Funding Opportunities for Learning and Teaching Innovation

Applications are welcomed from staff across the University and its Faculties, Departments, Institutes and Teams. We particularly encourage: 

• Multidisciplinary and cross-department proposals 

• Proposals with university-wide impact and integration with established Imperial projects 

• Student-partnered proposals (e.g.via StudentShapers) 

• Applications from staff and deparments who have not previously held LTS funding 

• Applications from staff at all career stages and across all staff groups 

1. The deadline for submitting an Expression of Interest form is 5pm on Monday, October 5th 2026 . This is for early-stage ideas; full proposals are not expected at this time.   
2. Expression of Interest forms should be submitted via Microsoft Forms
3. Expression of Interest forms will be reviewed by our Learning and Teaching Strategy Panel which 

   includes senior educational leadership representation through:

   The Vice Provost (Education and Student Experience), the Associate Provost (Digitally Enhanced Learning and Teaching), alongside the Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS) who act as chairs. 

   All four Faculties are represented on the panel through their Vice Deans for Education, ensuring that disciplinary breadth and faculty-level insight inform decision-making. The student voice is central to the panel's work, with representation from the Imperial College Union's Deputy President for Education.  

   Further teams represented include the Education Office, Digital Media Lab and the Planning and Insight Division.

4. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to the Imperial EduSpark half day event on  Thursday 26th November 2026.  
5.  Imperial EduSpark is a practical half day event designed to support applicants in sharing project ideas, respond to LTS panel questions and shape collaborations to deliver projects across the university.
6. Following the event, successful presentations at this stage, will be invited to write up their pilot projects with the suggestions and inclusions from the LTS Panel members. The write up will include a project plan and a budget. A deadline will be set for submitting a final write up.
7. Successful pilot teams will work with the Education Office to develop their plan within scope, budget and deadline.
8. Pilot projects will be expected to start in Summer 2027.
9. Read our Kickstarter Fund Process and Timeline Guidance.pdf for more information. 

There are two shortlisting stages for the Kickstarter Fund, and at each stage the potential of projects to fulfil the five criteria below, will be used throughout the shortlisting process.

1. Expression of Interest form If shortlisted at the EoI stage applicants will be invited to present at Imperial EduSpark. 
2. Imperial EduSpark If shortlisted after the event applicants will be invited to write up their project including a project plan and a budget. 

We recommend reading the criteria carefully before you apply and use them to guide the Expression of Interest and, if shortlisted the presentation at the event.

Criteria

1. Alignment to Funding Priorities 

•  Identifies a clear fit with one or more core funding priorities

2. Scalability & University-wide Impact 

• Evidence of potential impact across multiple departments/faculties
• Demonstration of thought towards long term sustainability, which might include external work

3. Evaluation Strategy 

• Robust plans to measure impact and effectiveness
• Use of appropriate methods (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed)
• Involvement of relevant expertise in evaluation design and analysis

4. Benefit to the Student Experience 

• Involvement of student engagement in some capacity in the design/implementation/evaluation (e.g. Consultation, partnership, etc.) 
• Measurable improvement in the student experience 

5. Cost effectiveness 

• Realistic, transparent budget aligned to planned activities
• Good value for money in relation to anticipated impact and scalability

Kickstarter funding can support the realization of creative new pilots and projects by providing resources and freeing up time/space to adapt existing methods or introduce new ones while evaluating effectiveness.

Funding may cover: 

1. Buyout of existing Imperial staff 
2. Fixed term staff to support innovation and expertise in learning and teaching 
3. StudentShapers engagements 
4. Additional GTAs/UTAs 
5. Specific support from centralised teams (e.g., Educational Design and Technology, Digital Media Lab, EdTech Labs, ICT, or other partner departments) 
6. UROPS 
7. Consumable costs including Technology costs, workshop costs etc where appropriate  

For consistency in recruitment and to attract appropriate skills, exemplar job descriptions and role expectations can be provided by the Education Office. 

Please submit completed Expression of Interest forms by 5.00pm on Monday 5th of October 2026.

Read the Call 12 Briefing document to understand the Call 12 themes, assessment criteria, what the funds can support and to access the FAQs. 

Download our Call12 Kickstarter Fund Expression of Interest Guidance Questions.pdf to plan and draft your EOI ready for final submission via the Microsoft Form.

For an informal discussion about the Kickstarter Fund Open Call or to talk through your idea before applying please get in contact with the Education Office  education.office@imperial.ac.uk