FAQs
We’ll be responding to questions as we receive them and posting the answers here. If you have a question, please contact us at info@impactawards.org.uk
Q. My project has not yet been commercialised but there is interest from the business community regarding commercialisation. Would the project be eligible to enter?
A. There are two Business Impact awards to choose from. Which you choose will depend on the stage your project is at. One is designed to recognise those business projects that have realised impact and the other is for aspiring projects.
Q. Who sits on the judging panel?
A. The judging panel comprises:
- Professor Sir Timothy Wilson (Chair)
Tim Wilson retired from the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire in December 2010, following an academic career that also included Leeds Metropolitan, Cranfield and De Montfort universities, and higher education institutions ESCAE Dijon and FHW Pforzheim. As well as serving on the HEFCE Board he has been a Board member of the East of England Development Agency, Deputy Chair of the CBI Innovation Science and Technology Committee and a Trustee of the Council for Industry and Higher Education. He has been a strong advocate of the role of universities in economic development for over two decades and was awarded a Knighthood for services to higher education and to business in the New Years Honours list 2011.
- Dr Allyson Reed, Director of Strategy and Communication, Technology Strategy Board
- Emeritus Professor Trevor Page, FREng., Senior Researcher, School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials, Newcastle University (formerly Cookson Group Chair of Materials Engineering & Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Research)
- Dr Malcolm Skingle, Director of Academic Liaison, GlaxoSmithKline
- Dr Tim Bradshaw, Head of enterprise and innovation, CBI
- Dr Celia Caulcott, Director of Innovation and Skills, BBSRC
Q. What do you mean by ‘impact’?
The research councils classify 'impact' as the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy. Impact embraces all the extremely diverse ways in which research-related knowledge and skills benefit individuals, organisations and nations by:
- fostering global economic performance, and specifically the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom,
- increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy, and
- enhancing quality of life, health and creative output.
Impacts from research can take many forms, become manifest at different stages in the research life-cycle and beyond, and be promoted in many different ways.