EPSRC Place Based Impact Acceleration Account:

GW-SHIFT - Great Western Supercluster of Hydrogen Impact for Future Technologies

APPLICATION GUIDANCE  

GW-SHIFT High Impact projects: SPRINT Projects 

    • 3-6 month projects that might include proof-of-principle, market validation, policy foresight/development and horizon scanning activities.

    • Generation of impact that will demonstrate a significant shift of the South West of England and South Wales towards a green economy through adoption of hydrogen and hydrogen-related technologies e.g. ammonia.

    • Form part of a programme of network-building capacity and engagement. Sprint projects could evolve from, or lead to, a GW-SHIFT secondment, or a collaboration project.

    • Increase the network of activity around Hydrogen usage, creating an additional layer on the Hydrogen Map from Western Gateway.

    • Development of work that will have the potential to scale and generate follow-on funding from industrial partners and investment routes.

    • Call opens: 1 October 2024

    • Deadline for applications: 5pm 16 December 2024

    • Assessment: 17 December 2024 – 24 January 2025

    • Outcomes to be shared: w/c 27 January 2025

    • The earliest start date for projects (dependent on Collaboration Agreement and recruitment requirements being in place) is 10 February 2025.

    • Latest end date (all project activities must be completed and funds spent by the end date of your project) is 9 February 2026.

    • The maximum project duration is 6 months.

    This is the second call and there is anticipation of high demand. There will be at least one further call in 2025.

  • £400,000 has been allocated to SPRINT projects over the 48 month duration of the GW-SHIFT programme. It is anticipated the second call will have a funding amount of up to a maximum of £200k (so potentially funding in the region of 13 projects at £15k each). The scale of funding is between £10-25k per project. Subject to availability of funds, a fourth call will be considered in 2026. Exceptionally high quality projects will be accommodated wherever possible.

  • As part of the High Impact strand of the GW-SHIFT programme, SPRINT projects will support the cluster to build on emerging innovations and test opportunities where there is anticipated growth potential.  These projects could be relatively high risk and proof-of-concept, but with anticipated high reward. There should be clear potential for the region to benefit and a route for progression where projects offer demonstrable success and larger scale transition.

    Funding will release the time and capacities of the universities to work with partners, and enable collaborative work on a specific project or activity that responds strongly to the scheme criteria.

    Projects will be university-led and co-created with stakeholders to represent projects and challenges that will enable organisations to take their next steps in hydrogen adoption and aid understanding in its implementation. Stakeholders will have a steer and control over the projects, and be encouraged to direct resources, in partnership with a university lead.

    At least three rounds of SPRINT print projects will run over the course of GW-SHIFT, from 2024-2027.


    • Lead applicants must be research staff employed at a university in the UK and eligible to receive EPSRC funding.

    • GW-SHIFT aims to grow our regional cluster and associated capacities. As such, projects with early career researchers (ECR)* as academic leads will be prioritised.

    • Projects must have a civic and/or industry partners and have clear benefits within GW-SHIFT geography (geography as denoted in the regional map).

    • Previous applicants can resubmit ONCE

    SPRINT projects will primarily fund researcher time and resources.

    • Novel ideas. What gap does your proposal address? Or what synergy does it exploit?

    • Projects that clearly support the aims, objectives and KPIs of GW-SHIFT.

    • Clear potential for growth, impact or engagement within the region to further develop the hydrogen cluster of economic activity through the High Impact Project or other activities with industry or civic partners.

    • Projects with at least one industry and/or civic partner that show clear potential for impact.

    • An end-of-project report and periodic updates on developments beyond the lifetime of the project will be required as part of the terms of funding. (list of eligible costs below**).

    • Projects should be fully costed and approved through the usual Pre-Award processes with the appropriate sign-offs, noting that overheads cannot be charged to SPRINT projects (**see eligible and ineligible costs below).

    • Short term postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) contracts are eligible, with an explanation of why they are necessary to the project in the application.  Where there is a named PDRA, you must justify why they are the only suitable candidate with the right skills and experience for the role.

    Whilst match funding is desirable and would add value to projects, it is not a requirement. However, on the expectation that non-academic partners must be involved in the development and delivery of any project, the cash or in-kind contribution as a result of the partner(‘s/s’) participation should be included as a costed amount in applications. The partner contributions and support for the project must be evidenced in the application either through the letter(s) of support or other suitable documentation e.g an email (required from each participating organisation).

