If you are an academic applicant applying for Innovate UK funding you need to complete and submit an online standard proposal. You can get this from the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. You must be registered with Je-S to use this system.
1. Eligible organisations
Organisations that are eligible to be considered as academic collaborations may include:
- universities and similar higher education institution (HEI) organisations
government research establishments - not-for-profit research and technology organisations (RTOs).
Note that research organisations not registered on Je-S might also be eligible. If you are not registered with Je-S and are hoping to apply, you should register as soon as possible, as registration can take some time.
Research organisations that are not able to register with Je-S within the timeframe will need to complete the standard Innovate UK finance form.
Contact the Je-S helpdesk
Email: JeSHelp@je-s.ukri.org
Telephone: 01793 444164
2. Eligible costs
Project costs for academic applicants are calculated on the basis of full economic costs (FECs), as defined by the research councils.
If your project is successful, Innovate UK will fund an academic partner at 80% of FEC. The remaining 20% is not counted as part of your contribution to your project and must not be included in the total project costs.
Please note that the costs of PhD students is not eligible for inclusion in research organisation project costs. This is in line with UKRI guidelines.
3. How to apply
3.1 Completing the Je-S form
To apply through Je-S you will need the unique Innovate UK application number. This unique reference number links together all the application and finance forms for the project. The lead applicant in the project will be able to provide this.
The online forms are completed and submitted in the same way as all other research council funding applications. To access the online form and apply within an Innovate UK competition you should:
- sign into the Je-S website
- select ‘add new document’
- under the option for ‘council’ select ‘Technology Strategy Board’ (this is the former name of Innovate UK)
- under the option for ‘document type’ select ‘standard proposal’
- under the option for ‘scheme’ select ‘Technology Strategy Board CR&D’
- for the funding opportunity, select ‘open call’
- within your application you will need to provide a 1-page ‘justification of resources’, which should describe your need for resources within the context of your role in the project and be be submitted as an attachment.
More guidance on the content of the ‘justification of resources’ appendix is available on the Je-S website.
For further advice on completing the Je-S form, requirements and process also visit the Je-S website.
3.2 Submitting your Je-S form to Innovate UK
For all funding awards, you must complete the form by the deadline given in the competition brief for which you are applying. If you fail to submit this form it could result in the whole application becoming ineligible for this competition. Please allow sufficient time for Je-S approval.
Research council standard procedures also apply to Innovate UK proposals. Approval of submissions in the Je-S system is required by both the head of department and university research office. The onus is on you to notify these parties that a proposal has been submitted and when the deadline is.
If you are applying for a competition via the Innovation Funding Service application process
You will be invited to join the project as a collaborator on the Innovation Funding Service by the lead partner of the consortium.
You need to log in and complete the ‘your finances’ section for your organisation.
Under ‘project costs’ enter the TSB contribution column figures from your Je-S output document. You will also need to upload a PDF copy of the Je-S output document confirming a status of ‘with council’.
4. Innovate UK and open access
Innovate UK supports the principle of open access for a project which has specifically identified a requirement to publish outcomes as a route to dissemination. This requirement should be included within a project’s collaboration agreement. It should also follow the guidelines contained in the UKRI policy on open access.
Additional costs for publication charges will not be considered.
Last updated: 17 August 2021