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28 August 2023

reSHAPE 2023

reSHAPE is back and it’s bigger than ever! reSHAPE – the world's only showcase event for impact at scale SHAPE ventures is back at the the RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) on the 7th of September 2023. Expect a day packed full of discussion around the SHAPE commercialisation landscape, inspirational and influential speakers, and of course plenty of fantastic SHAPE ventures from universities across the UK.

Spotlight

28 August 2023

SSH WORKING GROUP - LEIDEN

On the 11th of September we’ll be holding the final live activity as part of Aspect Festival23 with the Dutch Knowledge Transfer Office Social Sciences & Humanities Working Group, hosted by Aspect member Leiden University.

12 September 2023

Methods for Change: Creative, Participatory and Design Methods Showcase

Join the M4C team online from 11.30 - 12.30 Wednesday 13th September 2023 for the Aspect Methods for Change Showcase event!

Funded Projects VIEW ALL

SUCCESS Programme

Seeding University Collaboration for Commercialisation and Enterprise in Social Sciences. The SUCCESS programme is a first-of-its-kind opportunity designed to help social scientists with innovative and marketable research ideas.
Bristol Impact Hub

Bringing Bristol’s professional services teams together to deliver support for SHAPE using a shared framework.
Artificial Intelligence in Arbitration: Ethical Considerations

This project will allow researchers to engage with the relevant commercial stakeholders (specifically AI firms, law firms and arbitral institutions) to ensure the careful and ethically appropriate integration of AI technologies into commercial arbitration processes through the application of the academic research conducted by the authors.
Methods for embedding micro-businesses in change for Net Zero

MicroSEM is a project led by a team at the University of Sussex Business School, which aims to understand how to better engage with the UK’s smallest businesses, micro and small businesses (up to 49 employees), for supporting their transition to Net Zero.
Design for Social Entrepreneurship

Through a combination of case studies and practice based design research, the project seeks to develop and deliver a design-driven training model to support the expansion of social entrepreneurial practices within RCA students and staff.
Piloting an Innovation Internships programme for PhD students

In 2022, Zinc piloted a new placements programme, allowing PhD students – the majority from SHAPE disciplines – to work with and in Zinc startups. Eight students joined us in May from a range of institutions and disciplines, but with a shared interest in improving children’s mental health, which was the focus of our most recent venture-builder.
APPLE

This project will explore how systems underpinning academic career progression can be better aligned to support meaningful engagement with Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Social Venture Pathway

The project aims to develop a new and dedicated multi-step pathway to support academics interested in forming a social venture. The unique pathway will include a set of tools and guidance documents, to allow innovation teams to readily guide the formation of a social venture.
Pathways to increase SHAPE academic business engagement

Using a thematic context (Sustainability; Digital data and risk; Levelling up) as a hook to get academics engaged, the programme will showcase pathways to increase academic engagement. Includes workships with academics, ECRs, and businesses; and development of case studies and a framework for academic engagement.
Train the Trainer

Following the first scoping phase of the ‘Train the Trainer’ project in 2021/22, the KE/Comms CoP will now implement plans to improve the accessibility and use of the toolkits and other outputs produced in the first phase of Aspect and develop some new resources and sessions for PS staff tasked with communicating / promoting / supporting knowledge exchange (KE), innovation and its impact for SHAPE researchers within their institutions.
Building on ABC

Co-creating an online training resource for social sciences researchers.
In Place of War

The proposed project seeks to explore the possibilities of commercialising education programmes that emerged from an AHRC funded project, In Place of War (IPOW) at the University of Manchester.
ENT COP

ENT COP to collaborate on: developing best-practice on how we can support to international graduate entrepreneurs (IGE) effectively (re: startup and innovator visa scheme); creating framework for measurement and tracking of economic impact from SHAPE international graduate entrepreneurs (IGEs); developing policy recommendations for the scheme.
Aspect Angels

Aspect Angels is a first-of-its-kind network that builds pathways from ideas and research through to commercialisation via angel investment.
Aspect Translational Impact Acceleration Hub (TIAH) Phase 3

As a result of the Phase 2 funding, the TIAH members developed a workable process, and an understanding of the the costs (in time and funding) required to deliver a comprehensive SHAPE commercialisation offer.
Apple – Academic Promotion Pathways linked to Enterprise

Aligning academic career progression through systematic change.
Methods for Change Phase 2

Realising the value of research methodologies for creating change in society.
Innovation Fellows Programme Phase 2

Supporting academic-led culture change towards innovation among SHAPE researchers in their institutions and beyond.
ABaCuss Phase 2

Creating meaningful intrapreneurial placements and training for researchers.
Games Hub Phase 2

Building networks in the development of research-based games.
ARC Accelerator Phase 2: Accelerator for Shape Ventures

The first accelerator dedicated to building SHAPE ventures.
HMP Parc Supporting Families’ (PSF)

Capacity building within Custodial and Detention Services.
The Cambria Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs

Increasing scholars’ capacity to commercialise their research interests through social enterprise models.
Aspect Translational Impact Acceleration Hub (TIAH) Phase 2

Generating frameworks for more efficient business-scaling support to academics.
Shape Summer of Innovation: Shape showcase event and festival

Showcasing innovative and commercial projects within the arts, humanities the social sciences.
Seed Funding: POBL Communications e-learning platform

Developing a prototype e-learning platform.
Office for National Statistics and Cardiff University Partnership

Developing resources that help deliver social value.
A human centric research of skills and decision making capacity

