University of Manchester offers academic research for creative sectors

Taking place at Manchester Science Partnerships on 24^th May, 10am – 4pm, the aim is of the workshop is to discuss how businesses and academics can work together, and identify areas where a research project could address challenges for a business, or find opportunities to help with innovation and growth.

The university is inviting creative and digital sector professionals to attend the workshop, who have an idea they need help to develop, or a knowledge gap that academic specialists could help to fill.

Using a participatory design approach, the academics will work together with businesses in small groups, to discuss challenges identified by businesses, and shape them into collaborative projects. They will add insight to business problems, with fresh perspectives from disciplines such as human/machine interactions and culture transformation.

The proposals with most potential on the day will be invited to discuss how these might work as research and development projects with The University of Manchester academics.

Rachel Kenyon, Business Engagement Officer for The University of Manchester said: “Working more closely with the local creative and digital sector allows us to apply our academic expertise to create economic and social impact in the region, while at the same time learning what local companies need. It also ensures our research is informed by the latest developments in the private sector. We want to combine academic expertise, creative thinking and the power of collaboration to develop projects that will benefit businesses.”

The areas of academic research available include:

• Human/technology interaction – how humans interact with tech
• User interface design – modelling how people perceive and use digital information
• Innovation through creativity and design
• Machine learning and optimisation applications – video gaming and vision/language understanding
• Geospatial data analysis – knowledge building through data sharing

To support the process, up to £5,000 will be available to the best projects to fund scoping work towards larger collaborative activities.

If you are interested in taking part in the workshop, please contact Rachel Kenyon on Rachel.kenyon@manchester.ac.uk or 07900 161359. For more information visit www.manchester.ac.uk/collaborate/business-engagement