Terms and conditions

By applying to the Discovery Fund 2020-21, you (and all your team members if relevant) are signing up to the terms and conditions as outlined below:

Entrance Criteria / Eligibility

• All registered undergraduate and postgraduate (full-time or part-time) Imperial College London students are eligible to apply to the Discovery Fund as the lead applicant & present their findings in the final.
• Alumni who have graduated within the last 3 years (latest Summer 2017) are eligible to apply for the Discovery Fund & must ensure that they attend the Discovery Fund Launch Event (December 2020) and the final showcase (March 2021).
• Undergraduate and Masters students must be registered students throughout the duration of the Programme.
• PhD students must be registered as Imperial College students at the point of the application deadline on the 16^th November 2020 

• Applicants can apply as single applicants or as leaders of a Team. Members may be of any gender, be a student of another university or in full-time employment, but the team must be led by either an Imperial student or alumni as per the conditions above.
• Students who have applied/participated in other Enterprise Lab programmes are permitted and welcome to apply with a different idea or an improved idea. 

• The application forms for the Discovery Fund MUST be submitted via the official form before the stated deadline communicated at the start of the programme.

Discovery Fund Stages

• The Discovery Fund is a grant initiative that has the followings stages:

Stage 1: Teams must complete an online application form outlining what their idea is and how they would spend any grant money that will be allocated to them.

Stage 2: Teams will be shortlisted and those selected will go through to the next stage of the programme, which involves completing some online Customer Discovery Masterclasses, receiving the Grant Funding, and attending a launch event as well as at two coaching and peer-to-peer mentoring sessions. At least one team member must attend each session.

Stage 3: Teams that have been awarded Grants must have evidence of spending the grant funding and must present their ideas at a Discovery Fund Showcase (March 2021).

Discovery Fund Conditions

• At all stages of the Discovery Fund, the judging panel’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered. 

• The assessment of entries will be made by an Internal Shortlisting Panel and assessed against key criteria including:

 – Problem: Clear understanding and articulation of the problem and demonstrable knowledge of the issue.

 – Solution: Innovative and/or entrepreneurial idea.

 – Opportunity: There is a clear, defined and sizeable market opportunity.

 – Team: The team has the necessary skills & expertise to deliver the work needed over the summer period.

 – Use of grant: Initial thoughts for how they will use the time on the Discovery Fund and whether these are achievable/realistic. 

• The lead participant (and recipient of the grant) must:

 – Complete at least two online masterclasses as directed by the Enterprise Lab team by the end of the Grant Award period and before the final showcase. (March 2021)

 – Attend the Discovery Fund launch event in December 2020 to get the introduction to the Fund and learn more.

 – Recipients of the Discovery Fund must be present at the Discovery Fund Showcase that is being organised for March 2020 to present the learnings from the customer discovery activities.

• The lead participant must attend all the identified events highlighted about unless i) agreed in writing in advance with the Enterprise Lab team or ii) extenuating circumstances exist where the Enterprise Lab has been notified.
• Teams awarded funding from the Discovery Fund will be contacted by the Enterprise Lab after receiving confirmation that they have been selected to receive funding from the Discovery Fund to claim their prize money. Prize money will be paid via BACS transfer to the Team Lead only. 
• The Enterprise Lab shall not make more than two payments (each of £250) and is not responsible for making separate payments to team members.
• The Enterprise Lab shall have no liability to pay any money to any person other the Team Lead. It is for the members of the team to determine how the prize money will be spent according to what was outlined in the application.
• If there is to be any deviation as to how the money should be spent for customer discovery activities other than what outlined in the original application, teams should notify the Enterprise Lab in writing to get confirmation that they can go ahead.
• If any of the grant-winning teams do not claim their prize money within the given stated time period (to be confirmed in award letter), the prize money shall no longer be payable and shall remain with the Enterprise Lab to use for other programmes at our discretion.
• All deadlines listed within these Terms and Conditions or that relate to the Discovery Fund may be changed at any time, at the discretion of the Enterprise Lab. Any changes to these dates will be notified by email to the Team Lead. The Organisers reserve the right, at their discretion, to cancel the Discovery Fund.
• Each applicant must familiarise themselves with and comply with Imperial College London’s Intellectual Property Policy. Available on request from the Enterprise Lab.

Media Conditions

• By taking part in the Discovery Fund you are agreeing that you will participate in any associated media activities and that you are providing consent and authorisation for the use of any photography and quotations in marketing materials focused on the Discovery Fund.
• When requested, participants will provide appropriate information about their project for publicity purposes and bear the responsibility of ensuring their Intellectual Property is protected at all times.
• Imperial College London reserves the right to publish the team name, idea summary and photographs of the Programme.
• Prize winners may be required to participate in post-Discovery Fund appearances and publicity (including press releases and speaking at further events). 

• The Participant or team will acknowledge the Discovery Fund for seed funding in any documentation, website feature or media produced in relation to idea development (e.g. in future events/presentations). This could be written as a reference to ‘The Discovery Fund, Imperial Enterprise Lab’ or the Enterprise Lab Logo featured as ‘supported by Imperial Enterprise Lab’.
• By entering the Programme, applicants are indicating their agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.