King’s College London has some of the UK’s most dynamic and respected social scientists who work with a range of external partners – from NGOs, Government, to industry and business – addressing some of society’s most pressing industrial, innovation, health. and social challenges.

Following the success of our Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) round one (2014-2019), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded King’s nearly £1 million to continue to deliver knowledge exchange and impact activities with our non-academic partners for four more years (2019-2023). The award is recognition of the profile of King’s social science research, its impact on wider society, and our ongoing commitment to knowledge exchange and service.

The IAA is the principal mechanism for supporting King’s social science researchers in their knowledge-exchange and engagement activities with external partners. Following a competitive renewal process, we are now the only multi-faculty institution in London to host an ESRC IAA, to support both short and longer-term impact activities. The majority of funding will be allocated to academic staff through internal competitions.

These include a Social Science Impact Fund, with a parallel Industry & International Fund, fellowships and secondments, placing King’s staff with our partners and bringing our partners into King’s (transferring knowledge by transferring people), and a Slingshot Fund to allow us to respond rapidly to external opportunities.

Interested in working with us?
We are keen that our IAA supports activities that reflect the priorities and concerns of wider society, and welcome suggestions from potential partners. If you have a project or challenge which might benefit from King’s social science academic input and expertise, get in touch with us at esrc-iaa@kcl.ac.uk.

We are particularly interested in hearing from those sectors and services not typically associated with the social sciences, addressing key national and international research and innovation challenges that might usually be framed primarily in technological rather than social terms.

Partners may include businesses, public sector bodies or NGOs, in the UK and internationally.

Projects can be in any field or sector, so long as the expertise and engagement required is rooted in and driven by the social sciences.