Competition Briefing Event: Innovation in Time Dissemination & Application

www.ktn-uk.org
KTN Introduction and housekeeping
Bob Cockshott
Innovation in Time Dissemination and
Application Competition Briefing
20 April 2021

• Please use the Q&A box to post questions
• Q&A will be monitored and questions put to presenters
• Please only use the chat box for housekeeping – not for questions
• Recording and slides will be available afterwards
Housekeeping

10:00 KTN intro & housekeeping Bob Cockshott KTN
10:05 Competition intro Carol Sunderland Innovate UK
10:20 NPL, NTC and signal access Leon Lobo NPL
10:30 Test and evaluation facilities Elizabeth Laier English NPL
10:40 Break
10:45 Competition details Natalie Gray Innovate UK competitions team
11:15 KTN support details Bob Cockshott KTN
11:20 Q&A Natalie Gray Innovate UK competitions team
11:50 Close
13:00 MeetingMojo matching making session Separate log in!
Agenda

• Help finding contacts
• Advice
• Proposal reading and commenting
We can’t write proposals!
Bob Cockshott
bob.cockshott@ktn-uk.org
07808 739946
KTN support

Introduction to Innovate UK
and UKRI

UKRI is the national funding
agency for science, research and
innovation.
It brings together nine leading
academic and industrial funding
councils.
By partnering with academia and
industry, UKRI helps create
knowledge with impact.
UK Research and Innovation

Innovate UK funds business-led innovation to
stimulate commercially driven collaborative
research and development, and its exploitation.
Innovate UK also provides connections, access to
networks and knowledge transfer. This is where
the capabilities of the Knowledge Transfer Network
(KTN) are particularly relevant.
Overall, Innovate UK drives productivity and
economic growth and serves a wide range of
sectors and all regions of the UK.
Innovate UK
Innovate
Edge

Innovate UK core grant funding to nations and regions
Core Grant Funding FY 2018/2019
*Per Business, based on BEIS business population estimate 2019

Innovation is the key to UK’s future growth and prosperity
UK ranks 5th in Global Innovation Index
• Innovation accounts for up to 50% of
labour productivity growth
• Firms that persistently invest in R&D
have higher productivity
• Innovating companies are more likely
to export and generate growth

Innovation in time
dissemination and
application
Competition overview

Innovation in time dissemination and application
 Innovate UK is working with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to invest up
to £2M in feasibility studies for innovation in the dissemination and application of
resilient time, frequency and synchronisation (TFS).
 This is for business-led developments and is open to all UK based organisations.
 Projects can involve single organisations (a business) or collaborations (involving
at least one business).
 Project costs can be from £50,000 to £250,000 for feasibility studies of 4-6
months in length.

 This is the first of two associated competitions funded from the Strategic
Priorities Fund (SPF) as part of the National Timing Centre (NTC) programme,
led by NPL.
 The total programme budget for funding business-led innovation is £6.7
million.
 The second competition will offer the opportunity for demonstration projects.

 The National Timing Centre (NTC) programme was launched in 2019 as a five
year programme.
 It is led by NPL and is supported by other government agencies.
 Innovate UK is the delivery partner for the innovation objective and this is
focused on the deployment of the innovation budget.
 The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) is involved as part of Innovate UK.

The aims of this competition are to:
 support and enable business-led innovation across the UK supply chain in resilient
Time, Frequency and Synchronisation (TFS) for the development of products,
services and end user applications
 develop a TFS ecosystem and capability for relevant industries and critical national
infrastructure
 disrupt and create new markets to improve the provision of TFS

Innovation in time
dissemination and
application
Scope

Scope
Projects must be focused on one or more of these development types, relating to the
dissemination of Time, Frequency and Synchronisation (TFS):
 products
 services
 protocols and algorithms
 standards
We are looking for your projects to be scalable, geographically or across applications.

