Working with a university doesn't have to mean a multi-year research programme, a six-figure budget, or a legal team on standby. Some of the most successful business-university relationships start with something much smaller: a short, low-commitment pilot that answers one question: is this worth doing properly? If the idea of university collaboration has always sounded like a big step, here's how to shrink it down to something you can test in weeks, not years. What's stopping

Meet the organisations using konfer to find new partners When organisations need fresh ideas or specialist expertise, the right people are not always the ones already in their network. Universities may have the knowledge and facilities businesses need, but not always the visibility of live industry challenges. Businesses may know what problem they need to solve, but not where to find the right research partner. And overseas organisations looking to work with the UK innovation

Carbonyze was exploring how to move from process modelling towards practical validation. After developing a validated process model for its carbon utilisation technology, the company was beginning to explore industrial pilot opportunities. A collaboration call on konfer opened up a different conversation: what evidence, partners and validation would be needed before a pilot could succeed? Carbonyze is a climate tech startup emerging from the University of Aberdeen, developing

Andrew Mackenzie, Director of Strategic Networks, NCUB This was my first Knowledge Exchange UK Conference, a few months into a new job at NCUB, and the theme was 'Knowledge Exchange for the Future'. I had the privilege of helping to open the conference with remarks at the drinks reception, where I said that the word "future" was doing a lot of work. It sets a direction, but it also asks something of everyone in the room: what do we need to do differently? Our own session, a

NCUB welcomed the new UKRI strategy which sets out how it will leverage the UK’s research and innovation strengths to support economic growth across the country. The new strategy outlines to businesses, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors on where the UK can take a more strategic approach in its funding of research and innovation activities, alongside improving the translation of our research strengths into economic growth that benefits society.

A practical guide to finding the right university partner for your business: from defining your challenge, to posting a collaboration call on konfer, NCUB's free platform connecting businesses with UK universities. Step 1: Start with the challenge, not the solution Many collaborations stall because businesses arrive with a solution already picked out - "we need a machine learning model" - rather than the problem underneath it: "we're losing time to manual quality checks and w