All projects must take place within the advertised project dates. 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 Programme and Academic Lead(s).

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's financial regulations, particularly around the procurement of goods and services.

• Financial and Procurement Regulations
• VAT guidance
• Recruitment guidance

In particular, please make note of the below:

• The Buyers Guide can be referred to when identifying preferred suppliers.
• Expenditure >£2,500 will require three quotes. Where there are no sources of competition available, a quotation must still be obtained and a Single Supplier Request Form completed with a full explanation of why competition was not possible.
• A Purchase Order will need to be raised before any invoices can be paid, and invoices must make reference to the Purchase Order number.
• Some recent IAA projects have not taken VAT into consideration and this has significantly impacted on budgets.
• The Procurement Regulations provide full details.

Grant holders will be asked to confirm that:

• All those involved in the project will follow the University’s and UKRI’s requirements for research integrity and those set out in the 2019 Concordat to Support Research Integrity and LU research integrity guidance.
• In developing national and international collaborations you have considered the University's Trusted Research guidance and relevant guidance via the National Protective Security Council.
• Your project will be carried out in accordance with the University’s guidance on health and safety and risk assessment.
• Your project will follow all relevant export control laws.
• Your project is compliant with the University’s Code of Practice for Research Ethics and research governance and that any ethical issues are identified and brought to the attention of the relevant approval or regulatory body. Where ethical approval is required this must have been granted before the work begins.
• If involving National Health Service (or equivalent) patients, their organs, tissues or data, your project will comply with the UK Policy for Health and Social Care Research, and the University’s Guidance on Health Research.
• You will adhere to the University’s Bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct policy.
• Your project will adopt the principles, standards and good practice for public engagement with research set out in the 2010 Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research.
• Your project has undertaken the necessary due diligence checks on any external collaborator

Grant holders will be asked to confirm that:

• You will facilitate the signing of a Collaboration Agreement with your external partner. This is required regardless of any cash match from your partner, see: IAA Collaboration Agreement.
• Your project will be carried out in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, and the University’s Data Protection Guidance.
• You adhere to project data potentially being used by both UKRI and Lancaster University. 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 website and on social media.
• Your project will be carried out with due regard to equality, diversity and inclusion, and with reference to the EDI best practice tool kit.
• Your project will be carried out with due regard to University HR policies, including the recruitment toolkit.

The IAA team are required to submit annual qualitative and quantitative reports to UK Research and Innovation and this exercise typically takes place in May. We will therefore contact grant-holders about the requirements in advance.

We will therefore ask grant holders to confirm that:

• Your project (and all spending) will conclude by the project end date, with post-award and the IAA team informed ASAP if the project requires significant budgetary, activity and/or timeline changes.
• You agree to attend project progress meetings with the IAA team, including Post-Award who will support project financial management
• You agree to engage with the IAA reporting process, including timely provision of qualitative and quantitative project data that supports institutional IAA reporting and case studies (usually April/May)
• All publicity or press releases relating to your project will cite funding from the AHRC and EPSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts and include the AHRC and EPSRC logo on any online/offline materials
• The IAA team will be informed of any external publicity relating to your project prior to its release and during its development (to inform IAA strategic comms/PR)