During 2012 to 2022, Imperial College London received funding from BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, NERC and STFC at various times through Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs) to support the development of research to economic and societal impact through activities that:
- Widened participation in business engagement and knowledge exchange
- Broadened and enhanced the skills of the researchers
- Accelerated the commercialisation and impact of research
The IAA funds were used flexibly and rapidly to support the following key areas:
- Building relationships and networks with potential users of research to facilitate co-production of knowledge and maximise impact
- Movement and secondment of people between Research Organisations and user stakeholders
- Support for researchers to build networks with potential users of the products of their research, and further work to establish ‘proof of concept’ for their innovations
- Drive culture change in Research Organisations to promote knowledge exchange and improve related skill sets and capabilities
- Improve engagement with the public sector, civil society, industry (including SMEs, local business and the Technology Strategy Board) and publics.
From April 2022 Imperial's impact activity is supported through the UKRI IAA, into which multiple Research Councils have contributed budgets.
The projects that were supported through the old IAAs can be explored below.