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We are delighted to present the 2020-2021 Interface Annual Review in a new interactive format which showcases the outcomes and impacts from a very busy 12 months. We invite you to explore further by clicking on the links.

Please keep in touch with ideas, opportunities and challenges – we are here to help enable productive partnerships.

Photo by Alan Pratt, Interface.

What do community enterprises, social enterprises and third sector organisations have in common?

They can all benefit from tapping into the expertise within Scotland’s higher and further education to realise their ambitions.

Interface, who connects organisations into academic expertise, works closely with partners such as Firstport and Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS) to offer seamless, tailored support for high potential social enterprises and social innovation projects. But what exactly is social innovation and why does it matter?

According to Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, “Social innovation is about developing new ideas to tackle social problems or meet social needs. It may be a new product, service, initiative, organisational model or approach to the delivery of public services.”

In their recently published strategy to 2030 Nesta pledge resource to address three defining societal challenges: give every child a fairer start, help people to live healthier lives; and build a more sustainable economy.

Social entrepreneurs, or organisations which exist for a social cause like Nesta’s priorities, often have great ideas to deliver more of the service or product they offer, but don’t always have the expertise in- house to research possible solutions. Collaborating with academics can open the door to fresh-thinking, turning wish-lists into reality, with potentially huge benefits to society.

Through the Firstport LaunchMe Accelerator, Interface have supported several organisations with such projects offering examples of what can be achieved through collaboration.

Woodside Arran Farm CIC, a community interest company based on the beautiful Isle of Arran, is a permaculture farm which recently completed a pilot to secure a unique contract with their local authority for procuring fresh produce for the island. This model offers a significant reduction in food travelling miles, plus an example of how regenerative horticulture methods can produce healthy organic food combined with increased carbon organic matter within the soil. The project aims to show how public bodies meal plans can deliver quality food sourced locally. By targeting schools and care homes, this ensures the most vulnerable people have access to nutritious food, reducing food insecurity.

Matched by Interface a collaborative project between the farm and the University of Stirling will evaluate data and learnings gathered from the past 18 months. The goal is to deliver a clear case to local authorities that this local sourcing model can provide the societal, economic and environmental benefits that are crucial in sustaining rural fragile economies as well as demonstrating an easily transferable model for other communities in Scotland.

Interface have also helped Falkirk based Sustainable Thinking Scotland CIC, an environmental social enterprise, in reaching their goals to develop methods of economically producing carbon-rich biochar from local wood waste.  This new process avoids sending wood to landfill, significantly abates carbon, and the biochar (similar to charcoal), has desirable properties which help address several agricultural, ecological, and environmental issues. Interface connected the social enterprise to academic experts at the University of the Highlands and Islands to adapt their biochar production methods and bring the product to market.

Interface’s inclusive approach welcomes businesses and third sector organisations of all sizes and our place-based regional delivery across Scotland means that no one and nowhere is left behind when it comes to accessing innovation support and contributing to Nesta’s 2030 vision. Contact us if you’d like to find out more.

Scotmas is encouraging South of Scotland businesses to follow their lead and think innovatively, as the award-winning Kelso disinfection specialists create eight new high skilled jobs.

Scotmas teamed up with Robert Gordon University (RGU), through support from Interface, which resulted in the development of a new, innovative method of water disinfection without harmful by-products, suitable for use in drinking water, hospitals and food production applications worldwide.

The project led to Scotmas and RGU being presented with the ‘Innovation of the Year’ title at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards in April 2021. The first of several units to be built using the technology left the company’s Kelso base earlier this month to enter service with a major water utility company in the Middle East, representing the start of a multi-million dollar sales pipeline for the company over the next five years.

Scotmas has worked with several academic partners since being introduced to Interface, which impartially connects organisations from a wide variety of national and international industries to all of Scotland’s universities, research institutes and colleges.

The business has taken part in eight collaborative projects with academia since the first project facilitated by Interface, including two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) with Heriot-Watt University.

And now thanks to innovation support from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), the company is planning to begin manufacturing of primary ingredients for disinfectants at its Kelso plant, with the creation of eight new high skilled jobs, taking the total number of jobs at Scotmas to 63.

Alistair Cameron, CEO of Scotmas, said:

“As a relatively small business, we need to be nimbler and more innovative than our multinational competitors.

