Scottish universities get £3m to commercialise research

Go back

Policy 05 Oct 2026

Scottish universities get £3m to commercialise research

By Rachael Pells

Share on Facebook

Share on X

Share on BlueSky

Share on Linkedin

Share via email

Image: Pavel Danilyuk , via Pexels

Projects spanning healthcare, agriculture and drinks sectors funded under Proof of Concept second round

The Scottish government is investing £2.9 million in a bid to help universities turn research projects into commercial propositions.

Seventeen projects from seven Scottish universities will share £2.92m through the government’s Proof of Concept fund, which supports researchers in exploring commercial opportunities for their work.

The funding will help cover costs associated with the early stages of commercialisation, including developing prototype products, conducting market analysis and pitching to investors.

Projects receiving funding span healthcare technologies, agricultural biochemistry and artificial intelligence-enabled energy management systems.

They include a wearable health-monitoring device for people with Parkinson’s disease, being developed at Heriot-Watt University; a blood test for endometriosis that could replace the need for invasive diagnostic surgery, being developed at the University of Strathclyde; and a low-cost environmental monitoring system for collecting and transmitting marine and freshwater data at the University of St Andrews.

The Proof of Concept fund was piloted in the 2025-26 academic year, awarding £2.95m in public funding to 18 university projects.

The latest funding brings the Scottish government’s investment through the scheme to almost £6m over two years.

It follows a report published by the Scottish government earlier this year warning that funding for such projects in Scotland was “lacking”. The government has also committed to launching a dedicated fund for university spinouts as part of its 2023 innovation strategy.

Stephen Flynn, Scottish cabinet secretary for economy, tourism and transport, said the funding would help realise the “economic potential” of more Scottish spinout companies.

“Scotland’s universities have been the birthplace of some of the world’s greatest ideas and inventions for centuries—ideas and inventions which have improved lives and solved problems across the world—and it is vital this innovation continues to be nurtured,” he said.

View this article on Research Professional