News

Programme launch: R2I Lab Impact Accelerator

11 November 2026

IGL has launched the R2I Lab Impact Accelerator with 12 knowledge exchange, technology transfer and innovation teams working to maximise the impact of their programmes.

The Accelerator will support teams to embed experimentation in their organisations and build their capability to evaluate in a more agile, systematic and evidence-informed way. The teams joining us bring a wide range of questions, from how to design and select for funding, to how to engage researchers and industry partners, to how to foster entrepreneurship and build ventures from university research. Here is who is taking part and what they are testing.

University of Greenwich (United Kingdom): The knowledge exchange team runs the KE4Impact Fund, an internal fund that supports university staff to develop activities that create demonstrable economic, social or environmental impact from Greenwich research, working with non-academic stakeholders. They are evaluating which forms and combinations of funding and support work best, including what can be added beyond funding to help researchers deliver that impact.

ICMol, University of Valencia (Spain): The Knowledge Transfer Unit at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) runs a programme that brings company and institute researchers together in shared research units, working on early products from the institute’s research. They are testing different ways of finding and engaging new industry partners for collaboration.

IDAEA-CSIC (Spain): The technology transfer team at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, part of Spain’s national research council (CSIC), is building a programme to move environmental research beyond publications and into use by industry. They are testing different approaches to identify new industry partners and increase collaboration.

Lancaster University (United Kingdom): The Impact team works to maximise the benefits of research for people, society, the economy and the environment. They support the delivery and evaluation of Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding and develop Lancaster’s portfolio of Impact Case Studies, bringing together funding, institutional support and impact culture to strengthen the development and generation of research impact.

Network of Entrepreneurial Institutional Leaders (Kenya): Network of Entrepreneurial Institutional Leaders (NEIL) runs a shared technology transfer service and deep-tech venture builder for Kenyan universities, helping promising innovations in climate and agriculture, bioeconomy and energy reach the market. They are testing whether university researchers become successful entrepreneurs when given the right venture-building support to turn their research into market-ready solutions. 

Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom): QUEST and Queen Mary Innovation run an innovation programme for early career researchers, with a first focus on cancer, combining workshops, an ideas competition and mentoring to help them turn deep tech research into real-world impact. They are testing which outreach and programme design choices get more early career researchers to take part, and make the programme more effective.

Responsible AI UK and University of Southampton (United Kingdom): Responsible AI UK and Future Worlds at the University of Southampton run AIR. AIR is a launchpad for innovative AI startups growing out of university research. Future Worlds finds extraordinary founder potential and provides the belief, connections and support that can turn ambitious ideas into world-changing companies. They are testing which ways of engaging the research community bring a broader, more representative group of researchers into AI entrepreneurship.

Royal Academy of Engineering (United Kingdom): The Green Future Fellowship is a unique programme supporting academics, entrepreneurs and innovators to develop and scale up their breakthrough climate solutions. The team are testing whether their selection process finds the best possible candidates, and how to increase the value of the support they offer.

SATT Conectus (France): A mutualized technology transfer office serving researchers across universities, research centers, and engineering schools in Alsace, France. The teams run different programmes to engage researchers and assess the potential of their work for technology transfer, in link with the entrepreneurship unit and the PUIA, University Innovation cluster.

SFS Group (United States): The open innovation team at SFS, a global manufacturer, runs a programme that matches university student projects to real company challenges, giving the company low-cost support for early-stage innovation. They are testing how to expand the projects across their offices worldwide, and so strengthen their engagement with local universities.

The American University in Cairo (Egypt): The technology transfer office provides researchers with outreach, an early assessment of their work’s commercial potential and tailored support to take it further. They are testing whether an AI interface for researchers helps streamline outreach and follow-up, and gets more researchers to engage and submit invention disclosures.

University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom): The Industry Engagement and Commercialisation team leads PreSpin, a Scottish Government-funded pilot of a shared, AI-enabled discovery platform bringing together university ventures, licensing and translational research. PreSpin helps investors, industry and other partners discover relevant opportunities and connect with the right university teams. They are testing whether shared discovery and coordinated promotion generate more engagement than institution-led approaches, and how this could support collaboration and commercialisation.

Over the coming months we will share the teams’ progress and findings, so that the wider knowledge exchange community can learn from their journey. Follow us on LinkedIn for updates.

This edition of the Impact Accelerator is part of IGL’s Research to Impact (R2I) Lab. It is fully funded by Coefficient Giving and delivered by IGL, in strategic partnership with ASTP, Knowledge Exchange UK and AUTM. 

If you would like to learn more about the programme or the R2I Lab, or to connect with Accelerator teams, please contact Apoorva Srikkanth at [email protected].