About us
Established in November 2002, Dialogues offers a range of services which can be tailored to meet individual business needs, helping them to grow and prosper and therefore promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.
The project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Scottish Enterprise and Glasgow City Council. This investment has enabled the University to build up a dedicated team of informed business development managers who can work with SMEs to ascertain their business needs and potential to engage in research and development collaboration.
Dialogues can help you access:
• Research expertise
• Facilities, equipment & incubation
• Student placements
• Professional training
• Funding
• Networking
Dialogues provides a single point of contact enabling SMEs to access technology, knowledge and equipment which can make them more innovative - crucial if Scottish businesses are to remain competitive in a fast-paced and challenging global economy.
Access to funding
The Business Development team within the University of Glasgow have extensive experience of a wide range of funding opportunities and provide guidance on the most appropriate source of finance for each specific project. Examples of such funding include the Scottish Executive- SCoRe programme and the UK government grant-aided initiative Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP, formally known as Teaching Company Schemes), both of which support collaborative research and development projects through Dialogues involving Scottish-based SMEs.
The Dialogues team, for example, has worked closely with Glasgow-based Midland Valley Exploration to secure £35,000 SCoRE funding for a geological project involving the Earth Sciences Department at the University.
Midland Valley, a world leader in the field of structural geology and the development of analytical modelling tools, will use the funding to make the first serious attempt to homogenise the interpretation of geological data by scientists from differing academic backgrounds and/or areas of expertise.
A recent successful project involving a Knowledge Transfer Partnership enabled Professor Andrea Nolan from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University to share her expertise with Moredun Scientific Limited, a veterinary pharmaceutical company based in Edinburgh. Professor Nolan and her colleagues within the University were able to develop an analysis service for Moredun’s clients. The transfer of knowledge and expertise on data interpretation from such an eminent group has enabled Moredun to enhance the scope of the package significantly that they can provide to the pharmaceutical industry in terms of generating regulatory compliance and registration data.
If this sounds of interest to you get in touch with us on 0141 330 2730 or email l.oneill@enterprise.gla.ac.uk