“Scotland has an unparalleled academic base of knowledge that can help us do this, however it is sometimes difficult to know where to start. 

“The matchmaking service provided by Interface enables access to the wealth of specialist academic knowledge in Scotland.

“Our latest award is testament to what can be achieved when business and academia work together, and we look forward to these partnerships continuing for many years.”

Dr Siobhan Jordan, Interface Director, added:

“We have been delighted to support the team at Scotmas over the last few years by impartially sourcing academic experts to partner on the development of a range of new products and services.  It is extremely exciting to see the direct outcomes – creating new jobs and delivering international sales.

“We hope that many other businesses are inspired to consider what is possible through productive partnerships.”

SOSE is also working alongside Interface to encourage innovation in the South of Scotland.

SOSE’s Chief Executive Jane Morrison-Ross said:

“Scotmas’ work with Interface and academic partners is a fantastic example of how investing in innovation can benefit South of Scotland businesses and organisations.

“SOSE’s vision is to establish the South of Scotland as a centre of opportunity, innovation and growth, which is why we are delighted to be supporting Scotmas with the latest development of their company and the creation of new highly skilled jobs in the region.”

Notes to Editors
 

South of Scotland Enterprise and Interface have agreed to work together to help deliver collaborations between Scotland’s academic institutions, SME’s and community organisations in the South of Scotland.

The new partnership will see SOSE provide funding of £75,000 for a one-year period to enable Interface to inspire greater numbers of businesses and communities in the South of Scotland of the benefits and opportunities from working with the knowledge and expertise of Scotland’s Universities and Colleges. The arrangement will also support more businesses and communities to become innovation active, improve their resilience and competitiveness and drive recovery from COVID 19.  A particular area of focus of the new partnership will be enabling the longer-term ambitions of the region including achieving Net Zero.

With team members based in the South of Scotland, Interface works with businesses of all sizes, in all sectors, to match them to Scotland’s world-leading academic expertise to help them grow. With connections into all Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges, Interface has an established and efficient processes that will save businesses and organisations time and money in finding and accessing academic expertise, research, technologies, specialist facilities and funding.

South of Scotland Enterprise Chief Executive, Jane Morrison-Ross, said:

“There are already a number of excellent examples of Interface working successfully with a variety of South of Scotland businesses and organisations and I am delighted this work can expand further thanks to this new partnership with SOSE.

“SOSE’s vision is to establish the South of Scotland as a centre of opportunity, innovation and growth, and our new agreement with Interface is another step towards realising this goal.”

ThermaFY Group, based in Kelso, have scaled their business through the new connections fostered by Interface since 2010. Amanda Pickford, Director, ThermaFY Group, said:

“Without Interface my business journey would not have taken the path that it has, the support and expertise has enabled me to tackle complex problems, way beyond my expertise and for that, I will forever sing their praises from the rooftops! I wish that Interface continue to engage with emerging companies with novel ideas, as it’s through the expertise within academia and the opportunities SME’s encounter that wonderful new business can grow and transform society.”

Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, said:

“We welcome the investment from South of Scotland Enterprise. There is huge potential within the region, and we look forward to further enhancing relationships with the South of Scotland Enterprise team ensuring that Interface foster valuable connections across the region. Through partnering local businesses and communities with our world-leading academic institutions we can tackle economic and societal challenges in innovative ways helping to boost productivity, create new jobs and drive sustainable and inclusive growth and well-being.”

Businesses interested in tapping into the free and impartial Interface service can contact us or email info@interface-online.org.uk

The Scottish Funding Council has today published their final report of their review of how best they can fulfil their mission of securing coherent tertiary education skills provision and excellence in research and knowledge exchange in these changing times Review of Coherent Provision and Sustainability – phase 3 (sfc.ac.uk).

The seven key recommendations for system change cover the breadth of the SFC’s mission and are far-reaching from finding better ways to support learning throughout life to developing a clear strategic, longer-term vision and intent for the future of tertiary education and research undertaken by colleges and universities in Scotland. We particularly welcome the sustaining research and enhancing knowledge exchange which is integral to the work of Interface.   

In welcoming the report, Dr. Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface commented: 

“The consultation led by the Scottish Funding Council has been wide ranging, ambitious and inclusive.  And it provides a fantastic journey planner for the coming years. We look forward to working with all partners including Universities and Colleges to enable greater knowledge exchange and innovation support for a green recovery, a well-being economy and transition to a net-zero carbon society.”

