Driving Innovation: An Overview of available UK Grants and Collaborative Initiatives in R&D

Innovate UK smart grants

Innovate UK introduces the smart grants, investing £25 million into the best game-changing R&D innovations. Most desirable are brand new, disruptive ideas, in hopes of making a significant impact on the UK economy. Application is open for innovations and projects from every technological sector, as long as commercialisation, growth, and exports are primary goals and clearly explained in the buisness plan. To be eligible at least one SME must be included. The competition closes the September 27, 2023 and applicants will be notified by December 11.

Farming Futures

The Department of Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs (Defra) is investing £12.5 million in innovation projects from UK-based buisnesses. This funding is part of the Farming Innovation Programme, which is in partnership with UKRI’s Transforming Food Production Challenge and delivered by Innovate UK. This competition aims to fund collaborative development projects with ambitious solutions for farming futures. Innovative solutions will enable sustainable and resilient farming by addressing both biotic and abiotic stresses in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. More specificically, the competition is divided into two strands: Feasability and Industrial Research. The competition closes July 19, 2023 at 12:00. Applicants will be notified September 13.

Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D

In the second round of Bio Engineering Collaborative Reasearch and development, UK buisnesses have the opportunity to seek a portion of £6.7 million. In order to partake, the innovative projects need to focus on developping Engineering biology technologies, processes, products, and services. The companies may also employ engineering biology as a means to address societal challenges. Part of UKRI’s National Engineering Biology Programme (NEBP), companies’ proposals must be in line with at least one theme of the NEBP, which are food systems, biomedicine, clean growth, environmental solutions. The competition closes July 26, 2023 at 11:00 and applicants will be notified of the decisions September 15.

India – UK Collaborative R&D for industrial sustainability 

Innovate UK will fund UK registered buisnesses to collaborate with India in search of sustainable innovative projects. Projects must be original, involve a technological risk, and have a high market potential in the countries. The focus of the project can be one of two options. First, sustainable materials and manufacturing for transforming foundation industries. Secondly, the focus can be power electronics, machines, and drives. The competition closes September 6, 2023 at 11:00 and on December 1 applicants will be notified. To apply, the project must several criteria, including a strong buisness plan, an evidence-based plan to deliver economic impact, clear potential to benefit the UK economy, and more.

Canada – UK: Biomanufacturing of biologics and advanced therapies

Another Innovate UK fund,  this time partnered with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to invest £3.5 million in innovative projects. The objective of this collaboration is to encourage the development and implementation of innovative technologies in biomanufacturing. The overall goal is the creation of flexible, technically advanced capabilities needed for production of the next generation economically sustainable vaccines and therapies.

To participate in this competition, proposals must focus on developing innovative technologies that enable flexible, scalable, efficient, and cost-effective manufacturing of new biological therapeutic products and delivery systems, with a strong potential for commercilisation. The UK – Canada research and development collaborations will enhance both countries’s readiness to address future health emergencies. The competition application deadline is October 17, 2023 and December 8 applicants will be notified of the results.

UK – Taiwan Collaborative R&D (CR&D)

Working with the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), Innovate UK will invest £2 million foster the advancement  of innovative proposals in collaboration with Taiwan. The primary objective is to finance CR&D projects that prioritize industrial research. Projects are expected to create a new product, industrial process or service, be innovative, involve technological risk, and have high market potential. Applications from the following sectors are preferred: smart technology, green energy technologies, smart manufacturing, biotechnology, and service innovation. Competition closes July 19, 2023 and the decision will be shared December 20.