In Spring 2022, the UK government announced its largest ever investment in R&D for the period 2022-2025 of £39.8bn.
The majority of funding is being delivered through the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and its partner organisations. The budget allocations will allow the government to deliver on the ambitions set out in its Innovation Strategy.
This significant Government investment in innovation means there are numerous R&D funding opportunities available for academia, small, medium and large businesses across a wide range of sectors. However, navigating this funding landscape can be time consuming and complex.
As part of our commitment to help support and commercialise innovation, FIS360 is minimising the effort you need to find the funding you require by signposting you to the most up to date information on public sector R&D funding. We are also offering to send funding alerts to those organisations who wish to be kept up to date on new funding opportunities.
The Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN) Funding Opportunities page covers most UK public sector funding, EU opportunities and also private sector challenges available through their own Innovation Exchange programme.
The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Finder covers all of the funding competitions run by UKRI including all of the Research Councils.
The Innovate UK Innovation Funding Service (IFS) covers all funding competitions (grants, loans and R&D contracts) run by Innovate UK both on their own behalf and on behalf of other Government Departments.
For Ministry of Defence (MoD) funded opportunities related to the Defence and Security sectors and technology transfer, the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) website provides information of open innovation competitions, innovation focus areas and themed competitions.
Game Changers is managed by FIS360. in partnership with NNL and funds feasibility and proof of concept projects that address challenges set by the nuclear sector. It also provides invaluable access to the end users
The Net Zero Technology Centre, is a public/private partnership based in Aberdeen. It funds R&D challenges to drive investment in net zero-related technologies. Its funding opportunities can be found here.
NB. Whilst the above sites capture the significant majority of the Governments announced.
R&D. funding, we recognise that other funding opportunities may exist.
Receive email updates on the latest funding opportunities by signing up for the FIS360 newsletter today!
Please see below for some of the most recent public sector R&D funding opportunities:
Key features:
Loans of up to £1.6m with a below market interest rate of 7.4% per annum to help convert mature defence innovation into a strong business proposition for defence procurement.
Open Indefinitely
Key features:
Innovate UK: This funding route is to deliver the UK Government’s Horizon Europe guarantee. Specifically, it covers funding for UK partners involved in EIT-KIC activities in the 2022 calendar year.
UK-based organisations involved in EIT-KIC activities in 2022 who would have received EIT grant funding had the UK been associated to Horizon Europe.
Open Indefinitely
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £16 million to deliver, resource efficient, low-emission food production systems. Including alternative proteins and Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA).
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead an industrial research project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
Opens:18 January 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 18/01/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £16 million to deliver resource efficient, low-emission food production systems. Including alternative proteins and Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA).
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a feasibility studies project your organisation must be a UK registered:
Opens:18 January 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 18/01/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Sellafield Ltd are seeking solutions to enable the remote, visual inspection of duct systems through 19mm diameter ports
Closes on Thursday, 4th of May
Closing date: 04/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
This competition is open to single applicants only.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opens: 8 May 2023
Closes:5 July 2023
Opening date: 08/05/2023
Closing date: 05/07/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK:UK registered organisations, in collaboration with at least one Swiss registered business can apply for a share of up to £2 million for research projects resulting in innovative solutions. Swiss partners must apply for equivalent funding from Innosuisse.
This competition is open to UK – Switzerland collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
You must:
Opens: 17 April 2023
Closes: 26 July 2023
Opening date: 17/04/2023
Closing date: 26/07/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK:UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for business focussed innovation in advanced and high value dairy production and manufacturing. This funding is from Digital Dairy Chain for Cumbria, South and West Scotland.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be:
Opens:17 April 2023
Closes:31 May 2023
Opening date: 17/04/2023
Closing date: 31/05/2023
Key features:
Automotive Transformation Fund Scale up Readiness Validation 2
Key Features
Innovate UK:UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £11 million. This will be to validate readiness for scale up of manufacturing processes in the automotive supply chain of net zero technologies.
Eligibility
This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
You may still apply to lead a project if you are a non-UK registered business at the time of application, but you must set up a UK registered business before you can receive an award.
Opens:3 April 2023
Closes:11 May 2023
Opening date: 03/04/2023
Closing date: 11/05/2023
Key features:
Automotive Transformation Fund Feasibility Studies: Round 4
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million. This is for business case feasibility studies to support scale up of the UK’s zero emission automotive supply chain.
Eligibility
This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. You may still apply to lead a project if you are a non-UK registered business at the time of application, but you must set up a UK registered business before you can receive an award.
Opens:3 April 2023
Closes:11 May 2023
Opening date: 03/04/2023
Closing date: 11/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £12 million for ambitious collaborative R&D projects to support UK materials and manufacturing organisations to become significantly more resource efficient.
