T17/3581 Evaluation of Innovation Process and Value

Tender description

The university is seeking a researcher who will work closely with Northumbria University's Creative Fuse team to conduct research that will deepen our knowledge of how innovation processes bring about positive change in SMEs. Taking as a starting-point Northumbria's distinctive focus on design-led innovation and visualisation - and focusing on the different strands of innovation activity that form Northumbria's Creative Fuse programme - the researcher will document: what we do; why we do it; what value it has. Continuously evaluating the different models and approaches within each strand of innovation activity, the researcher will identify: what works; how it works; how it might stall; how it effects change; what changes are effected; and how it might be improved. Focusing on carefully selected case studies, the researcher will engage with a number of SMEs on each step of their innovation journey: starting with the initial assessment of their innovation challenges; tracking the design-led innovation and visualisation approaches; and following through to the resulting actions, outputs, and changes within the SME. By evaluating key findings from within and across the case studies, the researcher will identify how highly effective activity can be delivered to SMEs. The researcher will share their findings with Northumbria's Creative Fuse team throughout the contract so that emerging themes and issues can be used to inform the continuous improvement and iterative development of the Creative Fuse programme of activity. Throughout the contract the researcher will also present their findings in written reports to inform the team's production of academic outputs such as academic publications and conference papers. We anticipate that this will involve approximately 2 days per week for the duration of the contract, although the intensity of activity may vary throughout the contract. This will require a degree of flexibility to enable engagement with key, scheduled project events