Scope
Your project should lead to the following types of impact for the UK:
 economic, including new revenue, cost savings, other economic impacts
 national capability in Time, Frequency and Synchronisation (TFS)

Scope
During the project, NPL can provide up to 12 hours of free consultancy and free access
to highly accurate and traceable time and frequency signals from four locations in the
south-east of England. These include an experimental test facility and validation and
characterisation capabilities.
If you require access to consultancy or test facilities, you must:
1.Make a request by e-mail to the Innovate UK Customer Support Service at least 10
working days before the submission deadline.
2.Download, complete and upload the NPL technical annex as part of your answer in
question 4.

Scope – Industry sectors
Projects that include one or more industry sectors are of interest.
Example sectors include but are not limited to, telecommunications, energy, autonomy,
finance, smart factories, sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), broadcast, health, space,
and transport including rail, road, aviation, maritime.
Projects involving cross-sector technologies such as those contributing to
telecommunication technologies or timing over digital networks are of particular interest.

Scope - Themes
Your project must focus on one or more of the following themes:
 distribution
 trust, assurance and security
 resilience

Scope - Themes
 Distribution
Your project must enable end users to have improved access to time or frequency signals.
You must include one or more of the following:
 dissemination to multiple users
 scalability
 accessibility (geography)
 ubiquity and availability, including rural and GNSS denied locations
For example, developments could include scalability to users at the edge of networks or to those
currently without access.

Scope - Themes
 Trust, assurance and security
Your project must contribute to the trust, assurance and security of time or frequency signals from the
source to the end user (or a defined subset of this path).
You must include one or more of the following:
 integrity
 accuracy (absolute time value at the end user compared to the traceable source)
 confidence in end-to-end transmission
 validation
This could, for example, relate to audit and certification of time signals at various levels of accuracy or
signal integrity when transferring time signals over distances and mediums. Algorithms and protocols,
especially those that increase the integrity of timing signals, are also in scope.

Scope - Themes
 Resilience
Your project must contribute to the resilience of the time dissemination supply chain in one or more of
the following:
 availability (continuity of signal)
 redundancy and holdover
 alerting and monitoring

Scope – Projects we will not fund
We are not funding projects that are:
 exclusively related to atomic clock development
 exclusively related to the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)
 dependent on export performance - for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that
they export a certain quantity of bread to another country
 dependent on domestic inputs usage - for example if they insisted that a baker use 50% UK flour in
their product
Projects which involve the integration of atomic clocks or GNSS into timing systems would be in
scope.

National Timing
Centre programme
npl.co.uk/ntc

1000+ staff
600+ scientists
Home of the UK’s time scale
UTC(NPL)
the national realisation of Coordinated
Universal Time
▪ World leading National Measurement Institute
▪ BEIS’ largest science and technology asset
▪ State of the art facilities
▪ 400 laboratories
The UK’s National Standards Lab

National Timing Centre
The National Timing Centre programme,
led by the National Physical
Laboratory (NPL), is paving the way
for trusted and assured time and
frequency across the UK.
Developing the capability to
improve security and
resilience, communication,
and implementation of
new technologies across
the country.

CNI
Position, Navigation,Time
Resilient Time for the Future Timing challenges
Dependency

CNI
Time
with govt. orgs
Resilient Time for the Future Timing challenges
An ‘invisible’ utility

Funded by UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund, the 5-year programme
aims to support multiple industries.
Focus on aspects of resilience for UK time: GNSS independent time
source, supporting the UK supply chain, supporting disruptive
innovation in dissemination and application of time.
www.npl.co.uk/ntc

National
Timing Centre
Resilience
Develop a resilient timing infrastructure for the UK
by building and linking a new atomic clock network
distributed geographically in secure locations
Innovation
Provide innovation opportunities for
UK companies by funding projects
in partnership with Innovate UK
Skills
Respond to the specialist skills shortage in
timing and synchronisation solutions
through training opportunities for
specialists, postgraduates and apprentices