Led by researchers from the RCA, Cranfield, and Manchester Metropolitan, the project team are building a business case to bring sustainable fashion garment manufacturing back to the UK.
Consulting Exchange: University collaboration

Accelerating the successful development of entrepreneurial activity across HEIs.
MicroSEM for Net Zero

Encouraging the implementation of changes by businesses and entrepreneurs to achieve Net Zero.
Innovation Internships programme: Towards sustainability

PhD candidate placement opportunities within early-stage ventures.
Building on Social Sciences Commercialisation Pipeline

Creating capacity for engagement.
Piloting a programme to support mid-career researcher engagement with startups

Providing mid-career researchers with an exciting and dynamic commercial experience.
FastFrame

Enabling new software concepts to be market tested and de-risked.
Building on ABC: Co-creating an online training resource for social sciences researchers

Piloting a comprehensive Knowledge Exchange training programme.
Case: Commercialising research inspired education and training programmes

Developing commercialisation strategies.
Artifical Intelligence in Arbitration: Ethical considerations

Ensuring the careful and ethically appropriate integration of AI technologies.
Train the Trainer

Supporting professional service staff to communicate knowledge exchange and its impact for SHAPE.
Applying social science to early-stage innovation to reduce environmental harms

Preparatory research for environmental start-ups grounded in robust research.
Aspect Research Commercialisation (ARC) Accelerator

Aspect’s accelerator programme for social science academics and researchers.
Innovation Fellows

Driving greater academic engagement.
Case Studies

Showcasing innovation from across the Aspect network.
Business Engagement Sector ‘Deep Dives’

Exploring challenges related to industry and academic engagement.
Digital Information Literacy Programme for Schools

Creating a pilot teacher training resource to combat online misinformation.
Internationalisation of Aspect

Building relationships with HEIs in middle income countries.
Boardgames Commercialisation

Creating an Ed Tech Games Hub for the Aspect consortium.
Marketing Toolkit

Developing a series of guidance and good practice cases for the communication needs associated with social science commercialisation.
Entrepreneurship Workshop Series & Mini- Projects

A series of six workshops aimed at developing social innovation-based entrepreneurial activities.
Aspect Student Accelerator Programme (ASAP)

Aspect’s social sciences student and alumni accelerator programme.
Aspect Podcast and Creative Challenge series

Supporting social scientist entrepreneurs.
Co-designing the Mobilise Carer Assessment Platform with/for Carers

Supporting family and other informal carers as they adapt to caring under COVID-19 related restrictions.
Research funding prize for Zinc ventures

Unlocking new opportunities in places hard-hit by globalisation.
Research Fellowships in Zinc’s later life venture-builder programme

Adding five more years of high quality to later life.
ABaCuSS

Developing working models of intrapreneurship in the social sciences.
Research Commercialisation Workshop & Toolkit Series

Developing good practice for social sciences commercialisation.
Methods for Change

Showcasing the value of social science methodologies to non-academic sectors.
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Mapping

Identifying and mapping relevant resources for entrepreneurs and alumni.

Explore our Communities of Practice

Aspect is organised into cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary communities, designed to capture and share knowledge across five core practice areas.

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Aspect Resources View All

Festival, social sciences, games hub, workshops, talks, exhibitions, impact, Economic and Social Research Council, creativity

22 September 2023

Festival of Social sciences 2022

Video featuring insightful facts about the annual Festival of Social Sciences.

19 September 2023

Social Sciences Innovations to reduce environmental harms

Venture Builder Programme for Entrepreneurs

19 September 2023

Remote Ethnography: Mobile Phone Methods

This ‘How-To’ Guide outlines the Remote Ethnography method used by Dr Alison Briggs from the University of Manchester. The animated GIF was created in collaboration with Caroline Boyd of Boy Oh Boy! Designs

Want to get involved with Aspect?

Aspect is a network for organisations looking to make the most of commercial and business opportunities from Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SHAPE) research. To find out how you can get involved click below.

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Member NewsView All

5 January 2023

reSHAPE launch

On the 4th of November 2022 the first edition of reSHAPE was launched. A collaboration between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC and Aspect Angels, the event brought together pioneering SHAPE ventures, investors, policy makers, academics and key players in the sector.

1 February 2023

SHAPE Pre-Accelerator 2023

The SHAPE Pre-Accelerator is an online programme that supports researchers from the Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts explore routes to generating sustainable impact at scale.

19 April 2023

A tool for understanding the role of SHAPE subjects in generating technological innovation to address major challenges

This useful tool from Aspect member the University of Edinburgh looks at the dimensions across which SHAPE subjects have a significant role to play in developing new technology.

Around Aspect

15 June 2023

SHAPE Involve and Engage

The British Academy is pleased to launch a pilot funding scheme to support ambitious projects to engage the public with the humanities and social sciences.

5 June 2023

Social sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) Catalyst

The SHAPE Catalyst will run from 2023 to 2026. Working in partnership with the ARC Accelerator, we will be looking for individuals or teams with innovative, ambitious ideas from arts, humanities and social sciences disciplines that can sustain economic or non-economic impact through the commercialisation of research.

19 July 2023

Santander Scholarships | Santander Universities Research Grants

Santander Universities are providing the opportunity to win one of 50 research grants worth £1,000 each to staff at UK universities conducting any form of research and postgraduate students at any UK university.

About

Aspect is a growing network of organisations working together to support socially responsible innovation, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation in Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SHAPE)

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