Imperial’s expertise is sought after across the globe, to answer the challenges of industry and humanity. That, coupled with Imperial’s high-tech facilities and skilled technicians, means we can provide business, government bodies, and other organisations with technical solutions that are unique or hard to find elsewhere.
To bring in funding for your team, or to help maintain your facility, you can work with external clients, on a commercial basis, to address their specific needs.
Types of commercial services you can offer
- A series of small projects for one client, such as regular air quality monitoring carried for the Mayor of London, or repeat toxicology testing for coroners.
- Large-scale, long-term and complex projects involving multidisciplinary teams and multiple stakeholders, such as the Transport Strategy Centre’s benchmarking and performance measurement activities, or the creation of the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi.
- Or for more examples, see our success stories.
How commercial services differ from other types of work with industry
Like consultancy, commercial services use existing resources and knowledge to problem-solve. And, in contrast to industry-funded research, any output or new intellectual property created during the project generally belongs to the client.
Unlike consultancy, these services are generally provided as part of your job at Imperial, and the fees are paid to your department.
Why provide commercial services?
The most obvious benefit is that the fees earned can support the cost of your team - or help maintain expensive facilities when not in use for research and education.
Providing commercial services can also help raise your public profile and help demonstrate the impact of your academic expertise, and help Imperial achieve it's 'Science for Humanity' strategy.
Plus, it can also provide case studies for your teaching, real-world experience to help direct your research, and can lead to research partnerships or even industry-funded PhD projects.