This competition is open to collaborations only. To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered:
You must be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:31 March 2023
Closes:26 May 2023
Opening date: 31/03/2023
Closing date: 26/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million in grant funding to deliver feasibility studies. These studies will be to develop innovative solutions using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address business challenges and opportunities.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:28 March 2023
Closes:24 May 2023
Opening date: 28/03/2023
Closing date: 24/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Organisations can apply for a share of £500,000 inclusive of VAT, over the 2 phases of the competition. The aim of this competition is to improve existing AI algorithms for skin cancer to accelerate detection and diagnosis.
To lead a project, you can:
You must work in conjunction with the identified test bed partner and identified academic research partner.
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only.
Opened:27 March 2023
Closes:19 May 2023
Opening date: 27/03/2023
Closing date: 19/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million for industrial-led civil aerospace collaborative R&D projects.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opened:27 March 2023
Closes:10 May 2023
Opening date: 27/03/2023
Closing date: 10/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Individuals based in a UK academic institution can apply for a share of up to £800,000 to join the cyber security academic startup accelerator programme 2023-2024 (CyberASAP).
This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations.
To join the programme, you must:
Opened:27 March 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 27/03/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £9.4 million. This is for small scale demonstrations of novel Vehicle to everything (V2X) energy technology providing storage and flexible services under Phase 2 of the V2X Innovation Programme.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
Opened:21 March 2023
Closes:10 May 2023
Opening date: 21/03/2023
Closing date: 10/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Eligible UK public sector organisations can apply for up to £5 million from the Knowledge Asset Grant Fund. The funding will aid exploitation of high potential intangible assets that have a broader application or client base than their owner organisation.
This competition is open to single applicants.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK Government public sector organisation headed by an Accounting Officer responsible for upholding Managing Public Money (MPM).
This includes:
Opened:17 March 2023
Closes:8 June 2023
Opening date: 17/03/2023
Closing date: 08/06/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses 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:
Opened:16 March 2023
Closes:10 May 2023
Opening date: 16/03/2023
Closing date: 10/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £2 million for this competition. This funding is for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with South Korea.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opened:13 March 2023
Closes:7 June 2023
Opening date: 13/03/2023
Closing date: 07/06/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £12 million for collaborative research and development. This is to develop step-change improvements to sustainable biomanufacturing in the UK.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered:
You must be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:7 March 2023
Closes:3 May 2023
Opening date: 07/03/2023
Closing date: 03/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Organisations can apply for a share of up to £240,000 inclusive of VAT, to develop disruptive, innovative solutions supporting people at risk of dementia to manage their medications.
To lead a project, you can:
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only.
Opened:27 February 2023
Opening date: 27/02/2023
Closing date: 24/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million in total across the 3 stages, to create new or improved clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or the Indo-Pacific regions.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To be eligible for funding you can be from any country and must be either a:
You must involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:27 February 2023
Closes:28 June 2023
Opening date: 27/02/2023
Closing date: 08/06/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million in total across the 3 stages, to create new or improved clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or the Indo-Pacific regions.
This competition is open to single applicants or collaborations.
To be eligible for funding you can be from any country and must be either a:
You must involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:27 February 2023
Closes:28 June 2023
Opening date: 27/02/2023
Closing date: 28/06/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £8 million for large R&D partnership projects, from the industry-led R&D Partnerships Fund, a part of the Farming Innovation Programme.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opened:20 February 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 20/02/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £4.35 million for CR&D projects related to hydrogen storage and distribution supply chain. This funding is from Innovate UK.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
You must be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:13 February 2023
Closes:26 April 2023
Opening date: 13/02/2023
Closing date: 26/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations, collaborating with at least one German SME applying under the equivalent German ZIM programme, can apply for a share of up to £4 million for collaborative research projects resulting in innovative solutions.
This competition is open to UK and German collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opened:7 February 2023
Closes:7 June 2023
Opening date: 07/02/2023
Closing date: 07/06/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £77 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate clean maritime solutions for 3 years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
Opened:6 February 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 06/02/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £77 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate clean maritime solutions for 3 years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
Opened:6 February 2023
Closes:19 April 2023
Opening date: 06/02/2023
Closing date: 19/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £5 million for the purpose of developing innovative proposals with Singapore.
To lead a project your organisation must:
Opened:6 February 2023
Closes:3 May 2023
Opening date: 06/02/2023
Closing date: 03/05/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: Organisations can apply for a share of £5 million inclusive of VAT. This is to deliver innovations addressing key drug related overdose priorities across two competitions.
To lead a project, you can:
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only.
Opened:31 January 2023
Closes:21 April 2023
Opening date: 31/01/2023
Closing date: 21/04/2023
Key features:
Key Features
Innovate UK: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy. This funding is from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.
This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations.
To lead a project your organisation must:
You must be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Opened:19 January 2023
Closes:14 June 2023
Opening date: 19/01/2023
Closing date: 14/06/2023
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