Key Features
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for business led projects that grow activities in the life and health sciences innovation cluster in Northern Ireland. This funding is from Innovate UK.
Programme: Innovate UK
Award: Share of up to £2 million
Opens: 30th Oct 2023
Closes: 13th Dec 2023
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.
The funding will support projects across the three Launchpad competition strands that target the innovation cluster in Northern Ireland.
The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must be active or growing work activities in the life and health sciences cluster in Northern Ireland.
The geographical requirement is set to align this competition to the Government’s goals in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Your project must focus on innovation in life and health sciences.
Your project must lead to increased investment into research and innovation. It must contribute to growing business activities and economic impact in the cluster.
Your proposal must explain how your team and project will contribute to equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) in the cluster.
Portfolio approach
Innovate UK reserve the right to fund a variety of projects across different durations, locations, themes and across one or more of the following:
Innovate UK call this a portfolio approach.
In support of the Government’s Levelling Up goals, we also reserve the right to prioritise projects that:
Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
Diagnostics, therapeutics and biomarkers
Data, digital and medical devices
Innovations in healthcare service delivery
Your project can also consider the following enabling areas:
These lists are not exhaustive. Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this Launchpad competition you can focus on other themes.
Your project must:
Projects must always start on the first of the month and this must be stated within your application. Your project start date will be reflected in your grant offer letter if you are successful.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application.
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.
To lead a project your organisation must:
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.
Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
The contribution of project partners must add to the innovation led growth of the cluster.
Each 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.
To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must apply for funding when entering their costs into the application.
Non-funded partners
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition. Their contribution must add to the innovation led growth of the cluster.
Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.
Number of applications
A business can lead on only one CR&D strand application for this competition, but can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications.
If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
If you apply to the MFA strand of this competition, as well as this CR&D strand, each project must be clearly distinctive and separate. We will monitor closely for this separation if you are awarded funding in both competition strands.
You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.
Innovate UK are not funding projects that:
Innovate UK cannot fund projects that are:
Up to £2 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects across the three strands of this Launchpad competition for Northern Ireland.
The total funding available for this Launchpad competition can change. The funders have the right to:
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:
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
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