Funded Projects

Realising the value of research methodologies for creating change in society.

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.

Encouraging the implementation of changes by businesses and entrepreneurs to achieve Net Zero.

Developing resources that help deliver social value.

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.

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

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.

Developing good practice for social sciences commercialisation.

Adding five more years of high quality to later life.

Unlocking new opportunities in places hard-hit by globalisation.

Developing a prototype e-learning platform.

Showcasing innovative and commercial projects within the arts, humanities the social sciences.

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.

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.

Increasing scholars’ capacity to commercialise their research interests through social enterprise models.

Supporting professional service staff to communicate knowledge exchange and its impact for SHAPE.

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.