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Lancaster University

At Lancaster University, The Times and The Sunday Times International University of the Year 2020, we have always welcomed the challenges that businesses provide us. Lancaster University’s award-winning Partnerships and Business Engagement Team has assisted over 11,000 organisations and hosted over 136 businesses since 2005 in our co-location facilities on our 560-acre parkland campus.

We facilitate a variety of collaborative research projects, including over £60m of investment from European Structural Investment Funds to work with SMEs, and projects funded by the Government’s £725m Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. There are lots of ways for organisations to collaborate, from student placements, contract research, facilities access, professional development to multi-partner collaborative research projects.

Greater Innovation for Smarter Materials Optimisation (GISMO)

One of our key projects which will appeal to Cheshire businesses is the Greater Innovation for Smarter Materials Optimisation (GISMO) programme, which provides cutting-edge ideas and solutions to put businesses in Cheshire and Warrington ahead of the curve in the use, design and manufacture of materials. The £4.4m programme offers Cheshire and Warrington SMEs fully-funded access to the experts in the Materials Science Institute at Lancaster University, giving you access to research and development expertise and specialist technology to solve industry-driven challenges through innovations in 'smart' materials. We can help eligible SMEs improve designs, products and processes in the areas of additive manufacturing, chemicals and hydrogen, and surfaces and coatings. GISMO is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. To find out more, please visit www.smarter-materials.co.uk