Six universities across the south of England have joined a landmark partnership to help make research work for business and communities.
The University of Chichester, the University of Portsmouth, Southampton Solent University, Health Sciences University, Arts University Bournemouth and the University of Winchester will create a Shared Virtual Technology Transfer Office (SV-TTO) – a first-of-its-kind collaboration for the region.
A technology transfer office is the team within a university that helps researchers turn their discoveries into practical outcomes, whether that’s founding a new company, licensing an invention to an existing business, or striking a deal with an industry partner to develop a product or service.
Until now, each university has operated independently, but the new partnership pools expertise, resources and networks across all six institutions.
The University of Portsmouth is leading the initiative, hosting the shared infrastructure and coordinating the programme.
Dr Clive Hayter, Director of Research & Innovation at the University of Chichester, said:
“This partnership represents a significant step forward in how we translate research into real-world impact. By working collaboratively across six institutions, we are strengthening our collective ability to support researchers, accelerate innovation and ensure more ideas reach the communities and businesses that can benefit from them. For the University of Chichester, this is an exciting opportunity to widen access to commercialisation expertise, enhance our contribution to regional growth, and play a meaningful role in building a more connected and ambitious innovation ecosystem across the region.”
The collaboration arrives at a pivotal moment for British higher education. The Government’s Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, published in October 2025, called for universities to move away from competition and towards collaboration. It urged institutions to create a “compelling regional offer” that drives local economic growth.
Dr Louise Farrand, Head of Intellectual Property and Commercialisation at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Ultimately, this is about jobs, growth and opportunity for people across the south of England. When a university spin-out succeeds, it creates employment. When a local business licenses a new technology, it grows. We want more of that happening in the region, and this partnership gives us a much better chance of making it happen.”
By bringing six institutions together under a shared operational model, the partnership is designed to cut duplication, deepen regional impact and direct more resource towards getting ideas out of the lab and into the world.
The White Paper also signalled Government support for joint working on research commercialisation and committed to exploring how universities could collaborate on research grants and shared facilities – both central to what the SV-TTO is designed to deliver.
While the six universities will work together and share expertise, each institution retains full ownership of its own intellectual property. The partnership is focused on support and capability-building, not centralised control.
The collaboration is designed to:
- Help researchers across the region bring ideas to market more quickly
- Support the creation of spin-out companies and licensing deals
- Widen access to innovation support, including for researchers who may not previously have had it
- Cut duplication and make better use of shared resources
- Create a replicable model that other universities could adopt
The partnership builds on a successful pilot project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which identified a pipeline of early-stage commercial opportunities across the partner universities and delivered joint training for research and innovation staff.
The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which sets out a shared framework for collaboration, signed by senior representatives of all six universities.