  • Each application must clearly outline how it will deliver growth, impact or engagement within the GW-SHIFT geography.

    • Project feasibility: does the proposal demonstrate a clear, deliverable work plan?

    • Value for Money: are the project costs reasonable and robustly justified? Does the project provide value for money comparing costs against potential outcomes and impact in region?

    • Project sustainability: is there potential for follow on funding or other mechanisms that will support project sustainability and show potential to deliver on impact within the region post GW-SHIFT funding?

    • GW-SHIFT alignment: does the proposal demonstrate that it will deliver on the aims and objective of GW-SHIFT? Will the project deliver growth, impact or engagement within the region to further develop the hydrogen cluster of economic activity? Which KPIs for GW-SHIFT does it look to support?

    • Confidence in delivery: does the project team demonstrate the track record, capacity and confidence to deliver the project successfully? Does the project recognise trusted research and responsible innovation principles? Does the project highlight any specific EDI goals?

  • Firstly each application will be assessed to see if it clearly outlines how it will deliver growth, impact or engagement within the GW-SHIFT geography. This is a pass or fail criteria. Those applications receiving an initial pass will then be reviewed by up to four reviewers with one or two academics and one or two civic/industry panellists. Reviewers will assess each project application against the criteria, with each criteria scored out of 5.

    Faculty authorisation: As per usual funding application for UKRI funding processes.

    * ECR Definition

    For the purpose of GW-SHIFT High Impact projects eligibility we define an ECR as someone who is either:

    • within eight years of their PhD award (this is from the time of the PhD ‘viva’ oral test), or equivalent professional training

    • within six years of their first academic appointment (the first full or part time paid employment contract that lists research or teaching as the primary function).

    These periods exclude any career break, for example due to:

    • family care

    • health reasons

    • reasons related to COVID-19 such as home schooling or increased teaching load.

    ** Eligible and ineligible costs:

    Activities that are eligible for IAA funding include:

    • Travel and subsistence.

    • Venue hire.

    • Research Assistant salary costs.

    • PI/Co-I salary contributions (nominal amount up to 1hr/week can be costed)

    • Participant payments (a nominal sum to cover expenses).

    • External contractors for specialist tasks (e.g., design work).

    • Equipment up to the value of £9,999 (except laptops and office equipment, which are expected to be supplied by the employer).

    • Costs associated with secondary analysis of primary data (the use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose)

     Activities that are ineligible for IAA funding include:

    • Fundamental research.

    • Partner costs.

    • Undergraduate activities, core PhD training, Masters. Postgraduate research students cannot apply for funding.

    • Any costs relating to intellectual property protection including but not limited to registering, maintaining, or supporting patents or property rights.

    • Attendance at academic conferences or other initiatives with a primarily academic audience.

    • Preparation of research grant applications.

    • Contributions to KTPs.

    • Equipment with a value of £10,000 or more.

    • Impact activities which have already been included within an EPSRC IAA funded project.

    • Primary/Basic research activities.

    • EPSRC  funds cannot be used to support a private company, as they are a public funder and have to adhere to Subsidy Control measures.

APPENDIX: Guidance for Applicants on Impact; Responsible Innovation (RI); and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Impact

Guidance on generating impact can be found in UKRI’s Health Technologies Impact and Translation Toolkit, Impact toolkit for economic and social sciences and the University’s Supporting your Research Impact guide. 

Examples of the kind of impact your project may contribute to are outlined below.  These are not exhaustive and projects are not expected to generate impact across all these categories.

  • Economic – Wealth creation, inward investment, new companies, products and procedures. 

Examples: Licences awarded and product has direct route to market, jobs will be created or protected, wealth increase for company, etc.

  • Societal – Policy, international development, health, quality of life. 

Examples: Contribute to changes in public policy; public health and well-being will be improved, etc.

  • Knowledge – Scientific advances, techniques. 

Examples: Expected to make an exemplary contribution to knowledge in a particular field in the UK and/or internationally, benefit other researchers/practitioners, etc.

  • People – Skills, people pipeline-related. 

Examples: The user experience is expected to be greatly improved; skills developed are expected to benefit individuals and/or organisations, etc.

 

Responsible Innovation

“Responsible innovation means taking care of the future through collective stewardship of science and innovation in the present.”[1] 

This section provides a brief introduction to responsible research and innovation - referred to as responsible innovation through the rest of the document. Its aim is to provide initial guidance on embedding responsible innovation considerations into Impact Acceleration Account applications, but is also relevant to embedding considerations into research proposals for other funding streams.

