Notice

Knowledge Asset Grant Fund: guidance for applicants

Updated 6 December 2021

This notice was withdrawn on 15 July 2022

This grant fund is closed. The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund 2022 opened on 15 July 2022 and the final round will close on 15 December 2022.

The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund is now closed for applications. For updates on the programme, please get in touch at GrantFund.GOTT@beis.gov.uk.

This first year of the Knowledge Assets Grant Fund will be treated as a ‘test and learn’ phase. As such, we are very grateful for feedback on the below guidance, the application forms and the process more broadly so we can refine and improve for future years.

Please email grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk if you have:

• any feedback about the scheme (use the subject line ‘feedback’)
• questions around the application process not covered below

1. General guidance

The contact form and relevant application form published alongside this document are the submission forms to be used for the submission of applications to the knowledge asset grant fund.

Applications should be sent with the subject line ‘Application: [Project Name, Grant category , Organisation]’ to grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk. The contact form and application form should all be attached separately.

Commercially sensitive elements of your application should be marked clearly. All information will be handled in line with government security classification guidance.

Following application submission, a questionnaire will be sent to you for diversity and inclusion monitoring purposes. Following the decisions made by the panel, successful bidders will also be asked to provide additional information to inform award letters, meet due diligence requirements and provide information for dissemination, monitoring and evaluation. This information will be required within 5 working days of notification of a successful bid.

For awards over £25,000, a financial statement issued by the Knowledge Assets team and signed by your organisation’s Accounting Officer will be required. If this is not possible within 5 days due to an Accounting Officer’s absence, extensions can be granted where necessary.

Contact information will be retained, regardless of application success, to keep in touch about future Knowledge Asset funding opportunities, collect relevant data for evaluations of the grant fund, and to enable the mapping of assets with potential across the public sector. This data will be processed, stored and deleted in accordance with current UK data protection legislation, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Funding is available in 3 bands, with increasing levels of assessment.

1.1 Explore Grants (up to £25,000 inclusive)

A short application process for lower value projects, assessed by the Knowledge Assets Team and a single panel member.

1.2 Expand Grants (£25,000 to £100,000 inclusive)

Requires a more detailed application form, which if it meets the minimum criteria, will be assessed by the funding panel. Applications should also briefly state why this project cannot be funded by the host organisation.

1.3 Extend Grants (£100,000 to £250,000)

Similar assessment to Extend Grants, with more detail on the long-term management plan for the Knowledge Asset. Should the application pass initial assessment, applicants will be required to make a presentation to the funding panel, including Q&A, which will be limited to 20 minutes.

The difference between these bands is in the amount of information requested and the size of grant applied for. They are all for early-stage research into Knowledge-Asset development and are not sequenced (explore grants, for example, are not necessarily for earlier stages of research than expand grants). Please choose your funding band based on amount needed only, not on project-stage.

2. Eligibility criteria

2.1 Eligible organisations

The organisations eligible to apply are central UK government departments, their partner organisations, arm’s length bodies and public sector research establishments (PSREs - these are research and development institutes sponsored directly by government departments or the 7 UK Research Councils, such as certain government labs.)

Universities are not eligible to apply.

Eligible organisations must be headed by an Accounting Officer responsible for upholding Managing Public Money (MPM). These organisations are primarily those classified to the central government sector by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but others will be in scope. Organisations must have SCS approval to submit an application.

2.2 Projects in scope

The grants available are to support the repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use of public sector knowledge assets (also referred to as intangible assets), which include intellectual property, data, innovation, software, knowhow.

The projects should test the Knowledge Asset’s potential for expanded or alternative use and, where relevant, provide the foundation for further investment. They will not fund early-stage research and the development of novel knowledge assets. The fund is also available to projects which will never be of a kind to secure investment,for example where funding is required to develop an asset to be used across silos within government.

The funding is for projects requiring early-stage or ‘grub’ funding and must be classifiable as research and development (R&D). The definition of R&D used for this programme aligns with Innovate UK’s definitions. We would expect projects to fall primarily under the categories of Feasibility Studies and Industrial Research, though some may fall under Experimental Development. Fundamental Research will not be in scope as the Knowledge Asset should already exist. The grant fund is not intended to support opportunities already suitable for presentation to an investment committee.

Examples of activities within scope

Examples of activities within scope include:

• protecting an idea
• buying ‘time out’ to explore whether a KA can be repurposed
• development of proofs of concept or prototypes
• running small scale market tests (often a prerequisite for private investment)
• desk research and customer research

The funds can be used for projects in their entirety, or for stages in a larger project, so long as a clear output is evident at the end of the funded activities (such as the progression to a new development stage, a report, prototype or business plan).

2.3 Timings

For this first round, the grant fund will only be able to fund short projects or discrete stages in a larger project. All project or project stage activities must be completed by end of March 2022. We expect to launch the second round of grant funding early in 2022 and to be able to fund projects on longer time scales. Applying for funding this year does not preclude a further application to fund further development of the same project in 2022.

