Support to Assess Project Bids to the HEFCE Connecting Capability Fund
Client: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
The UK Government confirmed in its 2016 Autumn Statement that additional funding for science and research of £100 million would be provided to incentivise universities to collaborate in the areas of technology transfer and research commercialisation. This funding – the Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) – is intended to support universities working together across England on the commercialisation of research, and is being allocated to complement and build on established Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) mechanisms.
SQW was commissioned in June 2017 by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to support an Expert Steering Group in reviewing all ‘Round 1’ and ‘Round 2’ bids to the CCF. A robust bid assessment approach and scoring matrix was developed between SQW and HEFCE to ensure a consistent review process.
SQW has recently collaborated on the bid assessments for Round 2 and UK Government funding through the CCF will continue until 2021.
