Sort and segregate nuclear waste: phase 1
This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Organisations can apply for a share of £3.9 million, including VAT, to develop an autonomous, integrated toolkit to sort and segregate nuclear waste. The aim is to reduce the level of waste requiring disposal, thereby increasing productivity, reducing costs, and improving safety.
Eligible projects will reduce waste by prioritising its recycling over its disposal, as well as reduce the number of waste sorting and segregation processes carried out by humans. Additionally, all projects should increase productivity and be scalable and transferable.
Applications must address all of the following:
- detect the type and intensity of the radioactivity present using existing technology or off-the-shelf equipment
- determine the composition, size, shape, and surface area of the material
- sort and segregate the waste by radioactive classification and material type
- remotely move the waste from a specific area, process it and then pack it into the appropriate container (for example, skips, drums, boxes or bags) ensuring the space used is optimised
- collect and analyse data and images, and retain accurate records
This is Phase 1 of a 2-phase competition:
Phase 1: Research and Development contracts, feasibility study (this competition)
- Up to £600,000, including VAT, is available for Phase 1.
- Projects will last up to 3 months.
- You must produce a technical feasibility study for an innovative and integrative solution to the problem.
Phase 2: Research and Development contracts, prototype development and testing
- Only successful applicants from phase 1 will be able to take part in phase 2.
- Up to £900,000, including VAT, will be allocated for each contract for up to 15 months.
- You must develop and demonstrate a full-scale prototype in a non-radioactive environment.
This competition runs from 17th August - 11th November. For more information, please visit Innovate UK. If you think that you may be eligible for funding, contact us today to arrange a free consultation.
ISCF Transforming foundation industries: Building a resilient recovery
£8 million in grant funding is available for projects supporting the recovery and growth of the UK’s foundation industries. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) and Innovate UK. The competition aims to support an innovation-led recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and protect the UK’s foundation industries innovation capability.
Innovate UK are looking to fund a portfolio of projects. However, all projects must:
- help the UK’s foundation industries remain globally competitive and become more environmentally sustainable
- indicate how the innovation helps meet the needs of business and/or industry as it emerges from Covid-19 pandemic and aids rapid recovery
- demonstrate that the business has the capability to deliver the project
Specific themes
Projects must focus on resource or energy efficiency in the foundation industries and can focus on one or more of the following areas:
- establish long-term viability of domestic supply chains
- new markets
- new business models
- new products and services
- new processes
Projects cannot focus on fuel switching or technologies for the capture of emissions, such as carbon capture and storage.
What is the ISCF?
The ISCF is part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, the long-term plan to raise productivity and earning power in the UK. They aim to increase funding in research and development by £4.7 billion over 4 years, strengthening UK science and business. Since the ISCF launched in 2016, it has supported 1820 organisations. Funding has been awarded to projects all over the country – could yours be next?
This competition closes on 4th November 2020. If you think that you may be eligible for funding, contact us today to arrange a free consultation. Alternatively, you can find more information on this competition here.
Sustainable Innovation Fund: Round 2
Round 2 of the Sustainable Innovation Fund is now open for applications. Through Innovate UK, £26m is available for new projects focusing on sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19. The health pandemic has affected research and development across all sectors. Therefore, this competition aims to help all sectors of the UK rebuild, grow, and create new opportunities.
Scope
Your proposal must show evidence of key challenges caused by Covid-19 and how your project can help solve them. Innovate UK is looking to fund a portfolio of projects across a variety of technologies, markets, regions, technological maturities, and research categories. Specifically, your project can focus on themes including:
- decarbonisation, circular economy and/or biodiversity
- climate change and environmental sustainability
- geographic or regionally targeted innovation
- innovation that is aimed at commercial or residential users
- innovations that work across more than one sector
- follow-on international opportunities that help the UK lead the world
Eligibility
This is round 2 of a potential 3, with the third scheduled to open in September. For round 2, proposals can only be from a single business. This means no more than one partner receiving grant funding on the application. However, subcontractors are allowed.
The funding will be made as a de minimis grant. De minimis aid provides public funding up to 100% of eligible costs. Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £50,000 and £100,000. Furthermore, your project must be ready to start by 1 November 2020 and last between 3 and 6 months.
The Sustainable Innovation Fund: Round 2 closes on the 2nd September 2020. You can find further information regarding eligibility, scope, and how to apply here. For our help in putting together a competitive proposal in a short timeframe, please contact us today.
Manufacturing made smarter: digital supply chain competitions
Innovate UK is running two competitions to drive digital innovation in UK manufacturing supply chains. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF). Eligible projects will help the UK manufacturing industry adopt digital technologies to become more productive and competitive.
The use of digital technologies can help companies rethink and restructure how they design and operate their supply chains. Customers' needs are changing fast. Furthermore, there are problems with the availability of supplies. This means that supply chains need to adapt and become more effective, flexible, resilient, and sustainable.
