The Digit Innovation Fund supports innovative research projects that advance our understanding of how digital technologies are transforming work.
The Digit Innovation Fund supports innovative research projects that advance our understanding of how digital technologies are transforming work.A total of £500,000 will be awarded over the life of the Digit Research Centre (2020-2024) through this fund to complement our core Digit research programme.
Find out more about projects funded through previous rounds below.
Applications open for round 3 funding
We are now inviting applications for the third round of Innovation Funding.
Proposals should align with our research objectives and can relate to how digital technologies are transforming work.
Funding available
In this round, funding is available for projects which cost between £10,000 to £50,000 fEC and are no longer than one year in length. However, we very strongly encourage smaller applications as we are limited in the number of large applications that can be awarded.
Projects must be costed at 100% full economic cost (fEC) and will be funded at 80% fEC, according to UKRI guidelines.
The fund is open to research organisations across the UK.
Application process
Please read the Guidance documents below in full before applying.
- Digit Innovation Fund Guidance for Applicants
- Digit Innovation Fund Application Form
- Digit Innovation Fund FAQs
The FAQs are likely to answer many questions and will be updated in response to any additional questions.
A webinar was held on Friday, 6 May to provide a further opportunity to ask questions about the scheme. View the slides.
Key dates
| Call issued | Wednesday, 20 April 2022 |
| Webinar for prospective applicants | Friday, 6 May 2022, 12.30 BST |
| Application closing date | Wednesday, 8 June 2022 by 5pm BST |
| Decision to applicants anticipated | By 29 July 2022 |
| Project start date | No later than 1 October 2022 |
| Project end dates | By 30 September 2023 or before |
Contact
For further information, please contact Megan McMichael, Centre Manager, on m.mcmichael@sussex.ac.uk or digit@sussex.ac.uk.
Funded Projects
The projects funded in Round 1 are:
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- Prof Gary Bosworth (Northumbria University), The Role of Co-working Spaces in Digital Rural Futures
- Dr Ayomikun Idowu (University of Sussex), Digital Entrepreneurship on Retail Platforms: A way to formalise employment for young people in the UK and Africa
- Dr Harry Pitts (University of Bristol), Co-working spaces and the urban ecosystem: the future of co-working post-Covid-19
- Dr David Robertshaw (University of Leeds), Digitalisation of employment services: a comparative case study of the UK and Australia
- Dr Francesca Sobande (Cardiff University), How Cultural Workers Negotiate Racism in the Digital Age
These projects have now concluded.
The projects funded in Round 2 are:
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- Dr Kendra Briken (University of Strathclyde), The Care Necessities – Developing Inclusive Digital Technologies for Scotland’s Post Pandemic Social Care
- Dr Josh Morton (University of Leeds Business School), A Framework for Digital Strategy Work: Exploring Inclusion and Transparency in the Strategy Process
- Dr Fabian Stephany (Oxford Internet Institute), Creative work – A “hotspot” for digital skills? Identifying digital skill developments in the UK creative online freelance industry
- Dr Daria Luchinskaya (University of Strathclyde Business School), Virtually the same thing as in-person internships? Mapping the virtual internship landscape and exploring intern and employer experience in the UK and Italy
- Dr Christine Grant (Coventry University), Disability, neurodiversity, and remote e-working: Promoting the creation of an inclusive workplace. ‘Remote for All’
- Dr Andreas Kornelakis (King’s Business School, King’s College London) Robots at the Gates? Robotic Process, Automation, Skills, and Institutions: The Case of Financial Services in the UK and Germany
These projects will conclude in August 2022.