Transport Systems Catapult has today issued an Invitation To Tender to higher education institutions offering participation in our University Partner Programme.

Transport Systems Catapult is not seeking to fund new research. We are however seeking partners in order to link directly with the academic community and the regions. In addition, we're keen to benefit from access to world class research relevant to Intelligent Mobility and know more about current research. Our objectives also include the formation of partnerships for further research and to help ensure the UK has a workforce to support the Intelligent Mobility market.

We're offering to fund up to six university partnerships, worth around £65,000 a year for up to three years to each university, covering up to 50% of the total partnership costs.

Our total expenditure for the University Partner Programme, which is just part of a wider set of academic engagement activities, will be up to £1 million over the next 3 years.

A diverse range of applications is encouraged

The call is designed to not be prescriptive about how the objectives of the programme could be delivered but we expect there to be some movement of people between the University Partners and our Innovation Centre in Milton Keynes.

Examples that proposals could consider are: secondments of academic staff to our Innovation Centre; PhD or other student projects held at the Transport Systems Catapult; events held at universities or within local business innovation communities; or, indeed, by innovative ways we've not considered.

The call went out to universities today with an application deadline of noon on 4 April 2014.

A panel will judge applications on quality of research and knowledge exchange, track record of staff, plans for delivery and value for money. The notification of results is scheduled for 14 April 2014.

Applications to our Academy Manager by 4 April - but please contact Denise Byrne (as below) for an intial discussion first.

The Transport Systems Catapult Ltd Invitation To Tender For University Partner Programme document is available to download

We're keen to encourage conversation with potential applicants to gauge demand. So to express interest or ask answers questions regarding the Transport Systems Catapult University Partner Programme please contact: Denise Byrne, Academy Manager, academy@ts.catapult.org.uk

Iain Stewart, the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes South, visited our offices on Friday 31 January for an update on progress since our move to Milton Keynes last November. Chief Executive, Steve Yianni presented the Catapult's ambitious plans for a world-class innovation centre based in the Pinnacle Building at the heart of Milton Keynes, due for completion by the end of May.

Mr Yianni and members of his executive team took the opportunity to update the Mr Stewart on the major innovation projects already up and running, some of which will involve Milton Keynes as a live test bed.

Mr Stewart, who also met members of staff at the Catapult, said, "I take a keen interest in the ambitious plans of Transport Systems Catapult. An efficient transport system for both people and goods is vital to the success of the UK economy".

"Transport Systems Catapult will help UK businesses exploit new and emerging technologies for which there is a large and growing global market".

Steve Yianni said, "The Transport Systems Catapult's Innovation Centre will provide a national hub for testing the latest theories on how transport systems interact and function against real-world demonstrators. This will help UK businesses to develop effective and sustainable solutions to the world's transport needs – for both freight and people".

He added, "I look forward to inviting Iain to the official opening of the Transport Systems Catapult Innovation Centre in the near future".

Here's our February Newsletter! Read about an exciting new Aviation project - Departure Planning Information, or if you are quick you could sign up to a Sentiment Mapping workshop on the 5th Feb. If you want to know more about the Catapults in general - who we are, what we do - then the Newsletter features a useful infographic. Also read on to see what our CEO Steve Yianni has been up to in January and dont forget to take a look at our blog. 

To raise the profile of the Transport Systems Catapult we now have a Blog, that will highlight and weave together the many strands of our activities, outside the more formal structure of, this, our News section.

The first, introductory, blog post Welcome: QA Passed - Transport Systems Catapult Now in Commission describes what it will cover, while the second, Instant Weather - an invitation for open innovation outlines how the project intends to specify the research the challenges facing businesses and organisations across the transport industry and related sectors, and an invitation an Innovation Challenge to be held next month at Sunderland Software Centre.

There's opportunity to comment on the articles, and engage with us via social media, and, as it grows, follow more closely what's going on at Transport Systems Catapult and in the transport systems community as a whole.

We hope you find it useful.

Our first Newsletter has safely arrived in the Email 'In Boxes' of our nearest and dearest supporters and critical friends - which includes a timely look back to Transport Systems Catapult's acheivements in it's first six months, and previews developments to come.

Beyond Steve's seasonal update and message, we want to talk with all those innovative thinkers in the transport sector and related industries.

Firstly, we want ideas. We're looking for your offerings for solving our ten key Intelligent Mobility innovation challenges. Please submit your ideas, inventions, app suggestions, or whatever solution you have in mind by completing our innovation collaboration form.

We also want to keep you informed of our progress. So please sign up to receive future newsletters, then you'll be hearing more from us in the New Year! 

The Transport Systems Catapult held its first major academic engagement event in Milton Keynes on 28^th November. Over 70 senior delegates from leading universities attended this event. It is the beginning of a programme that will ensure that the Catapult will help align academic innovation with UK businesses. 

Steve Yianni, CEO opened the event by confirmed the Catapult's commitment to working collaboratively with the academic community; driving UK leadership in intelligent mobility and promoting sustained UK economic growth and wellbeing.

The workshop was led by Paul Zanelli, Chief Technology Officer. It was a fun, informative, and highly productive day. The outputs will be used to develop the Catapult's overall strategy for engaging with academia across the UK. We are already looking forward to the next event.

For the Academic Engagement Workshop report click here