This competition comprises of two strands running at the same time: feasibility studies and industrial research. Please review the scope of each to ensure you are applying to the most appropriate strand for your project.
Scope
Eligible projects will investigate a problem that a specific supply chain is experiencing and develop ideas for digital technology solutions. For example:
- real-time tracking of products throughout the supply chain using digital technologies such as low-cost sensors, NFC (near field communication), real-time data capture and data analytics
- improved track and trace capabilities to help companies optimise inventory management and/or establish clear and accurate demand signals to help them eliminate waste
Your project must focus either on supply chain design or supply chain execution, comprising any one of the following:
- improve and optimise existing supply chain networks
- re-design or re-engineer existing supply chain networks
- design new supply chain networks both for new products and processes
Your project must be across a supply chain, not just focused within one organisation or within one supplier.
Eligibility
Your project must:
- have total eligible costs between £1 million and £3 million
- apply for total grant funding of no more than 50% of your total eligible costs
- start by 1 April 2021
- last up to 24 months
In this competition all projects awarded funding must upload evidence for each expenditure with every claim made. These might include invoices, timesheets, receipts or spreadsheets for capital usage.
If you’d like to know more, contact RedKnight today to arrange a free consultation with one of our grant funding specialists.
IETF: £30m available for energy efficiency and decarbonisation studies
The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) is a crucial part of the Government’s strategy for tackling climate change and reaching Net Zero by 2050. It aims to help businesses with high energy use to cut their energy bills and carbon emissions through investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies.
The UK Government announced £315 million of funding in the 2018 Budget, available up until 2024. BEIS will manage the IETF for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with £289 million to invest over 2 phases. Phase 1 is now open for applications, with up to £30 million available for feasibility, engineering studies and deployment across two strands.
Strand 1: IETF deployment of energy efficiency technologies in industry
In this strand, projects must undertake a feasibility or an engineering study (experimental development) to develop either an energy efficiency or a deep decarbonisation project that enables possible subsequent deployment.
This strand of the competition aims to:
- help industrial companies build a pipeline of future deployment projects by supporting feasibility and engineering studies (experimental development)
- reduce the costs and risks of either industrial energy efficiency or decarbonisation technologies
Strand 2: IETF industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation studies
In Strand 2, projects must deploy technologies to improve the energy efficiency of industrial processes. Your project must only be possible because of this funding.
Example technologies include:
- improved process control
- more efficient heat exchange
- more efficient drying
- energy recovery from waste heat
- energy recovery from waste pressure
- resource process optimisation
This competition closes on the 28th October. If you are interested in applying, please contact us today to arrange a free consultation.
Agri-tech catalyst round 10
From Monday 20th July, UK-registered organisations can apply for funding through round 10 of the Agri-tech Catalyst. A share of up to £2.5m is available to work on agri-tech and food chain innovations in Africa.
This competition aims to increase the pace of innovation in the development of agricultural and food systems in Africa. Eligible projects will result in more use of innovations by farmers and food systems organisations, such as manufacturers, processors, retailers, distributors, and wholesalers.
The competition is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). It has three strands running at the same time:
If you are unsure, RedKnight Consultancy can help you decide which strand to apply for.
Scope
There are many opportunities and challenges for food systems. Therefore, Innovate UK are looking to fund a range of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities research categories, and different strands of the competition. Your proposal must show the potential to have a positive impact on poverty through the uptake of agricultural and food systems technology and innovation.
You can choose from one or more of the following areas:
- primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture
- non-food uses of crops, excluding ornamentals
- challenges in food processing, distribution or storage, and value addition (such as through a change in the physical state or form of the product)
- improving the availability and accessibility of safe, healthy and nutritious foods
Your project's innovations must be sustainable in the context of environmental challenges, including climate change and resource scarcity. Furthermore, they should minimise negative effects such as pollution and food waste, and promote safe, healthy, and nutritious diets.
For further details on eligibility, scope, and how to apply, please visit Innovate UK. If you think that you might be eligible for Agri-tech Catalyst funding, contact us today to arrange a free consultation.
Biomedical Catalyst relaunches with £30 million
The latest round of Innovate UK's Biomedical Catalyst will soon open for applications. From Monday 27th July, UK-registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £30 million to develop a product or process that provides an innovative solution to a health and care challenge. Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £250,000 and £4 million.
Scope
This competition combines the early and late-stage strands of the Biomedical Catalyst. The aim of an early-stage award is to create a data package that is sufficient to support the testing of your product or process in a clinical setting. Meanwhile, the late-stage award will test a well-developed concept and show its effectiveness. Projects can focus on any health and care sector or discipline. However, they must be aligned to one of the following innovation areas:
- medical technologies and devices
- stratified healthcare
- advanced therapies (gene and cell therapies)
- digital health
- drug discovery
- diagnostics
Applications that support innovation in the following areas are particularly welcomed: child health technologies, innovations that support clinical trials in the UK, and biomedical innovations that combat the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
What is the Biomedical Catalyst?
