Wings for Ideas Fund

Guidelines for Applicants:  Guidelines-for-Applicants-Wings-for-Ideas-2027.pdf

Can I spend Seeds for Success on software licences and training? Or leadership training? 

The money can be spent on learning courses for specific software that's needed for a project. It could also be spent for personal development programs such as lab leadership for postdocs, however you may wish to check out our leadership development offer before including that into your budget. You could include attendance at one of our sessions as part of the plan for your project. Our main goal with these funds is to help you gain some preliminary data or proof of concept, materials which could be used to support a fellowship or other funding application, so you should bear this in mind when planning your project. 

My contract ends before 30 September 2027. Can I apply? 

Priority for these funds will always go to people who will be at Imperial throughout the period. This is because we are aiming to support people with a fellowship application after the grant. The projects for Seeds for Success should provide preliminary data or proof of concept or similar which can be used to build a submission for further funding, and for Wings for Ideas to develop a commercial offer. If your PI or line manager can email Anna Seabourne (a.seabourne@imperial.ac.uk) by the application deadline stating that your contract will be extended and to what date, feel free to submit an application. 

I’m an ICRF/IRF, can I apply? 

Unfortunately, ICRFs are not eligible for Seeds for Success. The whole purpose of this fund is to help postdocs develop preliminary data/proof of concept to help them develop a fellowship application. As you are already funded in a fellowship, you can’t apply. Wings for Ideas is open to those with independent funding.  

Also, see our  funding pages for a list of alternative sources. If it’s small pots you are after, take a look at the Alternative Guide to PG Funding. Despite its title, it’s basically a database of alternative (and sometimes quirky!) sources - charities, small foundations, trusts, and more. 

Does the Seeds for Success include participatory action research/elements of PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement)? 

Yes, any and all types of research are welcome. NB if you are involving patients/members of the public, please bear in mind timelines for ethics approval and/or make it clear that the research is possible under an existing ethics application. NHS ethics approval timelines in particular can be very lengthy, so make sure that this is covered in your application. The proposed project could be entirely PPIE-based - if it will provide proof of concept or preliminary data towards a future grant or fellowship application, then yes, this is an eligible use of the funds. 

Most awardees are from medicine or biology - are engineering projects eligible? 

There are no restrictions or even preferences for particular subject areas, so yes, engineering projects are most welcome! 

Who can be listed as a collaborator for Seeds for Success? The guidelines state "none of whom must be independently funded". Can  they have an academic role (assistant professor, etc?), or if they are more senior with e.g. access to facility/sample that you're interested in? 

You can’t have funded collaborators, but you can have ‘hosts’, i.e. people who will give permission for you to use their equipment, lab space, resources and/or on whose expertise you can draw should you need it. 

The main idea of the fund is to help you develop your independent area of research, something you can use to start building a long-term career in an area that is different from you supervisors/current PI etc. We don’t allow funded collaborators as they already have their career/fellowship/salaried role and should be accessing other funding sources to progress with their research. We want to ensure that this is your project, not just supporting existing work, and this restriction is one of the key ways to demonstrate this.