能会令人生畏，因此我们提供有关您可能合作的许多方式中的一些信息，例如知识转移合作伙伴关系（KTP）计划，该计划可帮助英国企业通过将他们与学术或研究组织以及毕业生联系起来，进行创新和发展。
任何注册用户都可以创建新机会，并对已经发布的机会做出回应。我们的所有功能旨在最大程度地提高大学与企业之间的互动度，最重要的是，该服务是免费使用的。
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