Eureka collaborative R&D: UK – Israel Round 3

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop projects focused on industrial research with the Israel Innovation Authority.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £1 million

Opens: 10th Jun 2024

Closes: 30th Oct 2024

! This scheme is closing soon

Overview

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

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £1 million to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research with the Israel Innovation Authority.

The UK and Israel are jointly funding this competition under the EUREKA framework.

Scope

The UK and Israel are jointly funding this competition under the EUREKA framework.

The aim of this competition is to support business led collaborative, research and development (CR&D) projects resulting in new products, industrial processes or services. Projects must be innovative, involve a technological risk and target large global markets.

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 benefit 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 two to three years of project completion

Innovate UK are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities and research categories.

Eligibility

UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £300,000 for each project.

Your project can last up to two years and is expected to start May 2025. The start date depends on the national funding procedures of the Eureka members involved in the selected projects.

Under current restrictions, this competition 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.

Organisations from other Eureka member states may also participate provided they arrange their own funding. The project must meet the eligibility participation criteria of UK and Israeli organisations.

If your project’s duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

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 micro, small or medium enterprise (SME).

UK lead applicant

The UK registered partners in your Eureka project must nominate one business, of any size, to start an Innovate UK application. We refer to them as the ‘lead organisation’ and the person they nominate to have overall responsibility as the ‘lead applicant’.

The lead applicant has an overall view of the application and must:

  • start the application
  • monitor the partners’ application progress
  • make sure all UK partners complete their parts of the application
  • click submit once the application is complete

The UK lead applicant must collaborate with at least one Israeli organisation participating in the competition. It must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners. Only UK organisations can be invited to the Innovate UK application on the Innovation Funding Service. The involvement of your non-UK organisations must be outlined in your answers.

Your consortium must ensure that a joint application is also submitted to the Eureka platform, known as SmartSimple.

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.

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.

UK project team

The UK lead applicant can also collaborate with:

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.

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, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative.

We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible 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 business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications.

A research organisation can collaborate in any number of applications.

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.

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

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

  • work on non-civilian technologies
  • are not in scope
  • do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
  • do not submit all mandatory documentation
  • have not submitted an application to the Eureka SmartSimple
  • do not have a genuine collaboration with an Israeli partner who has been successful in the corresponding Israeli application process

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 £1 million to fund UK organisations participating in innovation projects in this competition.

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

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

The UK registered research organisations in your consortium can share up to 30% of the UK total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one UK research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them.

Of that 30%, if you are an RTO, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to 100%.

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.