Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund

With research funder and Government focus moving strongly towards recognition and reward of academic endeavour beyond traditional research outputs and the creation of economic, societal or policy related impacts, there is an increasing requirement for academics to pursue Knowledge Exchange (KE) activities alongside or immediately following research projects.

Given the importance of Impact in REF, it is no longer appropriate to decouple ourselves from the process of generating impact, beyond the initial research outcomes and early stage Knowledge Exchange activities.  Instead, it is in our interests to ensure that impacts are derived from research outcomes where ever possible.

Recognising that timing of KE is critical, in order to nurture successful impact, the University has established a new KE / Impact investment fund to ensure that appropriate pathways to impact are developed and that organisations / individuals capable of influencing and creating impact from new knowledge are properly supported to do so.  

The aims of the Glasgow KE fund are to:

• Support an informed and collaborative approach to the development, implementation, adoption and exploitation of research outcomes, including technologies, processes, evidence-based policy, community impact or creative outputs
• Generate and develop new application specific Intellectual Property and Creative outputs with potential for new  commercial, cultural and policy related opportunities
• Develop stronger and more strategic relationships with KE / impacting generating partners
• Increase the number of people engaging in KE by helping embed KE and public engagement activities in research and teaching
• Nurture a sustainable pipeline of new impact case studies and success stories.

Capacity Building - Training and Networking

These activities can be critical for the identification, creation and execution of KE opportunities. It is a two-way process of us letting end-users know our skills and research expertise and for the University to find out more about key business / end-user challenges, so that we can identify appropriate partners and mechanisms for KE. 

Examples of the types of activities we will support include:

• Knowledge Exchange sandpits and events
• Workshops to showcase research outcomes and help embed research outcomes into practice
  Attendance at key industry / end-users events to showcase KE opportunities
• Targeted entrepreneurial and KE training for individuals and groups
• The development of targeted KE plans for networks, groups, centres or institutes

We expect that these activities will generally involve groups or networks of academics and therefore invite applications on behalf of networks, centres, institutes or schools. Initial enquiries relating to accessing funding should be directed to Neil Bowering, Head of Knowledge Exchange.   Where required, RSIO will support groups in developing and implementing activities.

Impact Acceleration Activities

To help achieve the desired aims, funding will be made available to support a range of KE interventions with a focus on small scale investments that pump prime wider KE and Impact generating activities.

Examples of funding that can be provided include:

• Flexible support for secondments between the university and business or other non-academic organisations (from weeks to months)
• Support for the early stages of turning research outputs into a commercial proposition to enable further external investment or development
• Support for developing early stage research outputs or engaging with policy makers and /or communities, so that that can be effectively used to generate impact in this areas
• Staff buy-out, Fellowships and Internships to work on specific KE projects
• Funding for engaging with businesses and other organisations (regional and national) to sow the seeds of new collaborations and more strategic engagement

It is recognised that the pathway from research to impact is complex and rarely follows a standard path and that creative mechanisms for development are often required. The examples given above are therefore only indicative and we will consider all proposals that fit within the overarching aims. 

For examples of funded projects, click here.

Project Criteria and Review Process

All funded projects will be expected to meet one or more of the aims listed above. In addition to this it is a requirement that projects build on prior research. The scheme will not fund new research projects.

Applications will be assessed by a Review Group, with representation from across the University.  Bids will be assessed on their potential for impact generation and not on the original research and applicants should focus on the work to be done and the likely impacts.

It is expected that funded projects will be between 1-3 months in duration with a funding allocation of up to £20,000.  Projects will be expected to start within 2 months of the funding decision, otherwise they may be cancelled.  Project leads will be expected to provide regular short updates on progress against the pre-determined work-plan.

For collaborative projects with business or other organisations, it would be expected that they will make a significant contribution (up to 50% cash or in-kind) to the project. In-kind contributions will include specific staff time undertaking part of the project, access to equipment, provision of materials or other items. In addition, a collaboration agreement would need to be in place prior to the project starting.

Eligible Costs

Project costs are expected to be in the region of £5,000-30,000 and typically not last more than 2-4 months. The funding is designed to be flexible and can cover items such as:

• Staff
• Consumables
• Small equipment
• Travel
• Workshops and seminars
• Specialist sub-contract work

Projects will not include FEC.

Application Submission

You are strongly advised to contact a member of the RSIO team or a college based business development person, for advice and guidance prior to submitting your application:

Completed applications should be submitted to Jaclyn McCann.

Email: jaclyn.mccann@glasgow.ac.uk
Tel: 0141 330 4881

Electronic submissions are acceptable for application review purposes but a signed paper application should follow (signed and dated by all partners) and will be required prior to the project start. 

Project Monitoring and Supporting

As the success of the project is based on the quality of the impact, we will work closely with all projects to ensure progression.  We will also monitor project progress against defined milestones. In addition the development of impact case studies and a final report will be required, focussing on the outcomes of the work undertaken.

More information can be found at  Glasgow KE Fund Guidance Notes

Download the Glasgow KE Fund Application Form