Higher Education Innovation Fund

Funding proposals

Outcomes of consultation (May 2001)

To:	Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions
Of interest to those responsible for:	Relations between HE and business and the wider community; contract and collaborative research; continuing vocational education; strategic planning
Reference:	01/22
Publication date:	April 2001
Enquiries to:	Adrian Hill, tel 0117 931 7351, e-mail a.hill@hefce.ac.uk Or HEFCE regional consultants

Executive summary (read on-line)

Information on the related initiatives run by OST: the Science Enterprise Challenge, University Challenge and Public Sector Research Exploitation Fund.

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Annexes
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Executive summary

Purpose

1. This document outlines proposals for higher education institutions (HEIs) in England to apply for special funding for activities that will increase their capability to respond to the needs of business (including companies of all sizes and a range of bodies within the wider community), where this will lead to identifiable economic benefits.

Key points

2. The new Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) builds on the third stream of funding initiated by the Higher Education Reach-out to Business and the Community fund (HEROBC). It is designed to sit alongside institutions’ teaching and research activities, enabling them to secure the maximum economic benefit from those activities.

3. The fund will continue to provide a platform of core funding to help HEIs enhance organisational and structural arrangements for implementing their strategic aims in this area, so that they can contribute to economic growth and competitiveness.

4. The proposed activity builds on HEROBC, on which we consulted fully. However, we would welcome comments on our strategic aims and objectives for the fund, and on the proposed criteria for allocations and distribution arrangements. These are set out in the guidance notes on Knowledge Exploitation Funding (Annex A) and the application guidelines for HEIF (Annex B). A list of acronyms is given in Annex C.

Action required

5. Please send responses to this consultation to Adrian Hill at the HEFCE, to arrive by 4 May 2001.