Roehampton is proud to announce the winners of our inaugural Mini Knowledge Transfer Partnership (Mini-KTP) competition. The competition aims to bring together forward-thinking businesses and expert academics to tackle strategic innovation challenges.
The initiative supports the development of early-stage projects with the potential to grow into full Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), a national programme that connects businesses with academic expertise to drive innovation and impact. More about the scheme can be found at iuk-ktp.org.uk.
After a highly competitive selection process, two projects were awarded Mini-KTP funding:
Clerkenwell Health and Dr Savin Bapir-Tardy, School of Psychology
Dr Savin Bapir-Tardy and Clerkenwell Health will work together to develop pathways for the validation, standardisation and accreditation of Clerkenwell Health’s psychedelic healthcare practitioner training programme.
Together they aim to embed capacities through the development of validated trainings to grow the market, improve patient outcome, secure further training trial contracts and drive forward legislation for this novel treatment.
Dr Henry Fisher, Chief Scientific Officer at Clerkenwell Health said:
“We have found working with the School of Psychology, University of Roehampton both engaging and hugely rewarding. Our collaboration, drawing on their knowledge and experience of therapeutic trainings, is creating a solid foundation for our healthcare practitioner training programme, and the wider development of psychedelic-assisted therapy as a standardised clinical intervention.”
The Amber Trust and Sarah McCarthy, School of Education
Sarah McCarthy will collaborate with The Amber Trust, a charity supporting blind and partially sighted children through music. The project will provide a roadmap for the development of two new musical devices for children and young people who have limited movement and may have other disabilities. One device will be for those with advanced musical skills. The other device will be designed for those whose musical abilities are still developing.
Sophie Amstell, CEO of The Amber Trust said:
“We are thrilled that The Amber Trust has received a Mini KTP award to collaborate with Roehampton’s School of Education, renowned for its excellence in teaching and research. This partnership provides our small charity with invaluable academic expertise, enabling us to drive forward innovations that will profoundly enhance the lives of the blind and partially sighted young people we support.
Through this Mini KTP, we will further develop the Mugo—a groundbreaking, sensor-based digital musical instrument currently in prototype form, that was originally designed in collaboration with the School of Education. The Mugo allows music to be created through movement, offering an inclusive and accessible way for disabled young people to engage with music-making. With this funding, we can refine the instrument’s design and ensure that the voices of disabled young people shape its development. We are excited to see the impact of this partnership unfold in the months ahead.”
Dr Jonathan Isserow, Institutional KTP Lead and Head of Partnerships & Community Engagement said:
“The mini-KTP competition catalysed discussions – across the University – about the value of the KTP scheme. This scheme supports businesses and charities find solutions to their challenges through the transfer of knowledge from the academy to industry. I am delighted that the University’s first mini-KTP competition yielded two diverse projects, amidst strong competition. I look forward to supporting the awardees development as they progress.”