As part of its Placement Fellowship Scheme the ESRC welcomes applications from academics interested in working in a research capacity for the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), as the lead RDA for innovation, on behalf of a consortium of the nine English RDAs, Invest NI and BIS. The Scheme encourages social science researchers to spend time within a partner organisation to undertake policy- relevant research and to develop the research skills of partner employees. The Fellowship will be jointly funded by the ESRC, the nine RDAs, Invest NI and BIS, while the Fellow remains employed by his/her institution.
- Project Title
- Developing the economic case and best practice for Innovation Voucher schemes.
- Length of Fellowship
- Six months duration with flexibility on the proportion of the fellow's time devoted to the award, subject to a minimum of 2.5 days per week.
- Proposed start date
- April 2010
- Location of Fellowship
- There is some flexibility in the location of the fellowship. By default the location will be SEEDA in Guildford, but the fellowship can be based at one of the other consortium members (covering England and Northern Ireland), subject to mutual agreement.
Travel will be required around each English Region and Northern Ireland.
The Fellow should spend a minimum of one day every two weeks with the supervisor of this Fellowship and relevant policy officials, for essential exchange of ideas, feedback, guidance, policy context etc.
Expected tasks
- Develop best practice recommendations for innovation voucher schemes, drawing on evidence from, and evaluation of, the schemes across the English RDAs and Northern Ireland.
- Prepare an economic case to support Innovation Vouchers being confirmed in the Solutions for Business portfolio.
- Advise on the design of evaluations of innovation voucher schemes, within the boundaries of the RDA Impact Evaluation frameworks.
A workplan will be agreed between the Fellow and SEEDA (on behalf of the consortium) before the start of the assignment.
Objectives
- A report to the RDAs, BIS and Invest NI on key aspects of the evaluations undertaken, lessons learned from all the schemes and recommendations for further scheme developments.
- An interim report will be required partway through the project, setting out significant issues and findings to date.
- The Placement Fellow will be able to publish in an academic journal.
Skills required
- Experience of economic evaluation
- Knowledge of business support
- Knowledge of Government policy development
- Ability to focus on delivery of the project within the given timetable.
Background
The nine English RDAs and Invest NI offer Innovation Vouchers to increase knowledge exchange between SMEs and the knowledge base. Innovation Vouchers are a relatively new form of business support; the first scheme in the UK was launched in 2007 in the West Midlands.
Innovation Vouchers are one of the products within the simplified Solutions for Business portfolio, further details on the portfolio are available at: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills website
The RDAs support innovation through both their strategic and delivery roles. RDAs work in partnership with national bodies, for instance the Technology Strategy Board, and local bodies, for instance local authorities, to increase the impact of innovation support.
The RDAs fund the delivery of eight products targeted at innovation, these are:
- Innovation Infrastructure
- Networking for Innovation
- Innovation Vouchers
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
- Collaborative Research and Development
- Grant for Research and Development
- Innovation Advice and Guidance
- Designing Demand.
In addition, the RDAs' programmes on finance, enterprise and skills support innovative companies. Taken together this support totals over £1Billion over the current three year period.
The closing date for this call is 6 January 2010.
Application is by the JeS system and should be submitted accordingly - the call will go live on 24 November 2009 and remain open until 6 January 2010. Please refer to the scheme specific guidance notes. A list of FAQs relevant to the Placement Fellowship Scheme is provided to assist you.
Any enquiries please email: lesley.lilley@esrc.ac.uk or davidmulligan@seeda.co.uk