Scope
Regional Space
sector growth - Projects must support and contribute to the growth of the North
East Space-based economy through the following pathways:-
- The development of new and enhanced technologies accelerating the commercialisation of research innovation;
- New non-academic partner engagement in the sector, particularly from adjacent sectors which could be a vector of space sector growth;
- Influence policy and/or further develop expert capabilities;
Proposals must
align with the NESCA themes and achieve a clear pathway from research outputs
to impact in the North East region.
Projects should be
at least 50% within the EPSRC’s remit, build upon previous research, but need
not link to prior EPSRC funding.
Multidisciplinary reflective, innovative
approaches are encouraged.
Project outputs
must have the clear potential for commercial or societal benefits and must
demonstrate this within the Project Benefits and IP management sections of the main
application form.
Note that applications
that read like research grant proposals redrafted for the NESCA call are
unlikely to be successful. NESCA awards are not for the continuation of
research. All projects must build upon completed research translated for a
non-academic outcome, leading to impact. The basic underpinning research
should have already been funded and completed, and demonstrable outputs should
have been realised.
Proposals must be
innovative and clearly describe how inclusive relationships with the
non-academic stakeholders will be leveraged to realise the regional impact
demonstrating a participatory approach to Impact Acceleration.
Projects must
include a non-academic partner, evidenced by a letter of support*. Letters
should be signed, dated, and on headed paper. Partner organisations should
confirm that they will actively engaging on the project, for the North East
region, and that they intend to contribute to its delivery as described in the submitted
application if the award is successful. Due Diligence on partners is the
responsibility of the submitting University – see the later section on Trusted
Research and Due Diligence.
Projects must
demonstrate co-creation between academia and non-HEI partners and include
in-kind/cash contributions from partner(s)*
*Projects supporting a spin-out
proposal, where collaboration would put IP at risk, will not require an
external partner to apply, but should still provide a letter of support from a
customer/ end user / future buyer.
Topics (with non-limiting examples)
- Technologies: e.g. EM spectrum materials-structures-devices, device fabrication, system integration, integrated sensing and communication and room-temperature quantum LEDs.
- Space Sustainability: e.g. space law/policy/governance, in-orbit servicing, operations.
- In-space Opportunities: e.g. Low-latency (LEO), interlinks (LEO/GEO).
- Terrestrial Applications: e.g. Earth observation, climate/disaster management, healthcare, energy, and finance.
- Smart & Resilient Networks: e.g. Data analytics, machine learning, smart networking, and on-board AI edge processing.
Funding available
NESCA will support projects that
encourage innovation through the following two streams of funding:
- Launch-pad Fund (£1 – 15k per project)
TRL 2-4
Duration up to 6 months
Seed corn funding for idea translation, first steps toward
commercialisation and starting new relationships between academic and external
organisations leading to new policies, practices or ideas generation leading to
regional impact.
Funding for higher-risk activities,
including feasibility studies, early-stage prototyping and proof-of-concept, while the project can also
be focused on policy development.
Activities supported by the Launch-pad funding:
-
- This funding aims to establish and strengthen long-term collaborations between businesses and academics by fostering early-stage knowledge exchange and strategic alignment. It provides seed funding to achieve early-stage translation (TRL 2-4) to build relationships and prove technical or commercial feasibility to support the translation of ideas and technology, supporting activities such as:
- Knowledge exchange and cluster/network building.
- Prototyping and generating early performance data to prove application to industry/market need.
- Market discovery to validate a market including end-user engagement.
- Market research to establish the size of a market, competitor analysis, IP landscaping and external regulatory advice or external commercial evaluations.
- Workshops and sandpits to initiate new academia-industry collaborations and promote adoption of new technologies/approaches.
- Scoping exercises and feasibility studies to explore potential innovations.
- Showcases to facilitate knowledge exchange between academia and external organisations.
- Thematic knowledge exchange and public engagement to support NESCA’s community and ecosystem growth.
- Policy-influencing activities to strengthen engagement with external partners.
Launch-pad applications should deliver one or more of the
following types of outcomes:
- Public engagement and knowledge exchange leading to a change in understanding
- Promote knowledge exchange and drive place-based impact, contributing to increased partnership working with non-HEIS and policy development in resilient communications and space.