Target Sectors and Scope
• Target sectors include but are not limited to: telecommunications,
energy, autonomy, finance, smart factories, sensors, the Internet of
Things (IoT), broadcast, health, space, and transport including rail,
road, aviation, maritime.
• Themes within scope of competition:
• distribution
• trust, assurance and security
• resilience

www.npl.co.uk/ntc
Current and future dissemination plans
Plans in development to determine the terms and extent of the core network and
facilities for access. The ambition is to scale delivery over time with a range of
services accessible to industry. The current and planned future signal access levels
being developed are:
• free services, comprising as a minimum the MSF radio signal and network time
protocol (NTP) servers
• low-cost signal access hand-off points for onward use and distribution by service
providers where cost, scale and assurance level will be based on industry
demand and requirements
• high-end, integrated capability at a higher cost
Opportunity for UK industry to be involved at an early stage in developing products
and services in this space.

npl.co.uk/ntc
© NPL Management Limited, 2020

Innovation in Time
Dissemination and
Application:
Test and evaluation
facilities
npl.co.uk/ntc

Test and evaluation facilities
This presentation will describe the
optional facilities available to support this
competition. These are:
• time and frequency (T&F) signals and
test and evaluation capabilities
• consultancy to support your project
• four test and evaluation environments
• the different test and evaluation
facilities offered at each location

Test and evaluation facilities
These test and evaluation capabilities are
expected to be of interest to those:
• testing their own T&F products and
services, or
• validating third-party supplied T&F
products and services
If you require access to consultancy or test
facilities, you must:
• Make a request by e-mail to the Innovate
UK Customer Support Service at least
10 working days before the submission
deadline.
• Download, complete and upload the NPL
technical annex as part of your answer in
question 4.

Overview of the signals and capabilities
The following T&F capabilities will be available across four different locations:
• access to high-quality time (1 Pulse Per Second) and frequency (e.g., 10 MHz) signals
• access to a range of test and measurement hardware (e.g., time interval counter, phase
comparator)
• access to packet-based IEEE 1588 signals over optical fibre for high accuracy synchronization of
devices to UTC(NPL)
o Accuracy to UTC(NPL) is at the microsecond level when using Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
or nanosecond level when using White Rabbit (PTP-WR).
• bespoke characterisation of a diverse range of T&F devices or frequency sources against
UTC(NPL)
o The range of fractional frequency instabilities we can characterise is between 1e-9 and 2e-15
at 1 day (95 % confidence interval).
• access to the 5G testbed at the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC)

Overview of the technical consultancy
Technical advice and consultancy in T&F is available to support your project. It can be provided:
• either on-site or remotely
• for up to 12 hours per project
The requested consultancy must be directly relevant to the project scope.

Test and Evaluation environments
NPL
(Teddington)
5GIC
(Guildford /
University of
Surrey)
Telehouse
(London)
Daisy
(Reading)
Four test and evaluation locations are available:
Each location will provide access to slightly different signals and capabilities

Commercial data-centre environment
Test and Evaluation environments
NPL
(Teddington)
5GIC
(Guildford /
University of
Surrey)
Telehouse
(London)
Daisy
(Reading)
Laboratory / R&D environment
Laboratory space and R&D facilities are
available to applicants.
Laboratory access may be supervised by T&F
experts. Some laboratory spaces have open
access.
T&F signals can be provided to the applicant’s
rack space in the data-centre.
If the applicant does not have direct access to
the data-centre, signals may be disseminated
externally via fibre service providers.

