Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

What Manchester Institute of Innovation Research does

The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) is an academic research institute within The University of Manchester dedicated to the study of innovation, science policy, and technology management. Originating as SPRU Manchester in 1966/67 and reconstituted under its current name in 2004, the institute employs over 50 academic and research staff alongside approximately 30 doctoral researchers. It produces peer-reviewed publications, working papers, policy reports, and analytical frameworks used by governments, regulators, international organisations, and doctoral trainees.

The institute's revenue model is anchored in competitively awarded research grants from UKRI, ESRC, the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme, the Leverhulme Trust, and the European Patent Office (EPO), supplemented by core University of Manchester funding. Commercial revenue lines are comparatively small in scale and include fee-paying professional short courses priced at £2,550-£2,750 per participant and a visiting researcher programme charging £5,400 per year. MIOIR's proprietary intellectual assets include the widely cited Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework for socio-technical transitions, the STIP Compass dataset, and the UK Deep Greenhouse Gas Inventory (DGCI) database.

MIOIR maintains an active international research network, co-leading the Innovation Co-Lab with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Beijing Institute of Technology and participating in the Eu-SPRI Forum (a 19-member network of European research institutions). Current research themes span responsible innovation, AI in the laboratory, AI innovation ecologies, digital platforms, sustainability transitions, and patent analytics. The institute's primary customer constituencies are public-sector policymakers and regulators (notably patent offices), doctoral students, and a small cohort of corporate and academic clients engaging through short courses and visiting researcher placements.

Name

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

Legal name

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

Website

https://mioir.manchester.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) is an academic research institute within the University of Manchester that studies innovation, science policy, and technology management. It produces peer-reviewed research, datasets, and analytical frameworks for governments, regulators, doctoral students, and visiting researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Innovation Research and Policy Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialized Master’s in Management (MiM) & Business Analytics (EDAHAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAH)

Keywords

• Innovation studies research
• Science policy evaluation
• Technology management research
• Doctoral research programmes
• Professional short courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Contracts: Funded research projects from UKRI, European Commission (Horizon Europe), ESRC, and other research councils. Projects include UK DGCI (EPO-funded), CAFE4DM, Innovations in the Lab, and others.
2. Professional Short Course Fees: Fees from Evaluation of Science and Innovation Policies course: £2,750 residential per person, £2,550 early booking rate. Course includes accommodation, tuition, materials, meals.
3. Academic Visitor Bench Fees: Bench fee for visiting researchers: £5,400 per year for academic visitors to the institute.
4. University Core Funding: Core institutional funding from The University of Manchester and Alliance Manchester Business School.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

MIOIR is an academic research institute that conducts funded research and delivers graduate-level education on science, technology and innovation (STI) policy and management. Its sellable offerings include PhD programmes (STI Policy and Business and Management), an MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, a flagship five-day professional short course on Evaluation of Science and Innovation Policies, tailored customised short courses, a Working Paper Series, and a Visiting Researcher Programme for academics to spend 1–12 months in Manchester.

