Project Collaboration
Working with business has traditionally been an integral part of the work of Design Schools, now, more than ever, there are powerful benefits from collaboration, whether you need innovation, routes to market, funding, specialist recruitment, design or research.
Types of collaboration
While projects can take many formats and cover an enormous range of subjects and sectors, they will always be specifically tailored to your needs. The main starting point for your individual project could be:
Student group projects
Final year and dissertation projects
Competitions
Student placements and recruitment
Collaborative research
Consultancy research
Matchmaking
Student group projects:
- 1-12 weeks
- Tailored to meet client and student needs
- Planned in advance with teaching teams
- Recent examples: Marks & Spencer, RNID and Remote Control Lighting.
Final year and dissertation projects:
- 30 weeks (one academic year) starting in September
- Close individual student supervision from an academic with relevant experience
- Students may continue work on successful projects after graduation as employees or consultants
- Recent examples: Lightweight Medical, Quality Registration Systems and Life Lab
Competitions:
- May involve one or several institutions
- Recent examples: Marks & Spencer and Remote Control Lighting
Student placements and recruitment:
- May take place during university vacations or a whole academic year
- Teams of professionals in place to support placements and recruitment
- Identify the highest quality potential new employees
- Flexible, skilled and cost-effective resource
- Designplus can help tailor the process to your design-related needs.
Collaborative research:
- Join existing research consortia
- Form new groups to bid for Government or EC research funding
Consultancy research:
- Identify the best researchers and facilities to support your research requirements
- Recent examples: London Development Agency
Matchmaking:
- We facilitate teams to work together
- We identify specialists and resources within the university
- Our events often germinate collaborations through networking opportunities.
Designplus support
Costs and funding: Too busy to unravel the range of financial models available for collaborative work? Designplus’s experts facilitate this process with clear, relevant information on funding from many sources for projects of all sizes.
None of our activities are intended to undermine commercial activity by competing on cost. Our collaborations offer qualities not available from conventional business.
Intellectual Property rights: Designplus can share a considerable track record of managing IP issues, with the support of IP professionals within the Westfocus Universities.
Project contacts: By providing streamlined points of contact within a university, Designplus ensures that you work with individuals with strong personal commitments to your project.
Contact the Designplus team if you want to talk more about projects.