Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF)
The Higher Education Innovation Fund is a funding programme designed to encourage knowledge transfer in Universities and other Higher Education institutions in England
It is the core mechanism for supporting Knowledge Transfer within the English Higher Education Sector (devolved assemblies of Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland have their own support mechanisms)
The first round of funding (HEIF 1) was allocated in Oct 2001, with 89 Bids being funded.
The second round was allocated in summer 2004, HEIF 2 also incorporated future activities based on the Science Enterprise Challenge and University Challenge initiatives in England. HEIF 2 therefore represented the consolidation of Knowledge Transfer funding, into the core mechanism it now is. A total of 124 awards were made, 46 of which involved collaboration between higher education institutions.
The third round of the programme (HEIF3) started in academic year 2006/7 and saw significant changes. As part of the Government’s commitment to a permanent third stream of funding, the majority of HEIF3 funds (£164 million) were allocated by a funding formula ensuring with every HEI guaranteed an allocation. In addition there was a smaller competitive element designed to support high impact innovative projects. 11 projects were funded and the press release for this can be found under related links on the right.
A copy of the Institutional Plans, used to release the formula funding are available also under related links.
Further information on the programme – including details of the funding formula and amounts allocated are available on the Higher Education Funding Council web site under external links on the right.
Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government has announced that for the fourth round of HEIF the budget will increase to £150m by the 2010/11. In line with the recommendations of the Sainsbury Review, HEIF will move to fully formulaic allocation, building on the formula used for HEIF3, putting further emphasis on performance, and spreading the benefits of HEIF more widely across the HE sector. Illustrative allocations for each institution are available on the HEFCE web site. Final allocations will be calculated on the basis of the latest HEBCI data, which is currently being collected.
