Transforming Systems through Partnership

Launched in 2019, the Transforming Systems through Partnership (TSP) programme evolved from the previous Industry–Academia Partnerships Programme (IAPP) to support over 260 projects that foster collaboration between universities and industry in the UK and four partner countries: Jordan, India, Thailand, and South Africa.

With grants averaging £50,000, the TSP programme addresses sustainable development goals through challenge-led research and innovation. Recognising that solving today’s most pressing development and sustainability challenges requires collaboration among academics, industry, government, and the public, the TSP programme builds trust, designs appropriate solutions, and scales their uptake. It achieves this by catalysing partnerships across universities, large companies, SMEs, start-ups, and civil society, effectively addressing the sustainable development goals.

Programme Objectives

The Transforming Systems through Partnership (TSP) programme has three core objectives:

• Promote challenge-led research and innovation that uses engineering to address sustainable challenges in partner countries, the UK and globally;
• Establish partnerships in course design and delivery that equip the next generation with skills to address sustainable development challenges;
• Facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange that creates a strong evidence base for building better systems for the world we want to live in.

The main inputs to the TSP programme are monetary and non-monetary resources. In terms of monetary resources, TSP awards grants to applicants through funds provided by the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF).

The TSP programme operates a match funding model whereby the award amount requested must be matched by at least 50% in cash or in-kind contributions from partner countries. The matched funding could either be provided by the in-country implementation teams or by the partnership itself. The matched funding requirement is an important element of the programme as it shows the commitment of partners to the projects funded by the TSP programme.

Over time, the IAPP/TSP funding model has changed with the award amount being increased from £40,000 to £80,000. Non-monetary inputs are also important to the programme and include time and expertise from the staff of the Academy and partner organisations, as well as partner networks and knowledge, and in-kind contributions from universities and industrial partners, such as laboratories and equipment. 

Activities

The core activities within the TSP programme are largely focused around four main strands: 

• Research and innovation 
• Teaching and learning 
• Community engagement 
• Programme-level activities implemented by the Academy 

Conducting joint research and innovation projects among partners, including bilateral visits and exchanges, technology development, building research and innovation capacity in partner organisations, and taking new research approaches is one of the most significant activities of TSP. Partners also develop new professional training modules for early-career researchers and engineer and contribute to curricular reforms (in higher education). Networking, engaging local communities and disseminating knowledge are other activities of TSP partnerships. The Academy manages the TSP programme and in the past has organised programme-level activities, such as international networking events where partners are invited to network with each other and exchange knowledge. 

Case Studies

We have previously funded projects in the following areas:

• Sustainable food, land, water & oceans                
• Health & wellbeing                                                  
• Digital revolution for sustainable development
• Education, gender & inequality                             
• Sustainable cities and communities                      

You can view case studies for each of these areas as well as further case studies below.

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