- Early-stage commercialisation
- Follow-on knowledge exchange or commercialisation funding application
- Support skills and capacity building, supply chain development, job retention, and attract regional investment in space-resilient communications.
Launch-pad applications should demonstrate:
- The relevance and need for the proposed activity within the North East space sector;
- Commitment from all partners and a clear rationale for collaboration;
- A defined market need and the novelty of the technology or solution;
- Potential for impact and its significance to industry or society;
- A strong follow-on activity plan and long-term sustainability;
- Clear knowledge exchange and innovation outcomes;
- Well-defined, measurable outputs, outcomes, and impacts (See Annex 1 for examples).
Launch-pad requirement for contribution from external
partner:
A
direct financial contribution is welcome but not expected. In-kind
contributions should be sought and included in the letters of support.
- Lift-off Fund (£15 – 65k per project)
TRL 4-7
Duration 6 - 18 months
Projects requiring sustained funding to deliver a defined impact.
Funding for advancing the
commercialisation of research technologies, policies or partnerships.
Activities supported by the Lift-off funding: -
- Projects should aim to achieve TRL 4-7.
- Funded activities must deliver tangible outcomes, such as technology demonstrations, policy implementation, licensable technologies, spinouts, and process/product development new to the partner or the market.
- Follow-on funding may support larger technical development programmes co-developed with end users to achieve commercially identified milestones, these are typically 12-18 months in duration.
- Activities that prove
technical and/or commercial feasible including proof of concept studies,
prototype development and testing (e.g. evaluation of prototypes or
'demonstrators') and scoping exercises to ensure the technology is
designed to meet user demands from the outset.
- Policy scoping or policy
projects should strengthen engagement with external partners, even where
the immediate goal is not commercialisation.
Lift-off applications should deliver one or more
of the following types of outcomes:
- Promote knowledge exchange
and drive place-based impact, contributing to SME growth and policy
development in resilient communications and space.
- Lead to a spin-out company,
new IP, licensing agreements, follow-on translational funding, or
advancing collaboration with industrial partners (e.g. UKSA NSIP call, Knowledge Transfer
Partnership (KTP) or an industry-funded PhD studentship).
- Support skills and capacity
building, supply chain development, job creation, and attract regional
investment in space-resilient communications.
- Demonstrate readiness for
proof-of-concept funding, where the underpinning research has been
completed with demonstrable outputs.
Lift-off applications should demonstrate:
- A clearly established
commercial opportunity or policy development need, evidenced in the
application.
- Novel and translational
approaches addressing a specific market need.
- A genuine commercial or
policy development opportunity with market potential, supported by
evidence.
- Industry or civic need and
commitment, demonstrated through a relevant partner providing cash or
in-kind contributions.
- A clear potential to
support the growth of the North East space-based economy and community.
Note: For
Proof-of-Concept projects, matters relating to IP management and dissemination
of project results should be discussed with your university's IP
Commercialisation or Technology Transfer Office.
For
Lift-off applications, a member of your TTO (or IP Commercialisation) team
should review your application's IP section for all commercialisation projects.
Lift-off requirement for contributions from external
Partners:
A project partner
with a committed 15% cash or In-kind contribution is expected.
The
non-HEI partner(s) should provide cash or in-kind support commensurate with the
commercial opportunity. For commercialisation projects, the contribution from
the partner must be discussed with your University TTO or IP team. Only projects working towards spin-out may
submit a proposal with no external partner, and the case should be made as to
why a partnership is not appropriate. In such cases, there must be evidence of
partnership or support from relevant organisations, e.g. customers or civic bodies,
to provide adequate commercialisation support, as evidenced by a letter of
support.
If
existing university spinouts are the industry partner, the project must not be
developing IP already licensed to the spinout.
What we will fund
Applicants should
cost their proposals in accordance with their Partner University guidelines.
Proposals
should be costed using Directly Incurred (DI) costs without FEC. All proposals
must have received institutional approval before submission.
Eligible costs:
- Researcher/ PDRA/ Technician/ Professional support salary costs for staff employed on Northumbria, Durham or Newcastle University payroll
- Researcher/ PDRA Technician/ Professional support salary costs for staff employed on a partner HEI payroll in a collaborative project with either Newcastle, Durham or Northumbria University as the lead applicant (reminder of the 10% quota).