NPL (Teddington) laboratory test and
evaluation facility
This facility offers:
• a range of high-quality T&F signals, including 1 PPS, 10 MHz and 100 MHz
• synchronisation of devices to UTC(NPL) using PTP or WR-PTP over optical fibre over internal
fibre optic link or fibre spools
• access to a range of test & measurement hardware e.g., time interval counter, phase comparator,
phase noise analyser, oscilloscope.
• bespoke characterisation of frequency sources against UTC(NPL)
o This could include a diverse range of T&F devices and components such as oscillators,
clocks, filters and custom hardware, which can be shipped to NPL for characterisation.
• limited laboratory space, which will be supervised by NPL’s T&F experts
• on-site support from NPL’s T&F experts, including advice on bespoke characterisation and use of
hardware for taking measurements

5GIC (Guildford / University of Surrey)
laboratory test and evaluation facility
This facility offers:
• high-quality T&F signals (1 PPS and 10 MHz)
• synchronisation of devices to UTC(NPL) using WR-PTP over optical fibre, simulating the operation
of a time distribution node
• supervised or open laboratory access
• access to a range of basic test & measurement hardware, dependent on the applicant’s
requirements and availability
• technical support from both NPL and 5GIC, which may include installation of equipment to connect
devices to T&F signals
• access to the 5G testbed at the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC)
o Applicants wishing to make use of the 5G testbed must contact customer services before
submitting their proposal.

Telehouse North (London) and Daisy (Reading)
data-centre test and evaluation facilities
At Telehouse data centre and Daisy data centre, a PTP time signal is available with traceability to
UTC(NPL) provided via a fibre link from NPL Teddington. There are two options for optical fibre
connection:
1) If the applicant has a presence in the data-centre, access to the PTP signal can be provided
from NPL’s rack via optical fibre cross-connect (or meet-me room connection) to other racks
within this facility.
2) If the applicant does not have direct access, the PTP signal can be disseminated externally via
existing fibre service providers.
These are commercial data-centre environments, and as such do not provide R&D laboratory
facilities.
NPL’s T&F experts will be able to provide further support and guidance, and if required can help to
configure timeserver devices.

If you require access to consultancy or test facilities, you must:
• Make a request by e-mail to the Innovate UK Customer Support Service at least 10
working days before the submission deadline.
• Download, complete and upload the NPL technical annex as part of your answer in
question 4.
Customer Support Services will put you in touch with NPL and/or 5GIC, who will support
you in defining your requirements and completing the technical annex forms.
https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/info/contact
Further information

Previously submitted application Not a previously submitted application
A previously submitted application is:
an application Innovate UK judges as not
materially different from one you've submitted
before (but it can be updated based on the
assessors' feedback)
A brand-new application/project/idea that you have not
previously submitted into an Innovate UK competition
OR
A previously submitted or ineligible application which:
✓ has been updated based on assessor feedback
✓ and is materially different from the application
submitted before
✓ and fits with the scope of this competition
Previously submitted applications
This competition does allow you to submit a previously submitted application.

Project eligibility
✓ Lead must be a UK registered business of any size
✓ Applying as a feasibility study
✓ Can be single or collaborative
✓ You must carry out your project in the UK
✓ Exploit the results from / in the UK
Project cost £50,000 to £250,000
Project length between 4 to 6 months with the start date being from 1st October 2021
Eligibility criteria

• Business – Small/Micro, Medium or Large registered in the UK
• Research Organisation (RO):
• Universities (HEIs)
• Non profit distributing Research & Technology Organisation (RTO) including Catapults
• Public Sector Research Establishments (PSRE)
• Research Council Institutes (RCI)
• Public sector organisations and charities doing research activity
• If you are 100% owned by a large parent company as a small subsidiary this means you are classed as a large company
and will only be entitled to the relevant grant
Types of organisations we fund

To help you understand whether you are eligible to apply we have created an eligibility tree.
Am I eligible to apply

