Eligibility

• If you have previously received commercialisation funding from LU you are not eligible to apply - this call is for new, early-stage ideas and activity.
• We welcome proposals from individual researchers but require the Project Lead to have a Lancaster employment contract for the duration of their proposed project.
• You do not need to have received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to be eligible to apply.
• Your idea must broadly align to at least one of the AHRC research disciplines
• Please read the guidance below carefully as the focus of this call is commercialisation in the context of Social sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE).

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

We encourage Early Career Researchers to apply, under whichever definition is appropriate to your circumstances.

Our data on previous LU IAA applicants has demonstrated that certain groups are less likely to apply for an IAA, and though we won’t ask specific questions about protected characteristics, we do encourage applications from individuals representing any of the following groups:

• Individuals who identify as female
• Individuals with a declared disability
• Individual representative of ethnic groups other than white.

Scope of this call

i) We are looking to fund 4-5 projects with small scale grants up to £5,000 to test your SHAPE commercialisation idea. For example, this could be activity to:

• Build on existing user feedback to further develop a ‘prototype’ - for example, for an online training programme - so that its value can be tested with a wider range and or greater number of private or public sector partners and their beneficiaries.
• Conduct market research into further, potential beneficiaries and customers - for example, to a downloadable toolkit - to help make the case for scaling potential to future funders.
• Develop relationships with potential commercial or public sector partners to enable sustainable, ongoing delivery of a product or service emerging from a previous or current research project, where commercial potential has already been validated but the supply chain is not in place to deliver.

ii) Align to the University's Strategic Plan and/or the following themes:

• Health and social care
• Sustainability and net-zero
• Cyber security, digital and data
• Place-based innovation
• Arts, culture, and creative industries.

Duration

Projects must conclude by 1 December 2024.

Eligible Costs

• Grants can be up to £5,000
• Full Economic Costs are not applicable/eligible (i.e. estates and indirect costs, permanent staff time etc).
• We are looking to support the additional direct costs of projects through this call – so additional Research Assistant/Post-Doctoral Researcher time, travel, consumables and small items of equipment.
• Costs and approvals do not need to go through the Research Support Office, though you may find it helpful to seek assistance with staff costs, if applicable.

How to apply

This is a two-stage process.

• A brief online form. Deadline 5pm, 16th February
• Short 5min presentation to a panel TBC W/B 26th February

Head of Department approval emails also need to be uploaded via the online form. Please note you will either have to save the email as a PDF or if you do not have an Adobe Acrobat licence, use the snipping tool or screen shot functionality to save the email as an image file (.msg files cannot be directly uploaded via MS forms).

Your online form will be assessed initially for eligibility and suitability by the Partnership Development Managers for FASS and for the IAA. Applicants will then be invited to present their idea in the form of a 5min pitch to a panel of individuals concerned with commercialisation impact, engagement and knowledge exchange within Lancaster University. The panel will then decide which ideas to fund.

I worked with an external organisation to develop the research outputs and/ or expertise, does that prevent me from commercialising?

• Not necessarily. We recommend having a discussion with the IP and Commercialisation Team. The status of IP ownership will determine the future pathway and any agreements that need to be put in place with your collaborators

Do I have to commit to setting up a company?

• You are not expected to know how to commercialise your research for this call or commit to doing so. These funds are designed to help you test and validate an idea for its scaling potential only.

Is commercialisation all about making lots of money for the University?

• No, many research outputs and methodologies are made available via not-for-profit mechanisms. The ultimate goal is to ensure Lancaster research is creating as much and as widespread positive impact in society as possible, whether that be social, cultural, environmental and/ or economic.

What support is available to help me apply?

• We strongly encourage prospective applicants sign up for and attend the two Discover workshops of the SHAPE Catalyst Programme funded by UKRI. They will help you to complete the application form. Dates available below:
  • Cohort 5: 15 and 22 January
  • Cohort 6: 5 and 12 February
• Support is also available from the University’s Creative Engagement Facilitator to help you prepare for the pitch to the panel. Further details about this are available in the online form.