2. Expanding Excellence in England Fund
Presentation to CREST
Alex Herbert Associate Director of Research
Geoff Hill
Project Manager (E3)
19th June 2018

3. Research England’s mission
Research England creates and sustains the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English higher education institutions.

4. Our roles
Funding for HEIs to deliver research and KE, unlocking potential, generating impact, meeting national priorities and global challenges
System intelligence and analytics: gathering evidence of impact of current and future research and knowledge exchange policy on English university sector, including on effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability
Engagement with HEIs: understanding HEI strategy, capability and capacity, delivering policy to support continuous improvement and behaviour change
Close working with devolved administrations on UK-wide activity to help UKRI deliver national priorities and become experts on UK HE system.

5. Why E3?
Pockets of Excellence: excellent research, operating at a limited scale.
Regional differences in excellence and research capacity are linked.
Nature of funding policy may constrain ability of universities to grow these units.
Risk sharing with public funding can make a big difference for institutions who lack the capacity to invest.

6. What is the Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund
New element of research funding for 2019/20 onwards (£75M over three years)
Aim: support the strategic expansion of small and excellent research units and departments in HEIs across England - ‘pockets of excellence’
Up to ten awards over the three years (£25m p.a.)
Bidding process: launched in April; expressions of interest by 17 July 2018; shortlist Sep/Oct 2018; full bids by Jan 2019; successful bids confirmed Mar 2019; funding available from August 2019

7. Objectives of the fund
Strengthen the contribution of English HEIs to our society, pushing the frontiers of human knowledge, delivering economic impact and creating social impact by supporting our society and others to become enriched, healthier, more resilient and sustainable;
Build the capacity and quality of research in departments and units within English universities where excellence exists but at a small scale with potential for growth;
Contribute towards the delivery of government strategy, including the Industrial Strategy, the GCRF strategy and local priorities by supporting sustained improvements in research capacity across England while maintaining the principle of funding excellence wherever it is found;  
Enhance the skills base and build talent in areas of research excellence where there is untapped potential;
Stimulate strategic partnerships between HEIs and other organisations outside of Higher Education.

8. Applying for E3 Who can apply? What is the funding to be used for?
How will the bids be assessed?

9. Evidencing ‘Small’ units
Self-defining: cannot account for all disciplines and institutional types in single approach.
Provide contextual narrative with reference to e.g. staff numbers and funding data.
Assessed by a panel of experts, supported by expertise across UKRI.

10. Evidencing ‘Excellent’ units
REF2014 expressly not sole indicator of excellence for assessment
Other examples:
publications, patents, ‘productions’;
funding or other income (e.g. HESA data);
conferences held, awards and centres of excellence;
studentships, fellowships, recognition (e.g. FRS), chair of peer review boards etc
Assessed by panel experts, supported by expertise across UKRI.

11. Collaborative bids
For a collaborative bid we require a single institute to lead, acting as primary contact and receiver of funding allocation.
Lead institution must be in England and eligible for Research England funding.
Non-lead collaborators may be outside of England and not eligible for Research England funding.
Narrative of application must address why collaboration is necessary / added value of ‘the whole’.
Multidisciplinary bids are also welcome.

12. Expanding and Sustaining capacity
Funding is primarily resource in nature
staffing/studentships/fellowships, software, subscriptions, equipment under £10k, travel, workshops/conferences
Capital expenditure considered
We encourage bids to appoint research active staff in 1st year (REF census period).
No continuation of E3 after third year for successful projects, bid must demonstrate how this expansion will be sustained (external funding, internal commitment, QR uplift).
Is there sufficient/sustainable space for expansion?

13. Assessment Panel Membership:
Chair – Sir Ian Diamond
Siladatya Bhattacharya (Medicine), Roger Goodman (Social Sciences), Karen Holford (Engineering), Lin Foxhall (Archaeology), Frank Kelly (Mathematics), Judith Petts (Geography), Mona Siddiqui (Religion and Society)
Panel will recommend about 20 applications (or, 2x available funding equivalent), therefore 50/50 chance of success at full bid stage.
We will seek further assistance from UKRI Research Council colleagues with necessary expertise where required.
We will also seek ECR peer reviewers at full bid stage, they will be discipline specific for shortlisted bids and provide comment on the research element of proposals.

14. Contacts and information
address format:
Website: excellence-in-england-e3-fund/
Mailing list: Research England News – subscribe at

15. Any Questions?

16. Alex Herbert Associate Director of Research:
@ResEngland
Geoff Hill Project Manager (E3):
@geowonks