The Biomedical Catalyst was developed in 2012 to achieve three key objectives:
- Deliver growth to the UK life sciences sector.
- Deliver innovative life sciences products and services into healthcare more quickly and effectively.
- Provide support to academic and commercially-led research and development.
A recent report by Ipsos MORI found that the Biomedical Catalyst has successfully met its objectives. Key findings include that the Biomedical Catalyst has offered strong value for money, increased companies' R&D investment by 93%, and increased employment by 11 to 15 percent over 3 to 5 years. Steve Bates, CEO of the UK BioIndustry Association, welcomed the announcement of additional funding:
"The Biomedical Catalyst has provided entrepeneurs and SMEs access to crucial capital to grow and scale. This is a key part of the Government's efforts to ensure the UK is resilient to future threats to public health, as well as supporting the development of new life-changing medical treatments, diagnostics and devices."
This competition closes on the 7th October 2020. If you'd like to apply, get in touch with RedKnight today to arrange a free consultation.
£200m available to help innovative companies bounce back
The Sustainable Innovation Fund will help power the UK’s economic recovery and develop new sustainable opportunities for businesses in any sector. It will also help the UK to meet its ambitions to cut carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050.
The funding will support a variety of projects, including the development of ground-breaking medical technologies, as well as new technologies to make homes and offices more energy efficient. The fund is also available to smart sustainability-focused projects aimed at establishing more “climate-positive” behaviours.
"Today I am urging businesses in all parts of the UK to come forward and pitch their state-of-the-art ideas to us, so we can work together to power the UK’s economic recovery."
Sustainable Innovation Fund: round 1
- UK-registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £55m to fund new projects focusing on sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19.
- Competition closes: 29th July 2020
Sustainable Innovation Fund: SBRI phase 1
- Organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million to help UK businesses and the public sector recover from COVID-19 in a sustainable manner.
- Competition closes: 5th August 2020
If you think you may be eligible for one of the above opportunities, you can apply now through Innovate UK. For our help in putting together a competitive proposal, please contact us today.
Energy Catalyst Round 8: Clean Energy Access
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £20 million to develop and demonstrate innovative solutions for clean, affordable, and secure energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or South East Asia. The competition aims to support highly innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any technology or sector.
Your project must encourage the development of products and services that help one or more of the specified countries to access secure, low cost, and low carbon energy. Projects must be targeted at people, public services, and local enterprises who are unable to afford or access existing solutions, or who lack the time or expertise to successfully use those solutions.
This competition has three strands, which are dependent on the stage your project is at:
- Early-stage for feasibility studies (this strand)
- Mid-stage for industrial research
- Late-stage for experimental development
The Energy Catalyst Programme is open to any energy technology from any sector. However, to be in scope for round 8 your project must address the following 3 subjects: energy access, the energy 'trilemma', and gender and social inclusion. For example, your project could focus on:
- making new solutions more affordable.
- integrating technologies in new systems or business models to help unlock finance and deployment.
- developing technologies or partnership business models that address other barriers to deployment.
- unlocking under-served market segments that existing solutions are not reaching at scale.
This competition closes on 16th September 2020. For further details on eligibility, scope, and how to apply, please visit the competition page.
Interested in applying? Contact us today to arrange a free consultation.
BEIS Funding Allocations 2020-2021
BEIS 2020-21 Funding Allocations reveal a huge boost for UK research and innovation.
The Chancellor’s 2020 Budget included ambitious plans to increase public research and development (R&D) investment to £22 billion by 2024. This is the largest and fastest ever expansion of funding for research and innovation, taking direct support for R&D to 0.8% of GDP. It places the UK among the top quarter of OECD nations.
The Government remains committed to meeting this goal, despite the uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is moving forward with its plans, confirming allocations of the R&D budget for 2020-2021. As a first step towards meeting this ambition, £10.36 billion of funding is being allocated to BEIS programmes and partner organisations this financial year.
The funding includes:
- investment in world-leading science and advanced mathematics
- investment in Net Zero technologies in the energy, automotive and aerospace sectors
- support to immediate efforts to respond to COVID-19, including sponsoring efforts to manufacture and trial a vaccine
- investment to secure and maintain the essential talent and infrastructure needed to deliver cutting-edge research.
In short, funding for public sector research establishments will enable the UK to be at the forefront of fusion energy technology. It will also deliver world-leading meteorological and climate science, develop cutting-edge quantum measurement techniques, and capitalise on the UK’s space capabilities. In a move aimed at creating stability during the pandemic, BEIS is providing further support to R&D intensive businesses and higher education institutions.
If you're interested in viewing the full list of R&D allocations for this financial year, click here. Alternatively, to discuss funding opportunities with one of our specialist advisers, please contact us today.
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