This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding for business research and development
03/02/2005
Seven new grants totalling almost £250,000 have been awarded under the SCORE programme which helps small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) link up with research organisations and scientists.
And a £264,000 SEEKIT (Scottish Executive Expertise, Knowledge and Innovation Transfer programme) grant for Stirling University Business Park, was also announced in the Parliament.
The grant will help Stirling work with the University of St Andrews to provide improved research, innovation and knowledge transfer to SMEs in central Scotland.
Deputy Enterprise Minister Allan Wilson said:
"We have an excellent science base in Scotland, one which punches well above its weight in the UK. In 2002-03, Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) filed 17 per cent of all new UK patents, 17 per cent of all UK HEI licences and created 12 per cent of all UK academic companies with HEI ownership. This is with a population which is just 8.5 per cent of the UK total.
"It is an important element of our Smart Successful Scotland strategy that we utilise this tremendous asset by increasing the flow of ideas from our businesses and universities into the economy.
"It is only by doing so that we will be able to achieve our top priority of ensuring economic growth continues.
"The Executive can play a crucial role in helping to exploit the excellent work done in our universities.
"This is where programmes such as SEEKIT and SCORE are vital. They provide vital funding to help the sometimes difficult journey from good idea to a product that is successful in the market place."
Examples of the seven projects that will each receive £35,000 SCORE funding are:
- Bugstop Ltd: To create a practical, flexible, low cost and environmentally friendly barrier system for tackling the problem of crop pests for the amateur gardener, horticulturist and agriculturalist
- Axiope Ltd: To design a software solution for better scientific data management to support the requirements of laboratories that perform experimental research on proteins
The SEEKIT (the Scottish Executive Expertise, Knowledge & Innovation Transfer programme), and SCORE (the SME Collaborative Research scheme) initiatives were introduced last year.
They have a combined budget, over three years, of some £9 million. The schemes are aimed at increasing co-operation between universities and businesses, and encouraging more Scottish companies to become involved in research and development.
The SEEKIT programme supports universities, research institutes and other public sector bodies to put in place the infrastructure needed to facilitate co-operation in research and development and productive knowledge transfer between the Scottish public sector science base and our companies.
SEEKIT funds large projects, often costing over £500,000 usually with co-finance from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
To date the Executive has completed five SEEKIT awards and made offers totalling £2.4 million.
SCORE helps SMEs to fund collaborations with the science base. An SME or group of SMEs with a specific technical problem can assign part of the required research to a public sector research body and SCORE will help pay for it.
Financial support is available up to a maximum grant of £35,000 per project.
The first SCORE award was made to Cyclacel last June. As a result the seven awards announced today takes the overall total to eight.