This guidance is aimed at knowledge bases (host research organisations) applying to Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) competition for non-FEC (standard costing) projects.
While the full economic costing (FEC) method is typically used by higher education institutions, the non-FEC (standard costing) method is typically used by further education colleges, research and technology organisations, and Catapults.
The knowledge base supervisor must spend a minimum of half a day a week supporting the project. Weekly supervision is usually provided virtually, with monthly face to face meetings.
In rare cases the partners may need the knowledge base supervisor to provide more support, but you must justify your request in the application form. Your request will be approved or rejected by the KTP programme management.
We will not fund the supervision and support given to the associate by the business partner. These costs must be met by the business partner.
You must calculate the costs of your project in whole months.
You must not:
- charge the business partner any project costs that have not been included in your application
- reduce the costs to the business partner after the KTP has approved the grant
Associate employment
From 26 January 2023, the maximum costs you can claim for employing the associate are £55,000 per 12 months. This includes costs for:
- associate salary
- national insurance
- sick pay
- annual leave
- pension
- redundancy
- pay rises
- retention, completion or other bonuses
Within the application you must explain the rationale for the budget requested. This must be based on evidence that the associate salary, and other costs, are appropriate for the industry or business in which the KTP will take place. Justifications relying solely on pay grades within the knowledge base or qualifications are not allowed.
If the business partner’s premises where most of the project work will be undertaken is within 16 miles of Charing Cross, London, you can include an extra London weighting of £3,000 per 12 months. This brings the total to £58,000 per 12 months.
Projects with virtual businesses cannot claim London weighting.
The knowledge base and business partner are responsible for any salary and additional employment costs that exceed these maximum amounts.
Maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave
At the end of the grant period we will reimburse costs incurred by the knowledge base to cover any additional parental leave costs, including statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay for staff.
Innovate UK’s contribution will be limited to the funding level (%) stated in the grant offer letter. The business partner is also expected to contribute towards these costs.
This aligns with section 8.3 of the UKRI full economic cost (FEC) grants standard terms and conditions.
Academic and secretarial support
This is a fixed amount that is available to cover the costs of academic input into the project, and the costs for managing the associate, such as computing, personnel admin, learning resources and secretariat support to the Local Management Committee.
Knowledge bases may claim a maximum amount of £15,000 per 12 months.
The knowledge base supervisor must spend a minimum of half a day a week supporting the project. Weekly supervision is usually provided virtually, with monthly face to face meetings.
We will not fund the supervision and support given to the associate by the business partner. These costs must be met by the business partner.
Associate development
This supports the associate’s personal and professional development, providing:
- additional developmental training that is specifically required for the project
- training that helps the all-round development of the associate
The maximum associate development costs are £2,000 per 12 months. There are no exceptions to this maximum. The business partner is solely responsible for associate development costs that exceed this amount.
During the project the associate can use up to £700 of this on fees for a higher degree.
Travel and subsistence
For projects with virtual businesses, the business must pay all associate travel costs and include a budget for this in the ‘additional business costs estimates’ section of the application form.
For non-virtual businesses, travel and subsistence can be claimed for:
- the knowledge base supervisor and knowledge base lead to attend monthly project management meetings and local management committee meetings
- associate travel in relation to the delivery of the project as listed in the workplan
The business must also list its own travel and subsistence in the ‘additional business cost estimates’ section of the application form.
The standard travel and subsistence amount is £1,250 per 12 months, you can exceed this amount. You must justify all travel and subsistence costs in the application.
The cost of standard class peak rail tickets may be used when preparing travel and subsistence budgets. Your request will be approved or rejected by the KTP programme management.
The travel and subsistence budget may also be used to support associate travel to training courses, conferences and trade shows approved by the Local Management Committee. Attendance fees must be met from the associate’s development budget or funded by the business partner. As a general guide no more than two conferences or trade shows will be supported per project and must be included in the work plan.
The business partner must fully support any costs over the standard amount, for visits to client sites, overseas partners, or more than two conferences or trade shows included in the workplan.
You must consider the environmental impact of your travel and be prepared to justify your choices. In order of preference, you should consider:
- walking and cycling
- public transport
- vehicles, including pool, hire and private cars
- taxis
- flying
Special arrangements for virtual businesses
Where a virtual business wishes to participate in KTP, the business must agree to cover the following additional requirements and costs.
