About the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account

In April 2019 the University of Essex was one of only 26 universities to be awarded a second of Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding by the ESRC.   IAA funding is only awarded to research organisations with an impressive track record in delivering research in the social sciences.

• Between 2019 and 2023 the funding will support a range of activities including:
• Regular calls for Impact Fund grants
• Rolling calls for Active Engagement Fund grants to support travel or events
• Impact Academy skills training
• Series of Challenge Labs, working with local and regional partners to address 
• A Policy Impact Programme to use academic expertise to support evidence-based public policy–making and policy innovation
• Development of an Impact Evaluation Toolkit

The IAA2 funding enables us to realise the impact of our research more rapidly and in a manner that is commensurate with our institutional context and ambitions.  IAA2 is also designed to be more flexible and offer greater responsiveness to opportunities which arise during its lifetime.   The common thread to the programme remains supporting direct and purposeful activity with current research users and new engagement with potential research users

Applicants may work in any part of the university – applications are not restricted to those in the Faculty of Social Sciences – but projects must be related to an area within the remit of the ESRC.

Find out more

Contact the IAA2 Team for more information on our IAA2 schemes and advice on how to apply