IUK to Launch UK and Canada: Enhancing Industrial Productivity Competition

The UK and Canada: Enhancing Industrial Productivity Competition is to be administered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK (IUK). This joint UK-Canada Call for Proposals is an initiative between IUK and Canada’s NRC (National Research Council) and delivered under the EUREKA framework.

The competition will support collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects, which will enhance industrial productivity, resulting in a new product, industrial process or service. Applicants must focus on one of two themes:

Theme 1: Enabling technologies

Theme 2: Enhanced productivity

For UK participants, IUK has allocated up to £5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is matched by an equivalent Canadian contribution which will fund the Canadian project partners. UK-led projects can have total eligible project costs of up to £1 million with a maximum grant of £200,000 to be shared between the UK applicants and a maximum grant of up to $300,000 CAD to be shared between the Canadian applicants.

IUK welcomes proposals from advanced manufacturing businesses, food and drink processers, and automation and artificial intelligence (AI) innovators, including those applying ‘AI for design’ techniques.

To lead a project in theme 1, applicants must be one of the following, and involve the other three as collaborators:

a UK micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) with fewer than 250 employees;

a UK research and technology organisation (RTO);

a researcher from the National Research Council of Canada;

a Canadian business with fewer than 500 employees, RTO or academic research organisation.

To lead a project in theme 2, applicants must be one of the following, and involve the other as a collaborator:

a UK SME with fewer than 250 employees;

a Canadian SME with fewer than 500 employees;

Collaborations under theme 1 or 2 can also include additional UK registered businesses of any size or UK universities.

The national funding agencies will fund their respective participants in the projects.

The competition opens on Monday 11 February 2019 with a deadline for registrations deadline of Thursday 2 May 2019.

More information about this funding opportunity and the application process is available on the GRANTfinder funding information platform. GRANTfinder provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on funding news and policy. To find out more about how GRANTfinder can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.