Product overview

The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research is a world-leading academic research institute within the University of Manchester's Alliance Manchester Business School. Rather than offering a unified software product, it provides a portfolio of academic programmes and professional services. The core offerings include PhD programmes in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy and Business and Management; an MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship; professional short courses (notably the flagship 'Evaluation of Science and Innovation Policies' five-day intensive course); and a Working Paper Series. The institute also operates a Visiting Researcher Programme and participates in the EU-SPRI early career mobility network. Research activities are organized around four thematic areas: Innovation Management and Business Models, Sustainable Innovation and System Transitions, Science Technology and Innovation Policy, and Emerging Technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PhD Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Founded key innovation studies institutions (PREST 1977, CRIC mid-1990s)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Program in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), Georgia Institute of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Founding member of the Innovation Co-Lab international virtual e-lab partnership. Collaboration on advancing methods and analysis in emerging science, technology and innovation. Joint research collaboration, academic exchanges, joint student training, and dissemination activities. Current theme of collaboration is AI including AI in the lab and AI innovation ecologies. Co-director Prof Philip Shapira (MIOIR) and Dr Jan Youtie (Georgia Tech).
• Laboratory of Knowledge Discovery, Beijing Institute of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Founding member of the Innovation Co-Lab international virtual e-lab partnership. Collaboration on advancing methods and analysis in emerging science, technology and innovation. Joint research projects including Sustaining Growth for Innovative New Enterprises in UK, US, and China; Emerging Technologies Trajectories and Implications studies. Co-director Prof Donghua Zhu (BIT).
• Innovation Co-Lab Network PartnerssecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Network includes colleagues from Fudan University China; Nanyang Technological University Singapore; University of Strathclyde Glasgow UK; and Intelligent Information Services Corporation Atlanta USA. Activities include virtual and on-site research collaboration, academic exchanges, joint student training, conferences and workshops.
• Eu-SPRI Forum (European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2010MIOIR hosts the Forum Secretariat. The Forum aims to strengthen the vibrant but dispersed interdisciplinary community of researchers focusing on interdisciplinary dimensions related to policy and governance in knowledge creation and innovation. Founded in Paris June 2010 with 19 member institutions across Europe.
• Policy@ManchestersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on research publication. Funded report on Innovation Districts as Drivers of Sustainable Urban Development released by researchers at Manchester Urban Institute and MIOIR.
• Catalyse Project ConsortiumsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Europe project funded by European Commission supporting European cities in becoming climate neutral. MIOIR contributes expertise on mission-oriented policies and knowledge institutions as hubs within innovation ecosystems.
• City-REDI, University of BirminghamsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with MIOIR on Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), funded by Connected Places Catapult. Supports innovation procurement to enhance public sector services and foster economic growth.
• Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration between MIOIR, City-REDI, University of Birmingham, funded by Connected Places Catapult. Supports innovation procurement to enhance public sector services and foster economic growth.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex): Founded in 1966 at Sussex, SPRU is widely regarded as the original centre for the study of science, technology and innovation policy. Like MIOIR it hosts PhD programmes, runs policy evaluation research, and works with UK and EU funders, making it MIOIR's closest direct peer.
• Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), Georgia Institute of Technology: MIOIR's explicit Innovation Co-Lab partner since 2011. Georgia Tech's STIP program conducts comparable research on emerging science and innovation policy, with shared faculty (Prof Philip Shapira as MIOIR co-director) and joint student training, making it a direct counterpart in the US.
• Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer ISI): Fraunhofer ISI is a leading German applied research institute focused on innovation systems, foresight, and STI policy evaluation. Its combination of empirical research, policy advice, and training activities directly parallels MIOIR's mandate and methodologies, including transition frameworks.
• Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition: Munich-based Max Planck Institute conducts research on innovation, intellectual property, and competition policy, publishing working papers and training doctoral researchers. Its scholarly publishing and doctoral training model closely resemble MIOIR's approach to innovation research.
• Laboratory of Knowledge Discovery, Beijing Institute of Technology: BIT's Knowledge Discovery Lab is MIOIR's third Innovation Co-Lab founding partner, jointly working on emerging-technology trajectories and innovation studies in China. The collaboration makes BIT a direct peer operating MIOIR's framework in the Chinese context.

Others

• OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI): MIOIR co-developed the STIP Compass dataset with the OECD, and the OECD's STI directorate is the principal international policy customer for STI evaluation and foresight. It is an adjacent 'client/partner' rather than direct competitor, but co-shapes the evaluation standards MIOIR teaches.
• ESRC Centre for Business Research (CBR), University of Cambridge: Cambridge CBR researches innovation, corporate governance, and public policy with a similar ESRC-funded academic structure. It is thematically adjacent and shares UK academic funding sources and doctoral cohorts rather than directly competing for MIOIR's location-based customers.

Broad incumbents

• Imperial College Business School: Imperial's Business School hosts innovation management and entrepreneurship teaching plus policy-relevant research, with strong STEM and engineering adjacency. It competes with Alliance Manchester Business School for master's students and doctoral candidates overlapping MIOIR's recruitment pool.
• Insead (Innovation and Entrepreneurship area): INSEAD is a global business school with a dedicated Innovation and Entrepreneurship group teaching MBAs, EMs and PhDs, and producing management research. It is an incumbent competitor for international master's and executive students interested in innovation management.
• MIT Sloan School of Management (Innovation Science and Management): MIT Sloan offers MSc and PhD programs with a leading innovation management stream and conducts influential empirical research on innovation and entrepreneurship. While broader than MIOIR, it is a leading incumbent competing for the same faculty, students, and policy influence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/mioir
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/manchester-institute-of-innovation-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Manchester Institute of Innovation Research