Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will invest up to £6 million in collaborative research and development (R&D) projects to encourage the development of smart products that use a combination of functional, hybrid and multiple materials.
Innovate UK are looking to fund projects that bring together material suppliers with processing specialists and end-users to focus on the challenges of manufacturing and exploiting existing materials.
Projects must be collaborative and led by a business. We expect to fund mainly industrial research projects in which a business partner will generally attract up to 50% public funding for their project costs (60% for SMEs), with elements of research carried out by academic partners.
Projects should last between 1 and 3 years. We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £500,000 to £1 million, although we may consider projects outside this range.
This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 16 March 2015. The deadline for registration is noon on 29 April 2015. The deadline for expressions of interest is noon on 6 May 2015.
There will be a briefing event for potential applicants in London on 25 March 2015.
You can find the latest information on workshops and webinars here
Key dates
Competition opens: 16 March 2015
Competition briefing: 25 March 2015
Registration deadline: noon 29 April 2015
Expressions of interest deadline: noon 6 May 2015
Stage 2 opens for invited applicants: 26 May 2015
Deadline for invited applications: noon 25 June 2015