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Summary of Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Terms and Conditions

This provides a short summary of terms and conditions associated with the University’s UKRI Impact Acceleration Account (IAAs) Internal Calls. More information about UKRI IAAs and a copy of the full terms and conditions can be found at: Grant Information.

Financial Considerations

Applicants must ensure that projects are costed in a way that is consistent with the purpose and conditions set out in this document and adhere to any terms specific to the internal IAA call as outlined in the University call guidance.

IAAs may be used to fund directly incurred costs such as:

  • Directly incurred staff costs, in line with the call guidance
  • Pooled labour, where applicable
  • Travel/subsistence, in line with University policy Travel policy | Finance Division
  • Materials and consumables
  • Equipment/facilities access
  • Equipment purchases (capped at £10,000 and must be justified against the duration of the project)
  • Procurement of an external consultant e.g. for market research or business planning, to include VAT as applicable
  • Workshops
  • Other engagement, knowledge exchange, training and culture change activities can also be supported.  

IAAs may not be used to fund:

  • New fundamental research
  • Impact or Knowledge Exchange activities (that should have been) costed as part of a UKRI standard research grant proposal
  • Duplication of other sources of funding that can be used more appropriately for the impact activity within the remit of Research Councils, e.g., Follow-on impact funding
  • Indirect or estates costs
  • Any costs relating to Intellectual Property protection including but not limited to registering, maintaining, or supporting patents or property rights
  • Equipment with a value of £10,000 or more
  • Costs associated with students; Undergraduate or postgraduate activities or training, core PhD training including tuition or bench fees. (Undergraduate and Postgraduate students are able to undertake paid work within the grant as casual assistance, which should be evidenced with a clear audit trail and should not form part of any formal studentship training)
  • Contributions to Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

All costs must be shown to be necessary for the project and follow the University financial regulations, particularly around procurement of goods and services:

All applications will require accurate costing using the online tool X5, under the Funding Scheme ‘UKRI (Research and Innovation); IAA – internal calls’, with items fully justified in the application.  A draft report downloaded from X5 is required for all applications and will be scrutinised by the panel as part of the assessment process.  Any changes to an approved project budget will need to be cleared with the Impact and KE team.

All projects must take place within the advertised project dates and expenditure should be posted to the grant on a monthly basis. Funding to cover any Directly Incurred costs not funded by the IAA project must be committed to the project before it begins. Non Cost Extensions (NCEs) may be applied for in exceptional circumstances, including those relating to equality, diversity and inclusion, and must be accompanied by clear justification and any documentation requested by the Impact and KE Team. Any NCE will be granted at the discretion of the IAA Disciple Lead and the Impact and KE Team.

New grant holders are recommended to familiarise themselves with good grant management principles and practice.

Risk Assessment

Project holders are responsible for ensuring all necessary permissions are obtained before a project begins and that there is clarity in roles and responsibility among those involved in the project, including research workers and third parties. You should also consider that:

Working with external partners

Applicants must provide the University with sufficient and accurate information to carry out appropriate due diligence checks on any new Third Parties to the University used to deliver any part of the project, and to ensure in particular, that all Third Parties comply with the Standard Terms and Conditions of Grant. Further guidance is available here and for any queries or advice please contact iaa@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Where a project involves a Third Party, applicants should consider what types of agreements may be required (for example collaboration agreements, non-disclosure agreements, material/data transfer agreements and/or other types of contract) when applying for any Impact Acceleration Award. More details of what you should consider and template agreements can be found on the IAA website or contact iaa@admin.cam.ac.uk for further support and advice.  

Award applicants will be able to access advice from the Cambridge Research Operations Office on contract negotiations and if relevant, Cambridge Enterprise to ensure appropriate protection of IP. The Cambridge Research Operations Office Contracts Team will work more closely with applicants and third parties once an IAA application has been successful.  No contractual terms should be agreed with the sponsor or other parties - even verbally - before a Contracts Manager has had the opportunity to review the project. No project should begin without the correct contracts in place.

Data use

The Project must be carried out in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, see the University’s Data Protection Guidance for more information.  

Project data may be used by both UKRI and the University of Cambridge. See the UKRI Privacy Notice for more details. By accepting an IAA award, successful applicants agree to have their projects included in promotional material, such as the Research Strategy Office impact website and the University’s global impact map.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The University of Cambridge is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to a pro-active and inclusive approach to equality, which supports and encourages all under-represented groups, promotes an inclusive culture, and values diversity.  As such, we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups including Early Career Researchers (ECRs), who are encouraged to apply to the IAA to enhance their skills and experience beyond academia.  The University’s Equal Opportunities Policy can be found here: https://www.equality.admin.cam.ac.uk/equality-and-diversity-cambridge/equal-opportunities-policy. 

Human Resources

You must have adequate business continuity plans in place to ensure minimum operational interruptions to your project.

Standard University HR policies apply, including for parental leave. The IAA does not cover the cost of parental leave.

Non-cost grant extensions may be considered up to the maximum duration of the IAA. Grant holders should discuss any such requests with the Impact and Knowledge Exchange Team: iaa@admin.cam.ac.uk.
 

Reporting

All project holders will be required to complete an online questionnaire at the end of their funded period.

Expenditure should be posted on a monthly basis against the grant. Project holders and their departmental grants/finance officers must ensure that all expenditure is posted against projects within 2 weeks of the end of the project. Further financial reporting will be requested at project close.

A copy of the summary terms and conditions can also be downloaded here: Summary Terms and Conditions

 

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