Entries for next spring’s prestigious Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards (SKEA) are being invited after announcement of its 12 categories, with InnoScot Health urging great collaborations to showcase their outstanding achievements

Organisers Interface recently launched the 2027 awards — Scotland’s flagship celebration of business–academic collaboration — seeking applications from across the country.

Now in their 12^th year, the free to enter awards shine a spotlight on “exceptional collaborations that deliver economic, environmental and social benefits for Scotland”.

Interface — funded by the Scottish Funding Council and hosted by Edinburgh Innovations Ltd — says that winning an award “demonstrates real impact and raises the profile of those driving innovation across business, academia, and their partners”.

Last year, InnoScot Health’s Innovation Commercialisation Manager Fiona Schaefer joined an independent panel which reviewed and shortlisted entries to the ‘Research & Innovation in Digital Health and Social Care’ category, celebrating “digitally enabled knowledge exchange projects that have made a significant positive impact on health and social care”.

One of Scotland’s leading healthcare innovation bodies, InnoScot Health is once again encouraging individuals and teams collaborating across healthcare, industry, and academia to demonstrate their innovative thinking and apply before the Thursday 10 December deadline.

Fiona said: “With exciting categories like ‘Innovator of the Future’, ‘Innovation of the Year’, and ‘Knowledge Exchange Heroes’ open to both individuals and teams, we can highly recommend entering the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards.

“Shortlisting alone means independent endorsement of what you do, recognition of excellence, professional growth, expansion of your network, and so much more. In other words, it can be a launchpad for a very promising future which ultimately benefits Scotland more broadly.

“We’re proud to have contributed to judging last year, helping to recognise exceptional projects and ideas. The awards continue to fit well with our own activities enabling and inspiring new and established innovators and entrepreneurs by identifying outstanding, sustainable examples of healthcare’s forward-thinkers working in close partnership with industry and academia.

“They recognise the country’s hard-working visionaries — the research, problem-solving, teamwork, and persistence behind every breakthrough project.”

A shortlist of nominees will be announced on Wednesday 17 February next year with the awards ceremony then taking place at the University of Strathclyde’s Barony Hall on Wednesday 24 March.

Interface is also holding an online Q&A session on Tuesday 27 October at 12.30pm to discuss each of the categories, eligibility criteria, and answer any queries.

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A Knowledge Exchange Awards entry toolkit can also be accessed online.

Director of Interface, Laura Goodfellow said: “It is time to recognise the people and collaborative projects making an impact on our lives and the planet.

“We invite entries from bold and creative collaborations, partnerships and teams of all sizes, and from individuals whose work is driving significant progress and positive change, often beyond the spotlight.”