Eureka GlobalStars Japan Round 2

Key Features

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £2 million to develop innovative proposals in partnership with Japan and other participating Eureka members.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £2 million

Opens: 23rd Oct 2023

Closes: 31st Jan 2024

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Japan, and other participating Eureka members to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.

This competition is for UK businesses that want to apply to the Eureka Globalstars Japan call. Please visit the Eureka call for proposals web page if you are not a UK applicant.

The EUREKA members confirmed as participating in this competition are:

  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • France
  • Netherlands
  • Singapore
  • Spain

Scope

The aim of this competition is to fund business led, collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research. This competition will be for innovative proposals developed between the UK, Japan and the other participating Eureka members.

The EUREKA members confirmed as participating in this competition are:

  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • France
  • Netherlands
  • Singapore
  • Spain

This competition will support industrial research with Innovate UK funding the UK partners only.

Your collaborative R&D proposal 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 UK, Japan and any other participating Eureka members working together and how this adds value
  • a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants
  • a clear route to market within 2 to 3 years of project completion

Your project must demonstrate an effective collaboration between the UK partners and Japan.

Eligibility

Your UK project must:

  • have a grant funding request of no more than £600,000
  • start by 1 August 2024
  • end by 31 July 2028
  • last between 12 and 48 months

The start date and funded period depends on the national funding procedures of the Eureka members involved in the selected projects. Projects must be collaborative.

There must be a genuine collaboration. No more than 70% of the total eligible project costs can be claimed by a single partner or by all partners from a single participating Eureka member collectively.

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

Overall Eureka project team

The organisations from participating Eureka members must meet the funding and eligibility conditions of their respective national funding bodies. These will be published on the Eureka call for proposals web page when this competition opens. These organisations must apply through their own funding bodies and not through the Innovation Funding Service.

Each partner must carry out the majority of their funded work within the Eureka member from which they receive funding, for example the UK for Innovate UK funding.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

Under current restrictions Innovate UK will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.

Eureka terminology and roles

The terminology differs between Eureka and Innovate UK. In the Innovate UK application the ‘project lead’ is responsible for the entire project but Eureka uses the term ‘main participant’. For partners in the collaboration Eureka uses ‘other participants’.

Even if the project lead is from a participating Eureka member other than the UK, the UK registered partners can still claim funding from Innovate UK. These collaborations must include at least one UK registered SME.

UK Lead organisation

To lead a UK project your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size
  • be or involve at least one grant claiming UK registered SME
  • partner with a Japanese registered business, which must be a separate non-linked entity to the UK project partner

You have the option to partner with other participating Eureka members in addition to Japan.

UK research organisations cannot lead or work alone. They must be able to show how they will exploit the results of the project to grow the wider sector in the UK.

Each UK partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

Only UK registered partners must be listed in the Project Partner section of your application on IFS.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition but they must not account for more than 20% of the UK partners’ total eligible costs. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. Where subcontractors are non-UK based, you must justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Partners not claiming funding

A non-grant claiming UK partner cannot lead on a project.

Your collaboration can include organisations from Eureka members that are not participating in this funding competition provided:

  • they have secured full funding elsewhere
  • you describe in your application why and how they will be involved and where they have secured financing from

Number of applications

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

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

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

  • are in the nuclear or pharmaceutical sector
  • do not include at least one UK registered SME and one eligible Japanese registered business as a minimum
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
  • do not submit all mandatory documentation
  • work on non-civilian technologies
  • request grants of more than £600,000 from Innovate UK

Innovate UK cannot fund projects that are:

  • dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

Funding Costs

Innovate UK have allocated up to £2 million to fund UK applicants undertaking innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

If 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 but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

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

UK Research participation

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