Research funding to enable engagement between retail industry and academia
Monday 13 October 2008
Professor Michelle Lowe from the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Surrey has been awarded £1.45 million over the next five years by the ESRC as part of a partnership business engagement cluster involving the Universities of Southampton, Leeds, Oxford and Surrey. Led by Professor Neil Wrigley at the University of Southampton, the ESRC Retail Industry Business Engagement Network (RIBEN) builds on strong existing research partnerships that the four institutions have with the retail sector.
RIBEN is one of four ESRC capacity building clusters created with the aim of providing a new generation of high quality researchers committed to direct engagement and co-production of knowledge with the business sector.
The £6 million capacity building clusters initiative responds to recent Governments reviews such as Sainsbury, Leitch and the Innovation Nation White paper that have specifically highlighted the need to build expertise to contribute to innovation in business.
RIBEN offers considerable opportunities to promote innovation and enhance competitiveness amongst retail firms in the region via Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) arrangements and via a business voucher scheme. The voucher scheme will enable small and medium sized retail firms to apply to RIBEN for £3,000 vouchers which they can use to access university research relevant to their business innovation needs. Local retail firms interested in the business voucher scheme should contact Professor Lowe at the University of Surrey.
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