UK-South Korea Collaborative R&D

Key Features

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.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £2 million

Opens: 14th Feb 2022

Closes: 6th Jul 2022

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £2 million in innovation projects in partnership with the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT).

Scope

The aim of this competition is to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research.

Your project must demonstrate:

  • a clear game changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
  • a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses and documents market potential and needs
  • sound, practical financial plans and timelines
  • good value for money which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions
  • a clear, evidence based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
  • clear, considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
  • the benefits of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
  • a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
  • a clear route to market within 2 to 3 years of project completion

We want to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies and sectors.

Specific Themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the following sectors:

  • advanced manufacturing and materials
  • artificial intelligence
  • clean energy: specifically battery technologies, hydrogen mobility technologies, and future vehicles

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding projects that:

  • work on non-civilian applications
  • are not in scope
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
  • do not submit all mandatory documentation
  • are dependent on export performance
  • are dependent on domestic inputs usage

 

Eligibility

Your project must:

  • apply for a maximum grant of £350,000
  • start by 1 November 2022
  • end by 31 October 2025
  • last between 24 and 36 months

UK project partners must carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

The consortium must include at least one business registered in South Korea that is a separate, non-linked entity.

All businesses in a consortium must be separate legal and non-linked entities. This is to ensure that projects encourage genuine international collaboration, not internal company research. Linked companies are considered a single entity under the parent company.

Projects should have a balanced contribution of the total eligible project costs among the partners from the participating partner countries. No more than 70% of the total project costs can be claimed by any single partner or by all partners from a single participating country.

To lead a project your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size
  • be or involve at least one grant claiming UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
  • collaborate with a South Korea registered business, which must be a separate non-linked entity to the UK project partners

Academic institutions cannot lead a project.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a UK registered:

  • business of any size
  • academic institution
  • research and technology organisation (RTO)

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but they are limited to no more than 20% of the total eligible costs of the UK participation.

A UK registered business can lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further 2 applications.

If a UK registered business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to 3 applications.

A UK registered academic institution or RTO can collaborate on any number of applications.

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

Innovate UK will not award you funding if you have:

  • failed to exploit a previously funded project
  • an overdue independent accountant’s report
  • failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Funding Costs

Innovate UK have allocated up to £2 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

If the majority of your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically.

For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them.

Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-s registered institution such as an academic
  • 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.