Eureka Disaster Resilience Programme Collaborative R&D 2024

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop technologies in the field of Disaster Resilience, Response and Recovery, in partnership with organisations from participating Eureka countries.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £1 million

Opens: 14th Jun 2024

Closes: 31st Oct 2024

Overview

This competition is for UK businesses that want to apply to the Eureka Disaster Resilience Programme Collaborative Research and Development (CR&D) 2024 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 CR&D projects focused on industrial research.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to support international collaboration on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. We will fund projects in the field of Disaster Resilience, Response and Recovery. Your project must have high market potential and develop at least one of the following:

  • innovative products
  • technology-based applications
  • technology-based services

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.

Specific Themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the following application areas or any other that has clear links to disaster resilience, response and recovery.

Innovative and resilient construction

For example:

  • building behaviour modelling during and after disaster situations
  • seismic isolation or damper technologies
  • disaster-resilient architectural designs
  • advanced building materials and technologies, including but not limited to fire resistance, water resistance, shock resistance, non-toxic
  • durability-increasing adaptations, including but not limited to for buildings on weak soils or floodplains

Digital technologies

For example:

  • damage prediction and early-warning systems
  • advanced geographic information and remote sensing systems
  • artificial intelligence-based sensing algorithms
  • sensor technologies

Search and rescue

For example:

  • automated and intelligent drone systems
  • rapid and effective search and rescue
  • portable equipment and devices capable of imaging and detection

Resilient communications

For example:

  • non-interruptible communications systems
  • portable communications devices
  • battery technologies and alternative energy sources
  • resilient infrastructures and systems

Health

For example:

  • disinfection, filtration and storage solutions
  • autonomous environmental disinfection and sterilisation
  • mobile medical devices
  • resilient health services and infrastructures
  • nutrient-enriched and functional foods and drinks

Post-disaster waste management

For example:

  • safe demolition technologies
  • separation or classification and management solutions for construction and demolition waste (CDW)
  • transformation of CDW into building materials and other secondary raw materials in line with circular economy principles

Relevant industry sectors include but are not limited to:

  • materials
  • construction
  • health – services, public health, medical devices
  • water – public and private utilities, tech developers
  • energy – utilities, tech developers
  • information Communication Technologies
  • electronic components and systems
  • software
  • agrifood

Eligibility

UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £250,000 for each project.

Your project can last up to 24 months and is expected to start from 1 June 2025. The start date depends on the national funding procedures of the Eureka members involved in the selected projects.

Projects must involve collaborations with organisations from other participating Eureka countries.

To be eligible for grant funding from Innovate UK your collaboration:

  • must include at least one grant claiming UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME)
  • must include at least one other eligible partner from another of the Eureka countries participating in the competition

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.

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 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 organisation from a Eureka country participating in the competition. It must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners.

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 country 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 country collectively.

UK project team

The UK lead applicant can also collaborate with:

Your project must include at least one grant claiming UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME).

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.

Innovate UK 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 countries 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

If a business is leading an application it cannot collaborate on any other applications.

If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in one application.

A research organisation can collaborate on one application.

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

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 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.

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.