Commercialising Quantum Technologies: Feasibility Studies Round 3

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £6 million for projects to advance the commercialisation of quantum technologies in the UK.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £6 million

Opens: 17th Jan 2022

Closes: 9th Mar 2022

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £6 million in innovation projects. This funding is from the ISCF Commercialising quantum technologies challenge.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to advance the commercialisation of quantum technologies in the UK. Your proposal must identify a clear market opportunity and an innovative project which exploits it.

Your project must:

  • study a commercial opportunity
  • quantify performance objectives
  • provide a roadmap of future exploitation
  • exploit second generation quantum techniques.

Second generation quantum technologies are defined as those involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement. We consider technologies involving single photon generation to be in scope.

You must describe how you will collect project metrics, including:

  • investment in addition to the project partner matched funding
  • additional capital investment aligned to or dependent on the project outcomes

Innovate UK particularly encourage projects that:

  • involve consortia which span the supply chain of component suppliers, system integrators, and end user businesses
  • advance quantum technology systems to market through integration of innovative component technologies
  • realise the benefits of quantum technologies to enable end users to deliver measurable economic impact
  • bring new investment and businesses to the UK’s growing quantum technology sector

Your project must address one or more of the specific themes:

  1. Connectivity: techniques for securing data in storage and in flight.
  2. Seeing the invisible: imaging, sensors and detectors for the environment, transport, autonomous systems, infrastructure, and healthcare.
  3. Positioning, navigation and timing: developing resilience and precision for situational awareness and time dissemination.
  4. Computing: advancing quantum computing for addressing intractable problems through modelling & simulation, machine learning and optimisation.

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding projects that are:

  • not exploiting second generation quantum techniques
  • market research, roadmapping or landscape studies
  • 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

Eligibility

Your project must:

  • have total eligible costs up to £500,000
  • start by 1 November 2022
  • last between 12 and 18 months
  • carry out all of its project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size
  • involve at least one grant claiming SME

Academic institutions and research organisations cannot lead or work alone.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

  • business of any size
  • academic institution
  • charity
  • not-for-profit
  • public sector organisation
  • research and technology organisation (RTO)

Funding Costs

Up to £6 million has been allocated 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 feasibility studies and 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 50% 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 50% 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, charity, non-profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

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