A partnership to boost public service innovation has been announced today (23, June).

Interface, which matches organisations to universities and colleges for innovative research and development, and CivTech, the Scottish Government’s public services innovation accelerator, have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding.

By working together in this way, the organisations will offer seamless support to the small and medium sized businesses which are providing solutions to challenges facing public sector organisations today, including those presented by COVID-19.

Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, said:

“Interface and CivTech are well placed to drive daring and innovation in the public sector by collaboratively solving challenges through business – academic partnerships to make people’s lives better—and in doing so, creating generations of sustainable, high growth businesses.   

Interface is supporting all the small and medium sized businesses participating in the CivTech accelerator programmes, enabling them to access academic expertise to further develop products and services which are addressing challenges facing the NHS, local authorities and other public sector organisations. Through the partnership with CivTech the team at Interface will unlock the expertise and talent from across Scottish Universities to accelerate the tech for good solutions being developed by the businesses participating in the CivTech Accelerators.

Ultimately, these developments will benefit people using public services by making them more efficient and will benefit Scotland with valuable cost-savings to the public purse.

For public sector organisations, CivTech offers a route to develop highly innovative products and services in a fast, efficient and safe way, using private sector systems such as open challenges and tech accelerators. In a tech world that is increasingly fast paced and ever-changing, CivTech solves the problem of ‘how to procure what you don’t know exists.”

One example of businesses working with academics is the digital identity developer Yoti and bioscience company GeneMe, who are currently working on a CivTech 5.0 Challenge to help NHS Scotland tackle COVID-19 through improved mass testing technology.

Interface was able to quickly match Yoti to academic expertise at Robert Gordon University and leverage financial support through a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher to support the collaboration. This new partnership will develop a prototype for mass patient testing at the point of care.

Carl Dawson at Yoti commented:

“Working with CivTech, Interface and Robert Gordon University (RGU) has been really fruitful for Yoti. The project with (RGU) has been vital in fuelling changes to the prototype of our COVID Testing Cube which could help save lives and bring resilience and sustainability to communities across Scotland, not just for the current pandemic but for future public health emergencies. Working with the team was a pleasure and I urge other businesses to reach out and make use of the valuable resources and connections on offer through CivTech and Interface.”

Ivan McKee, Trade Minister at the Scottish Government, said:

“The relationship between Interface and CivTech has been developing really well, with real results for the SMEs in the CivTech mix, over a good few years. So in one way, the MOU we’ve developed is just a formalisation of our relationship. But it’s also so much more. It charts ambitious plans for further developing an already very productive relationship. And – perhaps most importantly – it’s another step on the road as organisations such as CivTech, Interface, Scottish Business Network and CENSIS come together, collaborate, share knowledge, knowhow, experience and resources, and create a truly joined approach. Together we are stronger.”

CivTech 6 launched on 14 June 2021. More information can be found at CivTech 6 — The CivTech Alliance

Developing new ideas and bringing them to market can be a complicated business and there is much to consider, especially in the early stages.

How the new product, process or service will be financed, which business model best suits its commercialisation and who to bring on board to accelerate development to market are big questions which businesses must decide on.

When thinking about collaborative partners who could inject valuable knowledge, Scotland’s universities, research institutes and colleges offer world-class resources from all disciplines.

The issue of time to market is vitally important, and with this in mind, Scotland’s universities have developed a suite of 15 standard legal agreements, introduced to help make business-academic partnerships simpler and easier from the start.

The downloadable, free, standard legal agreements provide a clear starting point to quickly help reach mutual understanding between the business and their academic partner over areas like confidentiality and intellectual property. A variety of forms of collaboration, from research to studentship agreements, are covered by the standard legal agreements and take into account a range of scenarios determined by the company’s contribution to the partnership.

The Scottish University partners supported by Interface want to make it as easy as possible for businesses and universities to work together and give peace of mind in establishing the collaboration.  The standard legal agreements save time and money, reduce the chance of any misunderstandings arising and aim to get business-academic partnerships agreed quickly.   

The standard legal agreements will also prompt discussions at the initial stages of the project scoping. A question often asked by businesses is: “How can I protect the Intellectual Property (IP) and what happens if I work with an academic who brings new ideas and knowledge to develop the original idea?”. The variety of templates available provide clarity with respect to IP ownership thereby reducing the perceived barriers of academic – business engagement.