The fund will also be available for use as a top-up fund to cover overheads not in scope of other grant awards. However, the fund will only cover overheads for projects which meet the criteria above. The project the overhead funding is supporting, although not primarily funding, is what will be assessed.

For example, a public sector research establishment can apply to cover the overhead costs of a project for which they have applied to UKRI for funding if it is the case both that:

• the terms of that funding does not cover overheads
• the scope of the project itself falls within the scope of the Knowledge Assets Grant Fund

In the event they are successful both in their application for the UKRI funding and to the Knowledge Assets Grant Fund, they will receive the overhead top up funding.

2.4 High risk appetite

The expectation is that not all funded projects will be successful nor necessarily progress to seeking further funding/investment. ‘Failing fast’ is an acceptable outcome. We encourage bold, innovative ideas from applicants.

2.5 Sensitivity classification

All applications and projects will be marked as Commercial Sensitive. All applications will also be marked as Official Sensitive. Do not send projects containing information that needs to be treated as Secret or a higher classification. The processing systems in place for this year of the grant fund are only equipped to provide the level of protection needed for commercially sensitive information.

3. Eligible expenditure

The following types of expenditure are within scope:

• payroll costs: researchers, technicians and other supporting staff to the extent and for the period that they are proportionally working on the project
• instruments and equipment (lifespan of which do not exceed the end of the project): to the extent and for the period that they are proportionally used on the project
• instruments and equipment (lifespan of which goes beyond the end of the project): depreciation costs corresponding to the lifespan of the project, to the extent they are used for the R&D project. Depreciation must be calculated on the basis of generally good accounting principles
• land: the extent and for the period it is proportionally used to for the R&D project. Costs of commercial transfer or actually incurred capital costs are eligible
• buildings: depreciation costs corresponding to the lifespan of the project, to the extent that they are used for the project. Depreciation must be calculated on the basis of generally good accounting principles
• contractual research: cost (bought or licenced) sourced externally, directly related to the R&D project
• technical knowledge: cost (bought or licenced) sourced externally, directly related to the R&D project
• patents: cost (bought or licenced) sourced externally, directly related to the R&D project
• consultancy: cost (bought or licenced) sourced externally, directly related to the project
• overheads: only additional overheads incurred directly as the result of the project
• materials, supplies or similar products: only as required directly as the result of the project

Subcontracting/Procurement (for contractual research; technical knowledge; patents; consultancy): all subcontractor costs should be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs. It is the organisation’s responsibility to ensure compliance with public law and usual procurement practices.

Any spend of the grant fund must follow the existing commercial arrangements of your organisation, and Crown Commercial rules.

Transactions must be carried out at arm’s length, at market rates and with no element of collusion.

4. Payment processing, fraud checks and compliance

Applications successful at assessment stage will be finalised pending receipt of a financial statement signed by the organisation’s accounting officer (required only for Expand and Extend grants, not for those below £25,000). The knowledge assets team will send out these documents to be signed following the assessment panel. For awards over £25,000 grant offer letters will only be issued, and funding confirmed, once the signed statement has been received.

Recipient organisations will be required to incur the cost of the activity and then bill BEIS for the amount of the grant fund award with documented evidence of spend. We may allow invoices in advance of activity in special circumstances, in agreement between BEIS and the recipient.

It is expected that grant holders will deliver the project’s outputs as outlined in the application form and the Grant Offer Letter. However, it is understood that innovation projects can change scope and aims over time. Any changes to project milestones must be communicated and agreed with BEIS ahead of incurring further spend, and must be to further the development of the same knowledge asset as stated in the application for this grant funding.

If a project is deemed unviable before all spend is achieved, this should be clearly communicated to BEIS, thereby the project and funding will be terminated. This will in no way reflect on future applications for funding, as innovation activities such as these are recognised to be high risk.

Random spot-checks on invoices and projects will take place to monitor that spend is being incurred in line with the agreed terms. The Grant Offer Letter will include provisions for any overpayments to be recovered.

Where there are consistent errors from an individual organisation, the Knowledge Assets Team will monitor any grant awards from that organisation more closely and if the errors continue, the team reserves the right to not process any further applications.

More than half of all UK research is a product of international partnerships. With this in mind, the government has published Trusted research guidance for academica which provides advice on the importance of properly protecting valuable information. This guidance covers:

• how to protect research
• safe international collaborations
• use of legal frameworks
• who researchers are at risk from, and where.

The government has also produced Trusted research guidance for industry, which also covers issues around ownership, publishing, and protection. We expect grant recipients to consider and align with this guidance where relevant both for projects funded by this grant scheme and all subsequent development of the knowledge asset.

5. Assessment process and criteria

The current round of applications will be assessed on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

Applications will be assessed in order based on their time of arrival to the submission inbox. Where substantial changes are requested, the application will go to the back of the queue when resubmitted.

