We have exceptional links with local and national business and industry as a result of:

Our quality graduates – we have the best employment record of any UK university. During their time with us, our students benefit from working with top-flight academic scholars, built-in innovation and enterprise coaching and the opportunity to spend time in industry through our distinctive Professional Training year. This enables them to develop the work readiness which consistently gives them an edge in the jobs market.

Industrial Doctorates

our excellent links with industry were recognised in 2009 when we established two new multi-million-pound Industrial Doctoral Training Centres.

• Sustainability for Engineering and Energy Systems - working to meet the growing challenges in increasing the sustainability of industrial practices in the UK and its energy systems
• Micro and NanoMaterials and Technologies - offers solutions to academically challenging and industrially relevant processing-microstructure property relationship problems, keystones of the discipline
• The centres, two of only 17 nationally, will equip doctoral research engineers with “state-of-the-art” research expertise and the necessary business skills to turn pioneering ideas into products and services, helping to boost the UK’s economy

Knowledge Transfer and Exchange

we are very active in ensuring that our academic activities deliver transformational benefits for the UK economy and society. Recent examples of success in this field include:

• the acquisition of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) by EADS Astrium, Europe’s leading space company. SSTL is an innovative University of Surrey spin-out company that specialises in the design and manufacture of small satellites and subsystems.
• the opening in May 2011 of the International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC –Surrey), based on the Surrey Research Park and linked to the National Centre based at Harwell in Oxfordshire.
• the £10m knowledge transfer partnership between the University of Surrey and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The initiative is supported by a £4m Knowledge Transfer Account from EPSRC and an additional £6m funding from industrial partners and the University of Surrey. The joint Surrey/NPL team focuses upon three specific areas of technology, each with the potential to create transformational benefits for the UK economy and society:
• Communications and Signal Processing – including advances in mobile communications and internet connectivity.
• Next Generation Materials and Characterisation – with applications in automotive, aerospace and the growing sector of space and satellite engineering.
• Nanotechnology and Photonics – covering the latest in high speed optical communications and the next phase of miniaturisation in the semiconductor industry.

Industrial Research

We have one of the highest proportions of industrial research income of any UK University. A highlight over the last year was a major research grant award from the energy giant E.ON as part of their 'Application of Nanotechnology in the Energy Business' scheme.  The funding will support research to make solar cells which are both efficient and cost-effective.

World-leading facilities

Companies are attracted to work with us due to the high quality equipment and facilities on offer. These include:

• Surrey Clinical Research Centre - a purpose-built facility bringing together everything needed to deliver full service clinical trial solutions and sleep research.
• Ion Beam Centre - The Surrey Ion Beam Centre is a UK National Facility providing world-class material analysis services. This radically new technology will be used to challenge and characterise living biological materials, with applications to cancer treatment.

Surrey Research Park

we own the 70 acre (28.33 ha) Surrey Research Park, which is widely regarded as the best of its kind in the UK. The Research Park provides a high-quality, working environment with a tranquil, landscaped backdrop.  It is also home to the Surrey Technology Centre (STC), which provides top-class incubation facilities for start-up companies. Incubation is a growing activity at Surrey, giving University staff and students as well as local entrepreneurs the opportunity to start-up their own business.  The STC also links to other major regional incubation initiatives, providing accommodation for the South England Economic Development Agency Enterprise Hub and for the SETsquared university consortium consisting of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey.

As a result, we have access to140 companies on the Research Park and interact with over 500 companies working across the full spectrum of Science, Engineering, Design, Law, Media & IT, Consultancy, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Medical based activities. These industry links support our academic programmes enabling us to develop academic modules based on industry need.  

Commercialisation

Our links with industry have increased the potential for commercialisation of University intellectual property. We are one of an elite number of research intensive UK universities which have formed a partnership with UK venture capital company IP Group, specialists in the financing of university spin-out companies.