Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has joined forces with five other leading southern universities to launch a first-of-its-kind collaborative initiative designed to turn academic innovation and creative research into thriving regional businesses.
The landmark partnership will establish a Shared Virtual Technology Transfer Office (SV-TTO) for the Wessex region.
A technology transfer office is the team within a university that helps researchers and creatives turn their discoveries, designs, and intellectual property into practical, commercial outcomes, whether that’s founding a spin-out company, licensing a creative invention, or partnering with industry to develop new products and services.
While traditional technology transfer often focuses on clinical or heavy scientific fields, AUB’s involvement ensures that the region’s booming creative, digital, and design sectors are at the heart of this new economic engine.
By pooling expertise, resources, and industry networks across all six partner institutions, the SV-TTO will make it easier than ever for AUB’s researchers, makers and innovators to bring their ideas to market.
Daniel Cox, the Head of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at AUB, says, “This partnership marks a significant step forward for the creative economy in the South.
“At AUB, our research and innovation consistently push the boundaries of design, digital media, and sustainable technology. Joining this collaborative alliance means our academics and creators will have direct, streamlined access to the specialist commercialisation support they need to turn brilliant concepts into successful regional enterprises, creating jobs and driving growth in the creative industries.”
The initiative aligns closely with the Government’s Post-16 Education and Skills agenda, which urges universities to move away from competition and work together to deliver a strong, unified regional offer that supports local businesses.
Crucially, while the six universities will share resources and expertise to accelerate ideas to market, each institution, including AUB, retains full ownership of its own intellectual property (IP).
The SV-TTO is designed to:
- Accelerate innovation: Help researchers and creative innovators bring ideas to market more quickly.
- Support new ventures: Assist in the creation of regional spin-out companies and high-value licensing deals.
- Democratise support: Widen access to professional commercialisation advice for researchers and creatives who may not have previously navigated the spin-out process.
- Maximise resources: Cut administrative duplication across the region to ensure funding goes directly to supporting innovators.
The partnership builds upon a successful pilot scheme funded by UK Research and Innovation, which successfully identified a pipeline of early-stage commercial opportunities across the south. The collaboration has now been formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by senior leaders from all participating institutions.
The six partnering universities are AUB, the University of Portsmouth (which will host the shared digital infrastructure), Southampton Solent University, the University of Chichester, Health Sciences University, and the University of Winchester.