Eligibility Criteria - EU State Aid Regulations – Northern
Ireland Protocol
If you are an applicant who is conducting activities that will affect trade of goods and/or electricity between Northern Ireland and the EU as
envisaged by Article 10 of the Northern Ireland protocol, then you must apply under European Commission State aid rules
Undertaking in Difficulty
For applicants subject to the European Commission State aid rules, you will be required to prove that they were not an “Undertaking in Difficulty”
(UiD) on the date of 31 December 2019 but became a UID between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2021. We will ask for evidence of this.
This test applies to:
• companies that are more than 3 years old
• companies where more than half of its subscribed share capital has disappeared as a result of accumulated losses.
• your parent or holding company
Certify you are eligible
When submitting an application, you must certify that you are eligible for State aid. If you are unsure, please take legal advice before applying.
Should you be successful, we will apply this test as part of our viability checks before confirming the grant offer.
Further information is available on our website in the general guidance under state aid
If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in theEuropean Commission Recommendation of
6 May 2003

Compliance with the UK Subsidy Control Regime
On 1 January 2021, the UK left the EU and is no longer subject to EU laws on State aid. We draw your attention to the guidance issued by
BEIS: Complying with the UK’s international obligations on subsidy control: guidance for public authorities. Please be aware this is a living
document and may be updated by BEIS as time progresses.
The set rules (typically GBER) which we previously relied on for the limits of what we could award, have now been replaced byinternal
decisions based on the new BEIS Subsidy Control regime, and on policy, which will in turn set out bespoke eligibility requirements for each
funding opportunity.
Innovate UK is offering funding for this competition in line with the UK's obligations and commitments to Subsidy Control.
To ensure that Innovate UK remains compliant with the UK’s international Subsidy Control duties in respect of:
• The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement;
• Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol: (successful applicants which are affected by the Northern Ireland Protocol will
be funded in line with EU State aid regulations)
• Article 138 of the Withdrawal Agreement (some Union law applicable after 31 December 2020 in relation to the UK’s
participation in Union programmes and activities)
• The Subsidies and Countervailing measures within the WTO (ASCM);
• Any other Free Trade Agreements active at the time of award.
All awards will be conditional on compliance at all times with the UK Subsidy Control regime – this will be reflected in
the terms and conditions of any award.

Due diligence for UK Subsidy Control Regime
Under the Subsidy Control Regime, we will carry out financial health checks and going concern assurances on your
organisation.
Certify you are eligible
When submitting an application, you must certify that you are eligible for funding. If you are unsure, please take independent
legal advice before applying. Should you be successful, we will complete these financial checks and assurances before
confirming the grant offer.
For more information on company sizes, please refer to the Company accounts guidance.
Further information is available on our website in the general guidance

Eligibility Criteria: Funding Opportunities
For feasibility studies projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
• up to 50% if you are a large organisation
For general guidance on what our research categories are please visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/innovation-apply-for-a-
funding-award#categories-of-research-and-development

The aim of this funding opportunity is to:
• optimise the level of funding to business and
• recognise the importance of research base to project
• At least 50% of total eligible project costs must be incurred by business
• The maximum level (50% of project costs) is shared by all research organisations collaborating
on the project
Participation Rules

In all collaborative projects there must be:
• at least two organisations claiming grant within the application (including the lead)
• evidence of effective collaboration
• we would expect to see the structure and rationale of the collaboration described in the
application
What is collaboration?

Making more than one application
• A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further 2
applications
• If a business is not leading an application, they can collaborate in up to 3 applications
• Research organisations can collaborate on any number of applications

Other Innovate UK projects
• If you have an outstanding final claim and/or Independent Accountant Report (IAR) on a live
Innovate UK project, you will not be eligible to apply for grant funding in this competition, as a lead
or a partner organisation
• If you applied to a previous competition as the lead or sole company and were awarded funding by
Innovate UK, but did not make a substantial effort to exploit that award, we will award no more
funding to you

Timeline Dates
Competition Opens Monday 19th April 2021
Briefing Event Tuesday 20th April 2021
Submission Deadline Wednesday 9th June 2021 at 11am
Applicants informed Friday 30th July 2021
Key Dates

Innovation Funding Service
(IFS)