- Reasonable travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs are covered in accordance with the awarding university’s expenses and financial regulations policies (or equivalent).
- Consumables directly related to the project are eligible for funding but must be fully justified.
- Equipment must be under £10k including VAT (according to funder guidelines).
- Salaries for partner university staff costed for less than 100% of time (e.g., PDRA, technician, etc.) are contingent upon the staff member completing a monthly timesheet and the PL/staff member retaining records and producing these in case of audit (please refer to UKRI’s terms and conditions).
- Other costs such as registration costs at events, production of professional materials, room bookings, catering, etc., are eligible.
- Outsourcing and professional fees– following institutional financial regulations and justified
Applicants
should provide a project costing with their proposal that must be prepared in
conjunction with the relevant research finance office at their university. You
should provide full financial details of the project, including salary costs,
travel and subsistence costs, additional consumables and any other fees
associated with the project.
Awards
will only cover the direct costs associated with the project. VAT must be
included in the figures as the University cannot reclaim VAT from this project.
Ineligible activities/costs:
- New, fundamental research (TRL 1).
- Non-Specific Public Engagement activities and science communication.
- Any costs relating to intellectual property protection including but not limited to registering, maintaining, or supporting patents or property rights
- Undergraduate or postgraduate activities/training; core PhD training including stipend, training, tuition, bursary or bench fees.
- Academic supervision (Investigator DI or Investigator DA – see previous exceptions).
- Items of equipment with an individual value of £10,000 or more (items of equipment over £500 must be detailed in the justification of resources).
- Standard laptops, i-pads, etc...
- Indirect costs, estates, or infrastructure.
- Projects outside the scope of the NESCA programme (or call).
- Broader activities and institutional culture change relating to impact.
- Impact activities that should already have been anticipated and supported through standard routes, e.g. impact activities costed as part ofresearch proposals.
- Duplication of other sources of funding that can be used more appropriately for the impact activity within remit of Research Council, e.g. institutional IAA funds, CLASP/IPS.
- Projects that can be funded by other mechanisms are not eligible.
- Directly subsidising commercial R&D.
- Contributions to KTPs.
- External non-HEI partner/ user salary costs cannot be funded by the NESCA grant. In-kind or cash contributions should cover salary costs or costs for access to external partner facilities or provision of essential consumables / OEM parts evidenced for the project; where this is not the case, they can’t be a partner and must be listed as a supplier and following institution procurement rules must be followed, and evidence of this must be provided within the justification of resources section and treated as contractor costs.
- Non-academic organisations cannot be recipients of NESCA grant funding.
- No double funding – if applying for two sources of funding for similar work, if successful through NESCA the other application must be immediately withdrawn i.e. Northern Accelerator (or vice-versa).
- Funds cannot be used for purely academic conference attendance.
- Costs associated with attendance at workshops
/ conferences will be only considered where 75% non-academic audiences will be
present, there is clear outcomes of knowledge translation, and the outcomes
must be detailed in the justification of resources section of the application.
IP, Subsidy control, and Partners
Recommended Intellectual Property requirements
These
recommendations are subject to local agreements at your University (please ensure
to seek clarity from your TTO / IP Team – Northumbria University applicants MUST
follow the below)
- The industry partner must not seek a
pre-negotiated right to any academically generated foreground project IP.
- Under some circumstances, it may be acceptable
for the partner to receive a non-exclusive licence to use any data
generated by the project for internal research and development purposes,
where this explicitly excludes any rights to, or capacity to, prevent
exploitation of the data by the academic party.
- The company partner may have a right to
negotiate for access (at a fair market price) to the academic party’s IP,
but terms cannot be agreed upon until the project is completed
- Any other terms must be discussed with you
TTO/ IP Team and due consideration of subsidy control made.
Subsidy Control
The submitting organisation must ensure at
all times that any NESCA grant funding awarded to you is compliant with the
Subsidy Control Act 2022. You must inform the NESCA Project Manager of any
other public funding applied for or awarded against the eligible costs covered
by the grant. We will immediately suspend the Grant and may require you to
repay Grant funding if you are found to have received aid that is deemed to be
in breach of the Subsidy Control Act 2022. No subcontract or other agreement
with a Third Party can be made which would constitute a breach of the Subsidy
Control Act 2022.
