Industrial Strategy Pump Priming Fund Open for Applications

Posted on: 6 August 2018 by Nick Jones in 2018 Posts

Business Gateway have announced that the 2018/19 Industrial Strategy Pump Priming Fund (PPF) is now open for applications from academic staff.

Closing on Friday 14 September, projects up to £20,000 can be supported. Applications should be in collaboration with an industrial partner and in areas related to one of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) areas or one of the overarching Grand Challenges.

The PPF scope is broad and represents an excellent opportunity to develop a relationship with an industrial partner, complete a feasibility study or establish a new network with the ultimate aim of catalysing an application to one of the ISCF calls.

Changes to the PPF for 2018/19

You may have seen the recent news story highlighting that the PPF now falls under the umbrella of the University’s funding scheme for Knowledge Exchange. As a result, the PPF now shares a similar application process to other institution-wide voucher schemes, such as the long-running KE and Impact Voucher Scheme.

Please note that the key change for 2018/19 is that in addition to the application form, applicants must now submit a short 3-minute video. This video should outline the aims of their project, the role of the industrial partner and what the intended outputs will be. Further details are given in the guidance notes included within the KE Voucher Scheme application form.

Industrial Strategy Travel and Networking Fund remains open

In addition to the PPF, the University’s Industrial Strategy Travel and Networking Fund remains open for applications at any time. For routine applications, up to £1,000 is available to support travel, accommodation and subsistence costs related to academic visits to industry and other partners or to arrange small workshops and networking events that may lead to the creation of joint funding applications in future.

In a change for the new academic year, awards of more than £1,000 can now be allocated in support of larger-scale events that will bring together researchers from across the University to work with industrial partners on specific IS-themed activities.

For further information on either scheme, please review the application form and guidance notes. Alternatively, email ISCF@liverpool.ac.uk.