Levelling up the Arpa Moonshots in a Time of Covid

The new Industrial Strategy in full
(Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash)

Last month it was reported that the Business Secretary, Alok Sharma, wanted to 'rip up' the Industrial Strategy and start again. Now read on. 

Seven Steps to Perfect Partnerships

Meshing about (Photo by Kumiko SHIMIZU on Unsplash)

As funders increasingly push for larger, strategic grants through such schemes as the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Industrial Strategy Challenges Fund, research development officers in universities are having to stimulate and support interdisciplinary teams of researchers working together, often for the first time.

This is no easy task. It is something I’ve been grappling with since I started in research development more than a decade ago. It is become more pressing in my new role as director of Eastern Arc, the regional research consortium that brings together the universities of East Anglia, Essex and Kent.

What Lies Beneath

The NPIF in action
(photo andrewmalone via Flickr CC BY 2.0) 

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You've probably heard of a clutch of new, big-ticket funding schemes to be launched recently, including the Strategic Priorities Fund and the the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. What you may not know is that they're all part of the National Productivity Investment Fund. But what is it, and what's the thinking behind it?