Always open competition

Always open competition is sponsored by Innovate UK. Innovate UK is investing up to £15 million in innovation projects to stimulate the new products and services of tomorrow.

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Additive layer manufacturing (ALM) Agricultural productivity Assembly / disassembly / joining Ceramic / electronic / functional materials Connected and autonomous vehicles Diagnostics, medical technology and devices Electronic materials and manufacturing Electronics manufacturing Electronics, sensors and photonics Independent living and wellbeing Material recovery and treatment Materials, process and manufacturing design technologies Nanotechnology / nanomaterials Preclinical technologies and drug target discovery Robotics and autonomous systems Sensor and instrument design or manufacture Surface engineering, coatings and thin films Therapeutic and medicine development Ultra Long Duration Energy Storage Project Development Studies Relaunch UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for project development studies to support the development of electrochemical ultra long duration energy storage demonstration projects in the UK.

This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. To lead a collaborative project or to work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

The consortium may also contain one or more of the following organisation types: other UK registered business research and technology organisation (RTO) public sector organisation Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Rd 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. This funding is from The Battery Innovation Programme.

This competition is open to collaborations. To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.

Battery Innovation: Concept Development Rd 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £25 million to support innovation in battery grade material technologies for electrification. This funding is from The Battery Innovation Programme. This competition is open to collaborations only.

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application. Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: Round 3 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £8.

5 million to develop and scale Engineering Biology platforms, products and services. This funding is part of UKRI’s Engineering Biology Programme. This competition is open to collaborations only.

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.

Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute: Phase 1 UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £500,000 for a phase 1 project to establish the Medicines Manufacturing Data Institute (MMDI). This funding is from Innovate UK. This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations.

To work alone or lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered: research and technology organisations public sector organisation Engineering Biology Access to Infrastructure Pilot UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for Engineering Biology pilot scale and validation projects. This funding is part of UKRI’s Engineering Biology Programme and funded by BIST.

This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. To lead a collaborative project or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).

National Materials Innovation Programme: CR&D Rd1 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £12 million for collaborative industrial research to speed the translation of advanced materials innovations in three prioritised high growth themes and one strategic opportunity theme. This competition is open to collaborations only. To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application. Investor Partnerships – ACT and Semiconductors UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners. This competition is open to single applicants only.

To apply your organisation must: be a UK registered micro, small or medium sized business (SME) carry out its project work in the UK intend to exploit the results from or in the UK have been invited to apply by an investor from our pool of selected investor partners Farming Innovation Programme: Small R&D Partnership Projects Rd 5 UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £13 million for small R&D partnership projects.

This funding is from the industry led R&D Partnerships Fund, a part of the Defra Farming Innovation Programme. This competition is open to collaborations only. To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application. CfI: Engineering Biology for Defra and FSA Phase 1 Organisations can apply for a share up to £3 million inclusive of VAT, to develop and scale Engineering Biology platforms, products and services.

To lead a project, you can: be a UK based organisation of any size work alone or with other organisations as subcontractors Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. Need help with this service?