Key Features
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million to enhance UK and German collaborations in emerging fields of technology. You must collaborate with at least one German SME applying under the equivalent German ZIM programme.
Programme: Innovate UK
Award: Share of up to £2 million
Opens: 30th Sep 2024
Closes: 6th Dec 2024
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with The Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK), (The Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs And Climate Action), to invest up to £2 million in innovation projects in the UK – Germany Bilateral: Collaborative R&D Round 4 competition.
The aim of this competition is to enhance UK and German collaborations and capabilities in the emerging fields of technology in our society. This is to develop and deliver new innovations and applications of the technologies across a broad range of sectors.
Your project must demonstrate:
Portfolio approach
Innvoate UK want to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets, technological maturities and research categories. Innovate UK call this a portfolio approach.
Innovate UK particularly encourage applications from the following emerging technology areas:
This list is not exhaustive.
Your project must:
The majority of the project work must be undertaken in the UK and Germany. UK project partners must carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.
The consortium must include at least one SME registered in Germany that is a separate legal entity and not linked to the UK partners. This is to ensure genuine international collaboration, not internal company research. Linked companies are considered a single entity under the parent company.
Your project must demonstrate a balanced technological contribution by the participants from both countries and must be equally significant to all participants.
No one country or project partner can represent more than 70% of the total project costs on the UK application.
Please note that the German ZIM application requires a breakdown of contribution in person months rather than costs.
Your proposal must demonstrate a clear intention to commercially exploit the results of the project domestically or globally.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application.
Roles and terminology
There must be a ‘project lead’ and this can be either an eligible UK or German organisation. The project lead is responsible for managing the entire project.
The ‘lead applicant’ is the organisation that starts the application on the Innovation Funding Service. This must be a UK organisation.
UK lead applicant
To start an application on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS), your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
You must:
More information on the different types of UK organisations can be found in our Funding rules.
UK Project team
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
Only UK registered partners must be listed in the Project Partner section of your application on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Your German partner will not receive any of this UK competition funding. German partners will be funded by the German ZIM programme following a parallel application.
Each organisation in your consortium will receive funding from its respective national funding body.
Non-funded partners
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding. Their eligible costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.
German partners
German partners do not need to be invited into Innovate UK’s application on the Innovation Funding Service.
German partners will be funded by AiF in Germany, on behalf of BMWK, following a successful parallel application.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but they are limited to no more than 20% of the total eligible costs of the UK participation.
Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
You can use subcontractors from other countries but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the countries providing grant funding for the project.
You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK or German contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use a subcontractor from a third country.
All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.
Number of applications
A UK registered business, academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further 2 applications.
If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.
Other organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.
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.
Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.
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.
Innovate UK are not funding projects that:
Innovate UK cannot fund projects that are:
Up to £2 million from Innovate UK, and up to 2 million euros from The Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (BMWK), (The Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs And Climate Action), has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.
Each country will fund its eligible participants according to their national procedure and funding rules. Funding conditions and eligibility criteria may vary between UK and Germany. The bilateral joint cooperation between the partners and its added value is an important aspect to be considered within the evaluation.
UK Partners
If your UK registered 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 can get funding for your eligible project costs of:
Research participation for UK Organisations
The UK 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. Of that 30% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.
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