Innovation Funding Service users

Search for a funding competition and review criteria

Applicant: create an account
To create your account:
UK based businesses - Use Companies House
lookup as it speeds up our checks by providing your
company number and your are unable to enter it at a
later date
Research organisations, academics &
Universities - Enter your information manually so
you’re not listed as a business on IFS and ensure you
receive the correct funding

Project Details
Application Team
- Collaborators: Invite organisations who you are working with on the project
- Contributors: Invite colleagues from your own organisation to help you complete your application
Application Details - Title, Timescales, Research Category & Resubmission (y/n)
Project Summary - Short summary and objectives of the project including what is innovative about it
Public Description - Description of your project which will be published if you are successful
Scope - How does your project align with the scope of this competition? - If your project is not in scope, it
will be ineligible for funding

Application form Appendix?
Question 1 Project partners location (not scored) No
Question 2 Need or challenge No
Question 3 Approach and innovation Yes - optional
Question 4 Team and resources
Yes – 1 optional & 1 mandatory if you
require NPL support
Question 5 Market awareness No
Question 6 Outcomes and route to market No
Question 7 Wider impacts No
Question 8 Project management Yes - mandatory
Question 9 Risks Yes - mandatory
Question 10 Added value No
Question 11 Costs and value for money No
Application Questions
Detailed guidance available on IFS

To claim funding:
Your business does not have to be UK registered with Companies House when you apply but it must be
registered before you can receive funding.
You are unable to claim funding if:
• You are an overseas organisation, so your company number begins with FC
• Your organisation is setup as a branch, so your company number begins with BR
• Your company is based in Jersey, so your company number begins with JE

Eligible:
• Staff working directly on
project
• Paid by PAYE
• NI, pension, non-discretionary
costs
Ineligible:
• Dividends
• Bonuses
• Non productive time
Labour

Overheads
Innovate UK’s definition: additional costs and
operational expenses incurred directly as a result of
the project. These could include additional costs for
administrative staff, general IT, rent and utilities
Indirect (administration) overheads
• please ensure they are additional and
directly attributable to the delivery of the
project
Direct overheads
• E.g. office utilities, IT infrastructure, laptop
provision not covered by capital usage
• must be directly attributable to the project
• Provide detailed breakdown together with
methodology/basis of apportionment

Material costs
Please be clear on what the
materials are, just putting
consumables doesn’t provide
enough detail and we will
request more information
should you be successful

Capital equipment usage
Eligible:
Used in the project or shared with day-
to-day production.
Calculations will need to be in line with
your accounting practices.
Even if the equipment is depreciated
fully over the life of the project this must
be added under capital equipment.

Subcontractors
Eligible:
Justified and quantified.
If non-UK sub-contractors are being
used, you will need to provide
strong justification on why an UK-
based sub-contractor is not being
used.
If you’re sub-contracting to a parent
or sister company, please ensure
you list at cost and do not include
profit.

Travel & subsistence
Eligible:
Costs must be directly linked to the
project
Please breakdown your costs as
follows:
• Travel
• Accommodation
• Subsistence
If you have an annual trip to visit
the parent company this is not an
eligible cost

Other costs
Eligible:
• Costs that could not be added under
previous headings
• Do not double count
• Patent filing costs for new IP – SMEs
up to £7,500

Funding
Funding rules
• The level of funding awarded will depend upon the type of organisation and the type of
research being undertaken in the project
• Funding is calculated by project participant
IFS will advise the maximum grant % you can request based upon your answers to:
• Type (and size) of organisation
• Research category defined by the lead applicant in the Application Details section of the
application

Organisation /
type of activity
Technical feasibility studies
Business
(economic activity)
Micro/Small – 70%
Medium – 60%
Large – 50%
Research Organisation
(non-economic activity)
Universities – 100% (80% of Full Economic Costs)
Other research organisations can claim 100% of their project costs
Public Sector Organisation or Charity
(non-economic activity) 100% of eligible costs
Research Organisations (undertaking economic activities)
Organisations receive funding related to the size of their
organisation
Micro/Small – 70%
Medium – 60%
Large – 50%