One business that has benefited from using the legal agreements is Middle Way Ltd, who collaborated with Glasgow Caledonian University and University of Glasgow on separate projects to investigate the ingredient properties and explore international markets for their naturally brewed soft drinks.

The collaboration with Glasgow Caledonian University was funded by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher.

Catriona Monson, who co-founded the company, said: “Our initial project with Glasgow Caledonian University was an exciting project that has safeguarded our production process, given us a comprehensive understanding of storage requirements for our culture, and has led on to further research projects. Having the standard documentation has made the legal and administrative side of collaborating really quick and easy for us and meant that we could focus our time on the important part of getting started with the research.”

Dr. Mike Smith, Executive and Policy Manager, SRUC who convened the Scottish Universities group responsible for developing the standard legal agreements said:

“Getting all the 19 Scottish Universities to agree on commonly used legal templates will help smooth the pathway to collaborations with a diversity of organisations in both the public and private sectors.

It helps to underscore how much the universities value the importance of collaborating with businesses and other organisations to help promote innovation and enterprise and is a practical demonstration of Scottish Universities being very much open for business.”

The major COVID-19 testing facility and a camera in a pill for early diagnosis of bowel cancer symptoms, are just two of the winners in Scotland’s premier awards celebrating business-academic knowledge exchange.

Interface, the business-academic matching service, announced the winners of the 6th annual Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards today (Wednesday, 21 April), on World Creativity and Innovation Day, after a record number of entries to the awards.

Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, said:

“The judges were incredibly humbled and impressed by the innovation and creativity, exemplar partnerships and overall impacts of the applications across all eight categories.

“From responses to the COVID-19 crisis, to breakthrough technologies in health, circular economy and poultry genetics, the winners announced today are an impressive showcase of the incredible collaborative work which goes on every day in Scotland, and a celebration of the people behind the partnerships from all industry sectors and across all academic disciplines.

“They bring renewed admiration for knowledge sharing between businesses, social enterprises, public bodies, such as the NHS, universities and colleges across Scotland.”

The winners are:

Making a Difference

Scottish Leather Group (SLG Technology), Bridge of Weir, and Edinburgh Napier University for the development of new, high value products and processes from waste and offcuts, which have significantly impacted on manufacturers, as well as contributing to education, and sustainable art.

Multiparty Collaboration

The Scottish Capsule Programme (SCOTCAP) – Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Highland, NHS Tayside, NHS Grampian, NHS Western Isles, Medtronic plc, Corporate Health International UK Ltd, Bowel Cancer Scotland, University of Aberdeen and University of Strathclyde. The collaboration was tasked to co-design, deliver and evaluate the use of a minimally invasive “Pillcam” containing a digital camera as a viable, safe, and cost-effective alternative to colonoscopy for early diagnostic testing for Bowel cancer symptoms.  

COVID-19 Collaborative Response

The Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, hosted by University of Glasgow at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus, a major new COVID-19 testing facility established with BioAscent Ltd and the University of Dundee, and subsequently developed and managed by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with high-throughput industry experts BioClavis Ltd.

One of the largest academic-run diagnostic facilities in the world, the laboratory has recently reached the 10 million COVID-19 test milestone. 

Powerful Partnership

Cobb Vantress Inc, a global poultry genetics business, and University of Edinburgh have worked together since 2013 across animal welfare, disease resistance, food security and preserving biodiversity to ensure a sustainable global poultry industry. 

Innovator of the Future – sponsored by SCI

Dr Jakub Rycerz, KTP Associate, from the University of the West of Scotland, who collaborated with Phoenix Instinct Ltd, Forres, on the design and manufacturing of a SMART, light-weight carbon fibre wheelchair frame integrating electronic systems that will revolutionise mobility.

Knowledge Exchange Champion – sponsored by SCI

Professor Malcolm Macdonald, University of Strathclyde, is instrumental in the development of Scotland’s space sector. His work as Director of the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications from 2014-2020 supported the creation of 16 new companies, and his media work has promoted Scotland on the global stage. Prof. Macdonald is leading the Space Technology Cluster as part of the Glasgow City Innovation District.