Responsible innovation has emerged out of growing concerns about the impact of scientific research, both good and bad, on society and the planet. It presents an opportunity to reflect on the potential consequences of research to ensure that innovations arising from it are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest.

Research can be controversial, elicit strong public reactions, raise questions and dilemmas, and result in unforeseen outcomes and impacts - beneficial or otherwise. Adopting a responsible innovation approach ensures the potential societal and ethical implications of research are considered at the outset in collaboration with a range of stakeholders (e.g., citizens, policy makers, business, researchers, the third sector). It creates spaces and processes to explore these aspects of innovation in an open, inclusive and timely way. 

Although understanding the ethical implications of research is an important part of responsible innovation, it is distinct from ethical approval. An activity can be ethically approved and supported by researchers and stakeholders, but it may not gain wider public acceptance or the full range of consequences may not be understood. Similarly, responsible innovation includes, but goes beyond, considerations of risk and regulation, important though these are.

There is no single protocol to be followed to ensure ‘responsible’ research and innovation. The approach will reflect the nature of the project being undertaken.  To accommodate this diversity the EPSRC promotes the use of the flexible anticipate, reflect, engage and act (AREA) in the AREA framework for responsible innovation.

Anticipate – describing and analysing the impacts, intended or otherwise, (for example economic, social, environmental) that might arise. This does not seek to predict but rather to support an exploration of possible impacts and implications that may otherwise remain uncovered and little discussed. Tools, such as doteveryone’s consequence scanning toolkit, are available to help explore the possible impacts.

Reflect – reflecting on the purposes of, motivations for and potential implications of the research, and the associated uncertainties, areas of ignorance, assumptions, framings, questions, dilemmas and social transformations these may bring.

Reflection often takes place as part of the engagement activities, for example, through a through a project advisory board or stakeholder engagement activities. The key is to ensure that there is space in the research activities to take a step back and look at the work from different perspectives.

Engage – opening up such research visions, impacts and questioning to broader deliberation, dialogue, engagement and debate in an inclusive way.  Engagement can help influence the direction and trajectory of the research and innovation process for the better. The benefits of taking an appropriate approach to responsible research and innovation will often extend beyond the individual project and may help advance understanding of the relevant research topic as a whole.

Act – using these processes to influence the direction and trajectory of the research and innovation process itself.

Integrating responsible innovation into your proposal

In developing your project, you should consider how you will implement plans for responsible innovation throughout the project and outline any specific activities that you will undertake as part of your workplan. These will vary project by project, and may include, for example:

  • Collaboration with social scientists to help consider the social and behavioural implications of your research

  • Activities to facilitate dialogue with different key stakeholders

  • Setting up an advisory group to facilitate stakeholder input

  • Networking with groups working in similar areas to share best practice

  • Engagement with regulators and policymakers

Activities such as stakeholder engagement are often valuable in themselves and can help to strengthen the impact of your project.

Case studies

Stilgoe and colleagues (2013) describe their approach to responsible innovation in their geoengineering ‘SPICE’ project, which elicited considerable public controversy.  The project was designed “to investigate whether the purposeful injection of large quantities of particles into the stratosphere could mimic the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions and provide a possible means to mitigate global warming” (http://www.spice.ac.uk). Full details are provided in their paper on the development of the AREA framework and summarised in the University of Glasgow’s handbook.

The University of Cardiff provide some examples of projects conducted through their Responsible Innovation Network.

Further information

 

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

The GW-SHIFT Place-Based IAA aims to ensure that the activities we support and the research we fund drives change in our community, and supports a system that is inclusive and accessible for everyone. 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) I is a shared responsibility, and we would encourage applicants to include consideration of EDI in relation to their project.   Please outline in the application how you will ensure the project practices, events and decision-making processes are fair, do not present barriers to participation and do not disadvantage any protected groups from participation (Question 6).  

Useful Links

UKRI Guidance for equality, diversity and inclusion

[1] J. Stilgoe et al., Developing a framework for responsible innovation, Research Policy 42 (2013) 1568–1580

Welsh Language

Should anyone wish a translation of the application form or this associated guidance document into Welsh please contact GW-SHIFT@bath.ac.uk. Please note that the submission should be in English.

Submission

Please submit proposal forms by 5pm (BST) 3 July 2024 to GW-SHIFT@bath.ac.uk.

Queries

Please contact GW-SHIFT@bath.ac.uk if you have any questions.