Monthly project management meetings and Local Management Committees must be held face to face at a location of the businesses choosing, and at their expense. These meetings must not be held at the knowledge base except in exceptional circumstances. The location of these meetings must be identified within the application and academic travel costs will be based on this.
Projects with virtual businesses may only claim for academic travel and substance. All associate travel will need to be paid for by the business partner. The business will need to include an allowance for associate travel within the ‘additional business costs estimate’ section on the application form.
If these figures are not included, it will be assumed that there is no budget available, and applications withdrawn from the competition.
Equipment, consumables and other costs (materials)
This only covers consumable items that are essential to carry out and complete the project. You can include the associate’s personal computer but not capital items that the business partner will use after the project is completed. Except for the personal computer, consumables are unlikely to exist or will be significantly transformed, after their use.
Items must not:
- have already been purchased
- have been included in other costs categories
- be purchased from the business partner
Standard consumable costs are £2,000 per 12 months. You can exceed this, but you must justify your request in the application form. Where high specification computers are required, the business must contribute to their cost. Your request will be approved or rejected by KTP programme management.
KTP does not support the costs of more than one personal computing device, commercial software licences, IT hardware including servers, physical storage units and tablet computers, mobile phones and contracts (unless specifically required for the safety of an associate), commercial cloud computing and online data storage services or equipment that is likely be used by the business partner after the project has completed.
In your justification, make clear which stage of your work plan each cost relates to. We encourage the business partner to help with any costs over the standard amount.
Non-FEC knowledge bases may additionally include elements of estate costs in this category, where their use is directly related to the delivery of the proposed project. The same maximum applies as for FEC. It must be clear from the justification why these costs have been included and where they link to the workplan.
Other costs help develop and support KTP offices. If you want to claim for this, you must contact the KTP programme manager before you submit your application.
Overheads of the knowledge base partner and direct staff costs, including knowledge base supervisor
This is calculated at 46% of Innovate UK contribution for associate employment and academic supervision costs, which is provided at the prevailing grant rate used in the application.
For example, a 12-month project with a 60% grant rate consists of £45,000 for associate employment and £15,000 for academic supervision, in total £60,000.
46% of £60,000 is £27,000. This amount is the Innovate UK contribution, which at the prevailing grant rate of for instance 60% provides a £16,650 contribution to project costs.
Project costs for non-FEC
For knowledge bases that do not use the full economic costing methodology, a fixed percentage is available to cover project costs. Check the costs carefully to make sure your overheads are met.
To calculate the overheads of the knowledge base partner, using the appropriate Innovate UK grant contribution (SME or large business) add together the grant costs of associate employment costs and academic and secretarial support.
You can calculate the eligible costs for your project on a pro rata basis using the following information as a starting point. Academic and secretarial support is a fixed rate of £15,000 per year.
Example: standard non-FEC costs for one associate for 12 months, located at the business’s premises
In the following example, associate employment costs of £45,000 have been determined as appropriate for the type of business.
| Eligible costs | Innovate UK grant at 60% | SME contribution at 40% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate employment costs | £45,000 | £27,000 | £18,000 |
| Academic and secretarial support | £15,000 | £9,000 | £6,000 |
| Associate development | £2,000 | £1,200 | £800 |
| Travel and subsistence | £1,250 | £750 | £500 |
| Equipment, consumables and other costs | £2,000 | £1,200 | £800 |
| Sub total | £62,250 | £39,150 | £26,100 |
| Overheads of the knowledge base partner and direct staff costs | £16,560 (see details below) | ||
| Grant payable or business contribution in total | £55,710 | £26,100 |
| Eligible costs | Innovate UK grant at 50% | Large business contribution at 50% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Associate employment costs | £45,000 | £22,500 | £22,500 |
| Academic and secretarial support | £15,000 | £7,500 | £7,500 |
| Associate development | £2,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Travel and subsistence | £1,250 | £625 | £625 |
| Equipment, consumables and other costs | £2,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Sub total | £62,250 | £32,625 | £32,625 |
| Overheads of the knowledge base partner and direct staff costs | £13,800 (see details below) | ||
| Grant payable or business contribution in total | £46,425 | £32,625 |
Overheads of the knowledge base partner and direct staff costs (including knowledge base supervisor) are calculated as 46% of Innovate UK contribution for associate employment and academic supervision costs, in this case £16,560 for SMEs and £13,800 for large businesses.
For travel and subsistence costs, projects with virtual businesses may:
- not claim London weighting
- only claim for academic travel and subsistence
- not transfer travel and subsistence to another budget