Knowledge Exchange Heroes

Dr Andrea Taylor, Head of Business Development, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the University of Edinburgh. Andrea is passionate about Knowledge Exchange and a relentless champion of her team. Her drive and ambition have led a proactive industry engagement strategy delivering significant investment and nurturing new company formation.

Innovation of the Year – sponsored by Marks & Clerk

Scotmas Group Ltd, Kelso, and Robert Gordon University for the development of a new and innovative method of producing disinfectants without harmful by-products for use in hospitals, water supplies and food production applications.

The winners were announced online at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards Ceremony on 21st April 2021.

Tourism attractions in Dumfries and Galloway have been finding new ways to share their experiences during lockdown with the help of insights from Scottish universities, to increase their visitor numbers despite being closed.

When COVID-19 forced them to shut, the Whithorn Trust and the Wanlockhead Museum Trust (Museum of Lead Mining), were supported by Interface, which matches organisations to academics, to help them develop digital services to increase their profile and their virtual offering to visitors.

The organisations both developed digital projects with academics and students at the University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh, who worked in partnership over the summer of 2020.  These collaborations resulted in:

The Museum of Lead Mining benefitting from the creation of a static scenes virtual reality tour of the lead mine, miners’ library, and miners’ cottages. A pre-Christmas pilot campaign was also undertaken to build a social media following, which generated 18,000+ post engagements, and 1,575 link clicks. Their Facebook page following went up by 17% to 2,700 potential visitors during that brief campaign.  A subsequent campaign that will help raise donations for the museum and increase their following has recently been launched.

Kathryn Linsell, Trustee of Wanlockhead Museum, said: “I can only thank Mari Findlay for the introduction to Dr Kirsten Cowan at University of Edinburgh and Dr Alena Kostyk at University of Glasgow. Both are a bubble of knowledge, energy and enthusiasm.”

The Whithorn Trust now has a static scenes virtual reality tour for the Trust’s Iron Age Roundhouse and Priory, and the academics are in the process of creating a 360-degree video virtual reality tour. A Facebook campaign was designed and tested to facilitate the sales of the Whithorn Trust’s “digital ticket” initiative and to build a larger social media following.

Julia Muir Watt, Development Manager at The Whithorn Trust said: “Dr Kostyk and Dr  Cowan have been hugely helpful and very proactive, helping not only with expertise, but also with funding. It’s been a great project and is working in very well with our new digital ambitions.  We’d certainly work with a university again if we got the right project – great experience!”  

Interface’s Business Engagement Executive for Dumfries and Galloway, Mari Findlay, introduced both organisations to the academics, who continue to work together on new marketing projects to further benefit the museums.

She said: “In response to COVID-19, Interface – who match businesses and social enterprises to academic expertise, came up with the initiative for Adopt a Business after asking university academics and students if they would be prepared to help Scottish tourist attractions and accommodation providers due to COVID-19 impact. VisitScotland and the Scottish Tourism Alliance promoted the opportunity to their members and over 80 tourism organisations came forward seeking support.

“The aim was to help visitor attractions and tourist companies to recover from the impact of lockdown by diversifying their businesses and adapting to the new environment of predominantly UK visitors enjoying “staycations”.

“We were overwhelmed with the response from universities across Scotland in helping the tourism and hospitality industry, which has been so hard hit during the pandemic.”

The Adopt a Business initiative saw academics and students from 14 universities work on industry-led projects, including enhancing visitor experience using data; harnessing augmented and virtual reality; diversifying new products and services; marketing and digital strategies, and improving sustainability. 

The Museum of Lead Mining, Wanlockhead, was founded in 1974. It represents the local social and industrial history of this once important Scottish site of lead mining. The museum consists of an underground mine (open to the public); Straitsteps Cottages, representing the miners’ lives in 1750, 1850 and 1910; the Miners’ Library and the Visitor Centre housing the Museum. The museum is accredited and holds a Recognised Collection, including the library with its stock of 2,800 books. It is one of the oldest subscription libraries in Europe.

The Whithorn Trust was founded in 1988 to inspire the public with the story of Whithorn, which is one of the earliest sites in Scotland where archaeological evidence of Christian practice is found. The site was an early medieval monastery and later a pilgrimage shrine. The Trust operates a visitor centre; museum; guided tours, including its full-scale replica Iron Age Roundhouse; and a café and shop to support its activities. It also promotes wide ranging economic development and educational initiatives, working with bioarchaeologists on dating and population information for the early burials.