Applications will be assessed firstly based on compliance with the eligibility criteria as set out above. Feedback will be provided where eligibility is unclear or where further information is required.

Applications will only proceed to the assessment panel once the Knowledge Assets team is confident the eligibility criteria has been met.

Once eligibility is confirmed, the application will be considered by independent panel members who will be assessing the proposals based on the benefit (social, economic and/or financial) to the UK and the likelihood of success. To receive funding, projects must be assessed as providing either a significant benefit to the UK if successful and some chance of success (even if low) or a moderate benefit to the UK if successful and a reasonable chance of success in order to receive funding. The panel members will also assign a score (1 to 4) to the proposal representing their confidence that the project as outlined in the application is fit for purpose. Explore grants require a minimum score of 2, expand grants require 3 and extend grants require 4. This reflects the different amount of information requested for each size of grant. Funding will be awarded based on these thresholds on a first come first served basis; applications will not be ranked against each other except in the circumstances outlined in the section ‘process for excess demand’ below.

For Explore Grant awards (those below £25,000), a single panel member will be asked to make the above assessments. For Expand Grant awards (between £25,000 and £100,000), the panel will discuss the proposal based on the written application. For Extend Grant awards (between £100,000 and £250,000), eligible applicants will be invited to present to the panel along with the written application. This will involve a Q&A and will be limited to 20 minutes.

The panel will meet on a monthly basis and consider eligible applications which have been submitted by the end of the preceding month. Feedback will be provided in a timely manner.

6. Process in case of excess demand

When the funding pot drops below £500,000 (based on funds allocated, not funds drawn down) we will notify organisations that there is a 2 week deadline to complete any in-progress applications via a further email to Accounting Officers and an email to those on our fund cascade list. If you are unsure whether you are on our cascade list, please email grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk to be added.

If after the fund has closed and the final applications have been reviewed, the funds needed for the projects that meet the criteria exceed the remaining funds, the final applications will be ranked by the panel. This is the only scenario in which applications will be ranked against each other. They will be ranked according to where they sit in the benefit to the UK or likelihood of success matrix used by the panel to assess applications. Those deemed to provide the most significant potential benefit to the UK and which have the highest chance of success will be funded first, followed by those with significant benefit and a reasonable chance of success, followed by those with a moderate benefit and a high chance of success, followed by those with significant benefit but low chance of success. The lowest ranking will be given to those with moderate benefit and only reasonable chance of success.

Within the £500,000 funding pot, half will be reserved for Explore Grants and half for Expand or Extend Grants to ensure a range of funding opportunities will be supported. Any excess will be released for supporting other qualifying proposals.

7. Subsidy control

The grant is being awarded under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance exemption in Article 364(4). This allows public bodies to give up to 325,000 SDR worth of subsidy to an economic actor in a rolling 3-year fiscal period (‘the Relevant Period’). When calculating what previous support counts towards this threshold, organisations should include any aid which was previously awarded under the De Minimis Regulation in the Relevant Period, as well as any other support awarded under the SAFA exemption itself in the Relevant Period. Organisations do not need to include aid or subsidies which have been granted on a different basis (such as an aid award granted under the General Block Exemption Regulation).

Successful applicants will be asked to declare what aid, if any, they have received which falls within the scope of the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance exemption as part of the financial checks ahead of making a formal grant offer.

If our funding, now or in the future, contributes to an organisation going over this exemption, BEIS is willing to work, where possible, with organisations to consider whether the individual grant award may meet requirements to be reclassified as ‘not in-aid’.

Further information about the UK subsidy control requirements can be found in:

• the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation agreement
• guidance by the government

8. Freedom of Information Act 2000

BEIS is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which gives a public right of access to information held by a public authority. This may result in applications, communications between us and the applicant, information arising from this work, or the outputs from the work undertaken being subject to disclosure if a valid request is made to us. We will comply with such requests in accordance with the legislation and BEIS’s own policies.

Applicants can, if they wish, provide potentially sensitive information (such as information relating to commercial interests) in a separate annex attached to the application form. This will highlight to us that there are concerns about disclosure. The applicant acknowledges that information provided in the annex is of indicative value only, and that BEIS may nevertheless be obliged to disclose this information. Our assumption will be that all information in the main application documents can be disclosed on request.

Further information about the Freedom of Information Act is available at the ICO website.

9. Reasonable adjustments

To enable a wider access, we are happy to consider requests for reasonable adjustments. Please contact the Grant Fund mailbox with the subject line ‘[RA]’ grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk.

10. Feedback

As this is the first year of the Knowledge Assets Grant Fund, we would be grateful for feedback to help inform refinements and improvements for future years, Please send feedback to grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk, using the subject line ‘[Feedback]’.

11. Contact and further queries

If you have questions around the application process not covered in the below, please email grantfund.gott@beis.gov.uk.