Contracts for Innovation: Quantum Technologies for Transport – Phase 1

Key Features

Organisations can apply for a share of up to £1.5 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop use cases and business cases.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £1.5 million

Opens: 15th Sep 2025

Closes: 15th Oct 2025

Overview

Innovate UK and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £1.5 million in this Contracts for Innovation competition. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to improve the transport sector by accelerating the development of innovative quantum sensing technologies to solve transport challenges, increasing the efficiency and resilience of transport critical national infrastructure and transport platforms.

Projects will benefit the UK transport sector by developing use cases and business cases for quantum sensing technologies to improve the efficiency and resilience of transport critical national infrastructure and transport platforms. Projects need to cover one or more of the challenge areas:

  1. Infrastructure, asset testing or fault prediction, monitoring, inspection, for example, quantum sensors for Non-Destructive Testing, or other approaches.
  2. Preparing for transport construction, earthworks, monitoring existing structures, for example, quantum sensors for mapping below ground attributes.
  3. Improved transport platform health and maintenance using quantum technologies, for example, Non-Destructive Testing of transport platforms, sensing, imaging, or other approaches, transport platforms include maritime vessels, aircraft, road vehicles and trains.

Projects must deliver both of the following:

  1. A use case based on one or more of the above challenge areas.
    The use case could consider, for example only, technical requirements, user requirements, operational guidelines, system architecture, security considerations and standards. The main outcome is to strengthen understanding of the practical applications of quantum sensing technologies in the challenge areas to provide a foundation for further development.
  2. An outline business case based on the chosen use case.
    The business case could include, for example only, the business need, market analysis, commercialisation strategy, stakeholder mapping or engagement, supply chain mapping, strategic alignment, economic viability, commercial barriers to adoption. The main outcome is to improve the understanding of the commercial viability for the use case.

Successful projects will be expected to attend a programme event to engage with the community and provide progress updates.

Your project must focus on a second generation quantum technology, defined as involving the generation and coherent control of quantum states, resulting in phenomena such as superposition or entanglement. Single photon generation and detection technologies are in scope.

Contracts will be given to successful applicants.

You must define your goals in your application and outline your plan for phase 2.

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

At this stage contracts will only be given for phase 1.

Subject to funding, in phase 2 we will ask successful applicants from phase 1 to further develop the work, based on the outputs of phase 1.

Portfolio Approach

Contracts will be awarded to successful applicants for a variety of projects across the challenge areas, different markets, technologies and technology maturities. We call this a portfolio approach.

Research Categories

Phase 1: feasibility studies

This means planned research or critical investigation to gain new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. The primary objective is to develop a use case and the corresponding business case that will help inform future work and business planning.

Phase 2: prototype development and evaluation

This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set.

Eligibility

Projects must:

  • start on 1 January 2026
  • end by 31 March 2026
  • have total costs of between £10,000 and £40,000, inclusive of VAT

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Contract has been approved by Innovate UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Applicant

To lead a project, you can:

  • be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally
  • work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

  • do not address one of the transport challenge areas
  • do not generate impactful disseminatable outputs
  • do not focus on quantum sensing technologies
  • do not evidence the potential for their proposed innovation to generate positive economic or societal impact
  • would directly duplicate other UK Government or EU funded initiatives you have already been funded to deliver
  • are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions

Funding Costs

Up to £1.5 million inclusive of VAT has been allocated to fund innovation projects to this phase 1 feasibility study research and development (R&D) competition. Contracts will be up to £40,000, inclusive of VAT, for each project for up to three months.

This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a contract.

Innovate UK reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:

  • adjust the provisional funding allocations
  • apply a portfolio approach

The contract is completed at the end of phase 1 and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £40,000.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £40,000.

Research and development (R&D)

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

  • commercial development activities such as quantity production
  • supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs
  • integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.