The Supergen flex fund was established to allow the Hub to fund research based on events/discoveries made during the Hub’s lifetime. The flex fund has supported 24 projects with over £730,000 during Supergen’s lifetime, with many projects leading to further research/project bids. The scope of projects supported via the travel fund has been very broad, ranging from £100,000 fully fledged projects lasting 15 months, to market research pieces costing £3000.

Researchers who have received flex funding have said that the flexibility given by the grants has led to much improved outcomes compared to more typical funding awarded by typical funding bodies. The flex fund has supported Early Career Researchers (ECR’s) in their career development through the ECR and ECR outreach funding calls, as well as supporting Female and Non-Binary researchers through our Women and Non-Binary funding call. In many cases, the projects funded have been the Principal Investigators first experience of leading a research project, a key stepping-stone in career progression.

• Journal papers: 16
• Conference proceeding: 1
• Conference papers: 13
• Fellowships: 3
• Studentship: 1
• Innovation Challenges: 1
• Internships: 1
• PhD's: 2
• New research opportunities: 8
• Webinars/presentations/panel sessions/workshops: 15
• Open access resources: 4