The innovation competition has two strands. Strand 1 is for health and life sciences projects and strand 2 is for emerging and enabling technologies projects. A further £12 million is available to fund Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).
All projects must involve at least one SME, working alone or in collaboration with other organisations. Projects with costs over £100,000 must be collaborative and include a funded partner.
NIAB says: "Up to 70% grant funding will be available for SMEs joining successful projects, which will be carried out in partnership with a large food manufacturer. In particular, we are seeking businesses operating with grains and pulses, processors working with small batches of flours / flakes etc, and companies working on plant storage proteins.
"Please contact Dr Phil Howell for further details."
About the competition
Projects under strand 1, Health and Life Sciences must show significant innovation in one of these priority areas:
- increasing agricultural productivity
- improving food quality and sustainability
- advanced therapies (cell and gene therapies)
- precision medicine
- medicines discovery
- advanced biosciences
Find out more about Strand 1 here
The aim of the competition under strand 2 -emerging and enabling technologies - is to help UK businesses broaden their innovation activities, disrupt existing markets and find new revenue sources. Projects must show significant innovation in one of four priority areas:
- Emerging technologies (biofilms, energy harvesting, graphene, new imaging technologies)
- Digital
- Enabling capabilities, including electronics, sensors and photonics (ESP), robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), creative economy and design
- Space applications
Find out more about Strand 2 here
The competition opned in January. Applications must be received before 28th March.