Worked example – £500k total cost project:
Project costs for 5 partners (2 SME, 1 University, a Catapult and 1 large), doing industrial research.
Consortium example
Total Eligible
Project Costs
Maximum % of
eligible costs which
may be claimed as
a grant
Innovate UK
Grant
Project
Contribution
Business Medium £130,000 60% £78,000 £52,000
Business Medium £90,000 60% £54,000 £36,000
Business Large £130,000 50% £65,000 £65,000
University HEI (80% FEC) £75,000 100% £75,000 nil**
Catapult RTO £75,000 100% £75,000 nil
Total £500,000 £347,000 £153,000
** 20% FEC not to be shown as a contribution
Research Base Costs £150,000
Research base % of Total Eligible costs (cannot exceed 50%) 50.00%

Why Je-S?
• We use the Research Councils’ Joint Electronic Submission System (Je-S) to collect academic
finances
• The Je-S system automates the collection of Full Economic Costs (FEC) based costs from academic
partners and tells them exactly what numbers should be used in the application form for their costs
• Also to collect project finance details from non-HEIs (e.g. RTOs) that are claiming they are carrying
out academic quality work and want to be funded on an FEC basis
• Using Je-S means that Innovate UK follows standard Research Council guidelines on funding
universities and enables Research Councils to easily co-fund Innovate UK projects
• The Je-S system is completely separate from Innovate UK and we cannot advise on its usage

• Enter the TSB reference number here
• Enter the TSB Contribution column figures
from your J-eS output document into the
project costs section of the application
• Upload the Je-S with council status form
as a PDF at the bottom of the screen
Queries about Je-S:
Contact Je-S Helpdesk (not Innovate UK)
• jeshelp@je-s.ukri.org
• 01793 444164
Project costs – academic partners

Project cost summary
Ensure the highlighted costs
fits the criteria for this
competition – no less than
£50,000 and no more that
£250,000
All organisations can see a
summary of project costs

Checking your finances are complete
IFS checks
• all organisations have marked
their finances as complete
• research organisation participation
is no greater than 50% of the total
project costs
• IFS DOES NOT VALIDATE TOTAL
PROJECT COSTS

Editing a submitted application
Reopen by
clicking here
Remember to
press SUBMIT

Submit your application early!
Be aware of the
potential for last
minute technical
issues!

Application assessment
All applications are assessed by independent assessors drawn from industry and academia
What do they look for?
• Clear and concise answers
• The right amount of information
• not too much detail
• no assumptions
• Quantification and justification
• A proposal that presents a viable opportunity for growth, a level of innovation that necessitates public
sector investment and has the right team and approach to be successful
Keep your assessors engaged
and interested in your proposal.
You want them to be fascinated
and excited by your idea!

Scoring
• We review scores and feedback to check assessors are adhering to our guidelines and scoring
fairly
• In some cases, where we feel a score is unjust and not supported by feedback, we may remove
that score as an outlier and update the total score for the application
• Please be aware that both low and high outliers may be removed and as a result scores may
increase or decrease
If outliers are removed we are unable to reflect this change in the scores you receive as part of
your feedback due to this decision being reached outside the IFS system

Note on feedback
• The feedback is compiled using the written comments of the independent assessors who review
and assess the applications
• It is intended to be constructive in nature and to highlight both the strong as well as the weak
areas of your application
• Please bear in mind that because applications are assessed by a number of assessors, you may
receive information which appears to be conflicting. This may reflect their different interpretations
of the proposal that you submitted
• It must also be noted that some proposals may appear to have been favourably assessed based
on their comments, in such instances it could be that your proposal simply fell below the funding
threshold, with others achieving a higher merit score overall

Application assessment
• The score spread shows the difference between the
top and bottom scores
• If score spread is 30 or more we will look to see if an
outlier is apparent
• If there is a 3 or more appear in either the two
columns Count of No Scope or Count of No Recc’d
we review the applications feedback and if justified,
the application will not be eligible for funding

