The konfer playbook: helping universities find industry partners

Getting set up on konfer is the first step. But for the universities seeing the biggest results, it's rarely where the journey ends.

What we have consistently observed across the platform is that the teams generating real value - meaningful industry partners, active collaborations, and tangible impact - are the ones who treat konfer as a live part of their engagement strategy, not just a directory they occasionally dip into. They show up consistently, they refine their approach, and they take advantage of the support available to them.

That's exactly what our advanced training and support is designed to help with.

Beyond the basics

We are always happy to give demonstrations, and they are a great entry point and introduction to konfer. But for teams who are already up and running, we can offer so much more.

Our advanced sessions are practical and tailored to the people in the room - whether that's a central knowledge exchange team, a research centre, or academics working in a specific area. We dig into things like how to shape collaboration calls that land with businesses, how to identify and prioritise the right partners to target, and what "good" looks like based on what we're seeing across the platform.

Royal Holloway, University of London is a good example of what this looks like in practice. Their Knowledge Exchange team worked with us on how to craft compelling partnership calls, using konfer to showcase research strengths - from drone testing facilities to broader academic expertise - to a much wider industrial audience than they could reach before. As Knowledge Exchange Manager Tom Korff noted, conversations sparked through konfer often continue independently once introductions are made, with collaborations growing organically from there.

Collaboration clinics: where real work happens

One of our most valuable offers for NCUB member universities are collaboration clinics. These aren't webinars or presentations. They are working sessions where teams bring real challenges and we work through them together.

That might mean refining a collaboration call during the session so it's clear and compelling, thinking through how to position a partnership opportunity for industry, or simply sense-checking whether something is ready to go out. It's often reassuring for teams to hear that others across the sector are working through exactly the same things, and usually where the best learnings happen, even for us.

The University of Plymouth is a great example of what clinics can unlock in practice. Working with us across both face-to-face and online formats - and finding that online sessions delivered the greater reach - their team used our clinics to explore how to get the best from the platform, shape stronger collaboration proposals through one-to-one conversations, and draw on case studies of how other universities had succeeded. The results speak for themselves: after the clinics, Plymouth saw a 100% increase in the number of academics registered on konfer. As Becky Moore, Business Engagement Officer at Plymouth, said: "Getting our staff on board and engaging with collaboration calls has led to some really positive conversations. We look forward to getting more R&D projects off the ground as a result." Becky also noted that the follow-up and additional support from the konfer team exceeded their expectations - something we're always very happy to hear.

Konfersations and one-to-one support

Alongside clinics, we run monthly "konfersations" - informal webinar-style sessions open to anyone from academia, industry, or the public sector who wants to go deeper on how konfer works, share ideas, and ask questions. They're a great way to get started or develop your approach to external engagement. You can register for the next session here.

We also work directly with individual teams and experts. Sometimes the most impactful support is a short call to help someone reframe how they describe their work so it resonates with industry, or to give them the confidence to take that first step in reaching out. Translating academic expertise into language that makes sense to someone outside the university is a skill - and one we've spent years helping teams develop.

What makes a difference?

The pattern is consistent. The universities getting the most from konfer are the ones who read and respond to collaboration calls, use the platform proactively rather than passively, and keep coming back to build on what they've learned. It doesn't require huge resource, but it does benefit from focus and consistency.

City St George's, University of London is a compelling example of what that commitment can unlock. By actively embedding konfer across their Academic Enterprise team - running internal awareness events, responding to business-led enquiries, and posting their own opportunities - they developed more than 200 valuable connections with industry and received over a hundred enquiries, many leading to knowledge exchange and tech transfer collaborations. When one academic needed collaborators to support a significant government funding bid, konfer helped them source over 40 partners - and a high-quality application was submitted within five days. 

As Ian Gibbs, Head of Academic Enterprise at City St George's, put it: "Konfer is a vital tool, that actually works”.

Get support

If you've got the basics in place and want to explore what more advanced support could might look like for your team - whether that's a tailored session, a collaboration clinic, or something more informal - we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch: konfer-support@ncub.co.uk