Supporting Small to Medium Sized Business Enterprises (SMEs)
QMU seeks to position itself as an engaged and entrepreneurial university, supporting our graduates and our industry partners, particularly SMEs, in realising Scotland’s economic aspirations.
Our portfolio of work in the provision of research, knowledge exchange and consultancy services to SMEs and industry continues to grow. We are very proud of our strong track record of working with businesses across Scotland, the UK and overseas, helping them to innovate and develop new processes and products through the application of our knowledge base, expertise and facilities.
Our services
Whatever your business requirement we will work closely with you to fully understand your business needs and priorities and will look to support you in:
- Developing collaborative research and knowledge exchange partnerships.
- Developing new and innovative products, processes or services.
- Accessing research and testing facilities at the University.
- Attracting funding to support your business innovation requirements.
- Accessing contract research and consultancy support.
Our areas of expertise
We have expertise in the following areas:
- Food and drink Our Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation (SCFDI) was established in response to demand from Scotland’s high growth food and drink industry for combined R&D and innovation space to support the sector in accessing export markets in the rapidly expanding global functional and healthy food sector
- Sustainable business We have expertise in international hospitality and tourism, events management, consumer behaviour and dispute resolution
- Culture and creative industries We have expertise in public relations, events, performing arts and cultural arts management
- Health and rehabilitation We have the widest range of allied health related courses of any university in Scotland and our research focuses on policy and practice which has practical impact on service delivery and patient care
- Social sciences The Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) conducts research into social issues that affect people’s lives locally, nationally and internationally
Funding opportunities
Through our links with partner institutions and industry we can also provide access to other funding initiatives from government and public sources.
- UK Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund This integral part of the government's Industrial Strategy adopts a challenge-focused approach and aims to bring together researchers and UK business to tackle some of the key issues affecting industry and society.
- SFC Innovation Voucher Scheme The scheme is aimed at encouraging new business and academic partnerships to drive innovation, leading to new products, processes or services, that will benefit the company, academic institute and Scottish economy.
- Innovate UK funding This government backed fund is open to UK businesses who wish to research and develop new product processes or services
- Horizon 20:20 funding EU research and innovation programme
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme helps businesses in the UK to innovate and grow by linking them with an academic or research organisation and a graduate
- Zero Waste Scotland Funding Grant funding for SME's who are helping to create a circular economy.