• The green box = particular assessor scores on an application
• The purple box = set of scores for a particular question
• The red box = at first glance this looks like an outlier
Identifying outliers

Project setup for successful
applicants

Avoid delays in project setup
All grant claiming project partners in a
collaborative project will be required to
complete project setup. To avoid delays
you should consider:
• who will be the project manager
(lead)?
• who will be the finance contact for
each partner?
• what will be required from your
consortium?
• starting to work on your collaboration
agreement (if applicable)

Innovation Funding Service - 8 steps for successful applicants
Project setup: 8 steps to complete
• Applicable to all grant claiming partners
in a collaboration.
• Project team, project details and bank
details must be completed within 30
days - projects must start within 90 days
or funding may be withdrawn
• We request bank account confirmation
to ensure we are paying the correct
partner & you may be asked to provide a
redacted bank statement to confirm this

Project setup if successful - essential next steps
PROJECT MANAGER
(LEAD), FINANCE
CONTACT FOR EACH
ORGANISATION OF
CONSORTIUM
8 STEP PROCESS TO
COMPLETE WITHIN
INNOVATION
FUNDING SERVICE
(IFS)
ONCE SIGNED AND
DATED GRANT OFFER
LETTER (GOL) IS
RETURNED AND
APPROVED, ‘GO LIVE’
EMAIL IS SENT WITH
FURTHER
INFORMATION
PROJECT TEAM,
PROJECT DETAILS
AND BANK DETAILS
ON IFS MUST BE
COMPLETED WITHIN
30 DAYS - PROJECTS
MUST START WITHIN
90 DAYS OR FUNDING
MAY BE WITHDRAWN

‘Go Live’ email - avoid delays
All successful grant
claiming project
partners will be
required to sign the
GOL, which will be
returned to us by the
Project Manager.
To avoid delays in
confirmation from us
that you have
completed all key
project setup stages,
you should ensure
that:
- the GOL is signed by all grant claiming project
partners
- the project start date in the GOL is the first
day of a calendar month
- the project end date in the GOL is the last day
of a calendar month and matches the duration
of the project

Grant claims and
payments -
manage your
cashflow
• All grants are claimable quarterly in arrears. Claims are only
paid following quarterly reporting and necessary audits
• Claims can only be made for costs incurred and paid between
the project start and end dates
• Claims may be subject to an independent audit (including all
academic partners) according to grant size
• Projects over 6 months are monitored on a quarterly basis.
This will be carried out against your detailed project plan and
financial forecast. Any change to this will be discussed on a
case by case basis
• Monitoring of the project includes a visit from the appointed
Monitoring Officer

Project setup – key points
Grant offer letters
Only the project manager can sign the grant offer letter on behalf of your organisation
Accepted business bank accounts
• Innovate UK accepts most of the major UK high street banks, including these online providers: Starling, Monzo and
Metro
We cannot accept the following business bank accounts
In order to process claims we need to demonstrate that the bank details on the IFS portal relate to a UK high street bank
that is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), with a clearing facility, dated within the last 3 months and in
the name of the participant who submitted them as per the initial application on the IFS portal.
This list is not exhaustive:
• Prepay Solutions
• Ebury
• Revolut
• Transferwise
• Rabobank
• Cashplus
• Tide
• Mettle
If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate
UK’s funding criteria, please feel free to use the following sort code
checker - http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/sort-code-checker. If you
input the sort code and find a successful result, this will give you an
indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable. See image
to the right.

Customer Support Services:
0300 321 4357 (Monday - Friday 9:00am - 11:30am & 2:00pm - 4:30pm)
support@innovateuk.ukri.org
Knowledge Transfer Network:
www.ktn-uk.co.uk
Innovate UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/innovate-uk
Contact

@InnovateUK Innovate UK
Innovate UK

Competition Briefing Event: Innovation in Time Dissemination & Application

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