This scheme aims to fund scoping and development of new non-academic partnerships, the development of emerging connections in the UK for research and collaboration, or the growth of existing relationships into more strategic and sustainable partnerships. 

Scheme priorities

In line with LSE Research for the World strategy objectives, this scheme aims to support activities that strengthen non-academic partnerships, support engagement with non-academic partners, foster growth in non-academic partnered research focusing on innovation and policy development, and provide additional funding to expand current non-academic collaborations in scope and number.

Proposals are invited to establish new partnerships and sustain and grow existing partnerships that result in opportunities for external funding and other strategic ventures in-line with LSE strategy, novel impact pathways, and improved LSE team networking and engagement skills.

This scheme supports non-academic partnerships only. Projects seeking development of global research partnerships should apply to the Global Research Fund.

Funding available 

The total available funding for the scheme is £200,000 per year.

Annual funding is distributed equally throughout the year.

Projects can request up to £20,000 for up to 12 months and must be ready to start within a month of award.

Timetable 

Deadlines for 2024/25 are as follows:

Eligibility to apply

Principal Investigators

• You must be a member of Faculty, Research and Policy Staff, Teaching Staff* and LSE Fellows as listed in LSE HR Role Profiles, including in practice roles. 

*Teaching Staff must demonstrate the proposed project is in line with their teaching field. 

• You must have a contract of employment with their Academic Unit at LSE in place for the entire project duration, and be able to demonstrate continued links with LSE into the future. Projects cannot be used to extend LSE contracts of employment.

• Current Students, Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Emeritus, and Guest Teacher role holders may not apply. 

• You may only apply once per round across all schemes.

Academic Units

• Applicants must confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit as part of their application. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit lead will be required at award stage.

Current Project Holders

Previous awardees of internal funding must confirm the submission of the final report of closed projects.

• You may not hold more than one project on the same scheme at any one time (either as PI or Co-I). 

Application process

If you are considering making an application, we strongly encourage you to contact the kei.research@lse.ac.uk team as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the application deadline.

All applications are submitted through the Internal Funding Application Form.

You can find the guidance for the application form here. (LINK) 

Costing your application

If you are including any LSE staff costs in the budget it is mandatory to contact the kei.research@lse.ac.uk team as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the assessment deadline.

The following costs are eligible for this scheme:

• Directly Incurred Salaried research and policy staff costs within the project and contract periods.

• Directly incurred non-staff costs such as travel, fieldwork, consumables, goods, equipment, services, and consultants (including associated fees and taxes).

• Hourly Paid Staff costs for occasional research assistance and clerical support.

Specialist costs to make project activities more accessible are also eligible, such as:

• Costs for care of dependents where it is unavoidable.

• Costs to make adjustments within travel and accommodation bookings for staff who need them.

• Cost to make sure outputs are accessible (both for researchers and stakeholders, such as braille printed books or pamphlets). 

• Costs of specialist contractors that are working on EDI supporting activities, such as audio transcription for events, etc. 

• Costs to make events more accessible including specialist venues and supporting staff.

The following costs are not eligible under this scheme:

• Directly Allocated (LSE NAC Staff) salaried staff costs.

• Collaborator or partner staff costs. 

• Indirect (overheads) and estates (space) charges of LSE or any Partner or Collaborator.

• Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access Fund

• DI teaching contract or hourly paid teaching costs are not eligible.

If you are unsure of the kinds of non-staff costs you can include in your project, please explore the list below:

• Partnership building events (including workshops, public lectures or discussions, conferences, hackathons or roundtables) involving non-academic partners from any region.

• Networking and community building events to establish and nurture new connections.

• Scoping of collaborative research and knowledge exchange with existing non-academic partners from any region.

• Scoping the expansion of existing LSE research to provide benefits to non-academic partners from any region.

• Collaborative network building across different sectors and disciplines, creating platforms for ongoing dialogue, knowledge exchange, and joint problem-solving efforts including external funding applications.

• Joint initiatives that focus on enhancing the capabilities of non-academic partners, including training and other educational activities designed to build expertise in areas of mutual interest.

• Partner visits, short placements or exchanges.

• Collaboration to contribute to curriculum development and student learning (including case studies development or civic engagement)

• Small items of consumables.  

• Other project specific costs, such as equipment (where it is directly linked to delivering project objectives).

Review and selection

Applications will be sent for peer review and selection by the Impact & Innovation Panel.

Assessment criteria

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria. 

Peer review process

• Every application will be reviewed by three Peer-Reviewers who are members of the panel.
• Peer-Reviewers must score and add a comment for each of the criteria above.
• Peer-Reviewers are asked to score 1-4, using half marks as needed.

The scores for criteria 1 and 3 will be used to rank applications and comments from scores 2 and 4 will be used for context in the Panel discussions to reach consensus on the final decisions to award projects. 

Outcomes 

All applications will receive feedback from the selection process within the timelines stated above. Projects are awarded based on the information received during the application process and subject to any Panel conditions.

Unsuccessful applicants may apply again provided the project is new or is developed in line with feedback.

Successful awardees may be contacted with requests to peer review similar applications.

Managing your award

Principal Investigators must comply with the following rules:

• Confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit will be required.
• Manage the project funds in line with LSE financial regulations.
• Contact the R&I Funds Manager to request virements and extensions to awards.Comply with LSE polices for research governance, ethics, data management, intellectual policy and other policies relevant to their research.
• Engage with in-flight monitoring meetings including information requests for research communications and publicity.
• Ensure that processes and projects are compliant with good research practices, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Project changes in duration, team, costs and objectives will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and always subject to further review by the R&I Funds Manager.

Project closure and reporting 

Principal Investigators must complete a final financial report within 3 months of project end date.

Principal Investigators will be required to report on the activities, outputs, and outcomes of their research project in a final report, not more than 12 months after the end date of the project.

Full details of the reporting templates will be provided at the point of award.

Support 

Please contact the kei.research@lse.ac.uk team for guidance on your application.

General queries, feedback and comments on this scheme can be sent to ri.internalschemes@lse.ac.uk