Sussex Business Development Fellowship Guidelines
Background
This funding supplements HEIF with a specific focus on driving additional business collaboration and commercialisation performance in line with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) guidance priority.
All forms of working, collaborating with business and commercialisation activity are eligible - including intellectual property exploitation, business engagement with large and small businesses and local economic development – all of which drive UK economic growth.
Purpose
This is an opportunity for Sussex staff with project proposals requiring between £10,000 and £50,000 to drive additional business development incorporating collaboration and/ or commercialisation activities. These funds are ringfenced under the Higher Education Innovation Fund, awarded annually to Sussex by Research England to support academics to work with non-academic partners to apply their knowledge and capabilities for the benefit of the economy and society – this is known as ‘Knowledge Exchange’.
These funds are being managed under the Sussex Knowledge Exchange and Impact Support programme in collaboration with the Innovation and Business Partnership team.
Further guidance on the BCC is here:
https://www.ukri.org/publications/knowledge-exchange-business-and-commercialisation/
Funding and Eligible Costs
- Applicants can apply for funds between £10,000-£50,000 (proposals requesting more than £50K may be considered if an exceptional case is made).
- Funds can be used for directly incurred costs (DIC) in project implementation including project staff (including research assistants and dedicated extended hours of part-time staff).
- Materials for the delivery of activities.
- Small capital expenditure is permitted but limited to £1000 incl VAT.
- Small amounts of buy-out time: Please note: requests for funding for buy-outs must have been discussed and approved in advance with the Head of School/Department(whichever is appropriate within the School). There is a section on the form for this . Applications must confirm this has happened otherwise they will not be considered.
Ineligible costs
- Estates and indirect costs.
- Projects that involve another HE external partner only.
For more information on HEIF ineligible costs, please refer to Figure 1, page 15:
Activity Types
These Fellowships are funded through ringfenced Business Collaboration and Commercialisation HEIF. As such, support for project proposals will be prioritised according to the following priorities:
a) Proof of Concept / Early stage business engagement
b) Business development opportunities for social and/or economic benefits
c) Business plan developed for new business proposition.
d) New commercial collaboration enabled
e) Existing commercial R&D relationship intensified and lifted to a higher level
f) Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of an innovation raised
Selection Criteria
- Feasibility of project idea /proof of concept / early stage business activities
- Realisation of activity to create business development opportunities and/or generate short or long term commercial or socio-economic benefits
- Viability of the project and described activities to be completed within the funding period
- Indication of business collaboration(working with companies e.g. local SMES) and maximization of opportunities
- Feasibility of funds requested and other sources indicated for project execution, including considerations of Value for Money.
- Fit within the Business Collaboration and Commercialisation ringfenced funds criteria.
Application Process and Reporting
- Please complete the Application Form and return to ny95@sussex.ac.uk ; Nana Yankah, Programme Consultant (Sussex Knowledge Exchange and Impact Support Programme) within the application window stated below. Please answer every question and limit your application to a maximum of 3 sides of A4. This is a strict limit and applications not meeting this requirement will be sent back for modification.
- We will monitor the progress of your project and within three months following project completion you will be asked to submit a short report on the outcomes and impact achieved.
- For assistance on salary costs please contact resdevadmin@sussex.ac.uk.
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Please work with your respective school’s Business Partnership Managers from the IBP team on your projects.If you require advise on your application, please contact t.wolfenden@sussex.ac.uk ; Thomas Wolfenden, Senior Programme Initiatives (IBP) cc: ny95@sussex.ac.uk
Timescales
- Project proposers will be contacted within 48 hours of their submission with an acknowledgement and/or for further information.
- Decisions will be made by a panel and notified to applicants within 3 weeks of submission at the latest.
- The 1st phase of the application window is open from October - December 2023. Subject to evaluation, a subsequent call will be planned from January 2024.
- All HEIF spending must be completed by 31 July 2024.
By this date all activities related to a project cost code must be completed, all goods and services received / certified and any outstanding claims accrued for. Unspent HEIF funds allocated to the project will not be available afterwards.
Future support and development
- Although all HEIF applied for in 2023 must be spent by 31 July 2024, we may continue to support your work by signposting to other relevant internal and external sources of funding/support for future development if required.
- We may also ask for your participation in relevant events and for your feedback and name to be used in internal and external communications activity.
- Potential future years’ HEIF funding will be dependent upon progress against the deliverables from activities proposed for 2023/24. Hence we encourage proposals that exhibit continuity and future potential.