NATEP helping SMEs innovate in aerospace – Spring 2021

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is working with the Aerospace Technology Institute and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

NATEP competition is held approximately every 6 months. This is call 4 of 6 and for each call there is up to £2.5m funding available.

Your proposal must align with the priorities stated in the UK Aerospace technology strategy, Accelerating Ambition. Your proposal will be subject to:

• independent assessment by Innovate UK.
• strategic review by the Aerospace Technology Institute.

You will need to pass both assessments in order to for your application to be recommended for funding. BEIS has the final funding decision. If you are successful, Innovate UK will perform financial viability and eligibility checks. Final approvals are issued by BEIS. You will be contracted by Innovate UK. The competition closes at 11am UK time.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to help SMEs to develop their own innovative technologies. These should enhance their capabilities and increase their ability to win new business in the civil aerospace sector.

Your project must have a credible route to market and preferably have identified your end users. Your project should:

• demonstrate improvement in business productivity and competitiveness
• show clear benefit technically
• be able to pull through new technology or processes for use in a current or future product or manufacturing process
• show clear benefit in creating or safeguarding jobs
• be able to enhance capabilities within the broader aerospace industry, as well as other sectors such as advanced manufacturing
• are dependent on export performance – for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that they export a certain quantity of bread to another country.
• are dependent on domestic inputs usage- for example if we insisted that a baker use 50% UK flour in their product.

We want to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets and technological maturities.

Specific Themes

Your project must have a potential application within the civil aerospace sector. This can include dual use technologies.

Your proposal must align with the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy, ‘Accelerating Ambition’, which is split into these areas:

• vehicles: strengthening the UK’s whole-aircraft design and system integration capability, and positioning it for future generations of civil aircraft
• advanced systems: developing UK advanced systems technologies to capture high-value opportunities in current and future aircraft
• aerostructures: ensuring the UK is a global leader in the development of large complex structures, particularly wings
• propulsion and power: advancing a new generation of more efficient propulsion technologies, particularly large turbofans
• cross-cutting enablers: developing high value design capabilities, advanced materials, manufacturing and assembly, and advanced through-life engineering technologies

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding projects:

• that focus solely on defence, space or other industrial sectors, but we will recognise dual use technologies providing the primary application is in civil aerospace
• that focus on fundamental research, feasibility studies or experimental development
• with scope outside of the UK aerospace technology strategy

Eligibility

Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £100,000 and £300,000.

Your project must:

• start by 1 October 2021
• end by 31 March 2023

They can last between 12 and 18 months.

If your organisation is a UK registered business, or a research and technology organisation (RTO) participating as a business, you must show in your answer you can provide match funding from entirely private sector sources, across all projects you are involved in.

To lead a project your organisation must:

• be a UK registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
• collaborate with other UK registered businesses, research organisations, research technology organisations (RTO), public sector organisations, charities or Academic Institutions
• plan to carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• sign up to the Aerospace Technology Institute framework agreement

To collaborate with the lead your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business, research organisations, academic institution, charity, public sector organisation or RTO
• plan to carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• be invited to take part by the lead applicant
• sign up to the Aerospace Technology Institute framework agreement

The lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding and enter their costs into the Innovation Funding Service as part of the application.

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

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

Innovate UK will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project
• an overdue independent accountant’s report
• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Funding costs

The ATI programme allocated up to £2.5 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

If your organisation’s work on the project is mostly commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically.

For 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

No one project partner can be responsible for more than 70% of the total eligible project costs.

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% 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.

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

Academics must enter 80% of their full economic costs (FEC) into the application to match the costs on their Je-S form