Please speak to your Research Office, TTO
Team or Legal Services team, as they will advise and make judgements on subsidy
control on a case-by-case basis. These matters must be considered within any
collaboration agreement with your partners following the award.
If existing university spinouts are the
industry partner, the project must not be developing IP already licensed to the
spinout.
Partner Letters of Support
Partners
can be end-users or collaborators. Eligible project partners can be industrial,
civic, standard agencies, trade bodies, charities, and research trade
organisations from the North East region. Where they are from outside of the
region clear justification and details on how their involvement in the project
will lead to impact for the region must be stated (see guidance above).
It is
expected that non-academic partners will each make a 15% match funding
contribution to EPSRC IAA projects. However, the cash or in-kind contribution
should be appropriate to the size and type of the partner organisation, and
deviations from the 15% will be in exceptional circumstances and should be
explained. Non-academic partners will need to demonstrate their commitment to
the project, and applications should detail how participants will work together
to achieve the aims and objectives of the project.
We
request that a letter of support is submitted with the application. The letters
should be on company-headed paper, signed by a senior member of the partner
organisation with the authority to sign them, and dated within six months of
the proposal submission date.
The
letters of support should provide a background to the project partners'
expertise and why they are interested in supporting this project, and what role
they will play.
Letters
should also highlight the project's commercial and/or social value proposition.
For example:
- What is the market or societal need for this work.
- Where do you feel the real market opportunity lies for this technology or policy change?
- How would this technology fit with your current technology portfolio?
- How would the policy or process change add value to the North East region.
- The partner letters may also cover how they are supporting the development roadmap. For example, they may cover how they are assisting to bring this device/technology to market or supporting the policy adoption and the estimated timescales.
All
partner contributions should be quantified, including:
- In-kind support (materials, facilities, processing, scientist/ technicians support).
- Time to attend meetings and review research/ project outcomes.
- Financial support to the project.
- Advice/technical/commercial/IP guidance/ policy or sector knowledge.
Trusted Research and Due Diligence
Trusted
Research (TR) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
Trusted Research and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) underpins all work that NESCA will conduct. Expertise and clear escalation points will be built into the application process and ongoing monitoring of projects by awardees and the lead institution will take into account EPSRC expectations for trusted research - https://www.ukri.org/manage-your-award/good-research-resource-hub/trusted-research-and-innovation/
It is not anticipated that applicants/ HEI recipients of funding will be involved with partners or organisations owned/controlled by overseas entities, but due diligence conducted by the responsible party (i.e. the applicant) should highlight any evidence of this so a decision can be made by the funding panel on a case-by-case basis.
All parties involved in projects must transparently consider and address trusted research considerations and implement appropriate mitigations where relevant.
Applicants must fill out the Trusted Research checklist as part of their application. Trusted Research will not be part of the initial assessment, but a final decision will be made by the Funding Panel as to whether they believe funding the activity will be consistent with UKRI guidance (link). As part of their responses, applicants should consider and detail whether any relevant legislation applies to their proposed partners or their work including:
- Export Control Order (2008)
- The National Security and Investment Act (2021) (NSI),
- Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)
- The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS)
- Whether the work is of a sensitive or high-risk nature.
Within the checklist, you will be asked to consider how any relevant legislation applies to your work. Answers to the checklist should also include how the applicant intends to apply the appropriate mitigations to any inherent risks within their work throughout their project's lifecycle.
Whilst collaboration with international partners is not anticipated under this programme, there is potential for international parties to access information or technology through third-party relationships or activities undertaken as part of awarded projects. HEI award recipients are responsible for completing due diligence and ensure they are not in breach of any the legislation mentioned above by collaborating with international partners or sub-contractors which may be in scope of such legislation; this will be set out clearly in the terms of award.
If there is collaboration with entities owned or controlled overseas, activities must only proceed following further consultation with applicant university’s in house trusted research expert, and, if required, an assessment of whether key legislation applies including Export Control, NSI or ATAS.
Successful award holders will receive further resources and guidance on Trusted Research training through NESCA including an appropriate checklist to monitor the project on an ongoing basis.