This note explains the arrangements for bidding for Science Enterprise Challenge, University Challenge, Public Sector Research Exploitation Fund, and the arrangements for the Higher Education Innovation Fund awards. The bidding framework has been co-ordinated to allow bidders to make a strategic choice about the funding strands for which they wish to bid.
Detailed guidelines are available for the individual funds.
The pivotal role that Higher Education plays in providing the UK with highly qualified workforce and a world-class science and engineering base has long been acknowledged. The Science and Innovation White Paper in July 2000 and the Enterprise, Skills and Innovation White Paper in February 2001 recognised the crucial role of HEIs in the economy as powerful drivers of innovation and change. They must choose the role which best suits their strengths, with public funding encouraging such choice, by providing incentives for institutions to become more entrepreneurial, build closer links with business and community and have proper arrangements for exploiting the results of their work. The Public Sector Research Exploitation Fund was similarly announced to address the needs of the public sector research community. Collectively this represents a significant public investment in knowledge transfer activity.