ISCF TRANSFORMING FOUNDATION INDUSTRIES: BUILDING A RESILIENT RECOVERY – FUNDING

1. Title: ISCF TRANSFORMING FOUNDATION INDUSTRIES: BUILDING A RESILIENT RECOVERY – FUNDING2. Awarding Authority: Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, GB Tel: 03003214357. Email: support@innovateuk.ukri.org.3. Contract type: Service contract4. Description: The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will work with Awarding Authority, to invest up to £8 million in innovation projects. These aim to catalyse innovation to support fast recovery and growth from Covid-19 through innovations that improve productivity and sustainability of the Specified foundation industries.Your proposal must help the UK’s foundation industries remain globally competitive and become more environmentally sustainable.Your proposal must focus on resource or energy efficiency opportunities through the development of:long-term viability of domestic supply chainsnew marketsnew business modelsnew products and servicesnew processesWe are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, sectors, technological maturities and research categories.Your project must not focus on fuel switching or technologies for the capture of emissions, such as carbon capture and storage.The competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated.Project size Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £100,000 and £1 million.Who can applyState aidAny UK registered business claiming grant funding must be eligible to receive state aid at the time we confirm you will be awarded funding. It is not possible to award grant funding to organisations meeting the condition known as undertakings in difficulty. If you are unsure, please take legal advice. For further information see our general guidance.Your projectYour project must:have total eligible costs between £100,000 and £1millionlast between 3 and 12 monthsstart by 1 April 2021If your project’s total eligible costs or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@innovateuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.Lead organisationTo lead a project your UK registered organisation:must be either a business of any size or research and technology organisation (RTO)must carry out its project work in the UKmust intend to exploit the results from or in the UKAcademic institutions cannot lead or work alone. Research and technology organisations cannot work alone.Find out which definition your organisation falls into.Project teamTo collaborate with the lead, your UK registered organisation must:be a business of any size, academic institution, charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)carry out its project work in the UKintend to exploit the results from or in the UKbe invited by the lead organisationIf the lead organisation is an RTO, the project team must contain at least 2 businesses of any size.The lead applicant must claim funding by entering their costs during the application.Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Partners must enter their own project costs.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 eligible project costs.SubcontractorsSubcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. In exceptional circumstances such as the skillset not being available in the UK, you can use a subcontractor from anywhere in the world. The work carried out must be fundamental to the project and you must be able to evidence this in your application.We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.Multiple applicationsAny UK registered business or RTO leading on an application can collaborate in a further 2 applications.If a UK registered business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to 3 applications.If an RTO is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.Public sector organisations, charities, research organisations and academic institutions can collaborate on any number of applications.Previous applicationsResubmissionsYou can use a resubmission to apply for this competition. A resubmission is a proposal Innovate UK judges as not materially different from one you have submitted before. It can be updated based on the assessors’ feedback.Failure to exploitIf you applied to a previous competition as the lead or sole organisation and were awarded funding by Innovate UK or UK Research and Innovation, but did not make a substantial effort to exploit that award, we will award no more funding to you, in this or any other competition. You will not be able to contest our decision. We will:assess your efforts in the previous competition against your exploitation plan for that projectreview the monitoring officers’ reports and any other relevant sources for evidencedocument our decision, which will be made by 3 team members, and communicate it to you in writingPrevious projectsUnder the terms of Innovate UK funding, you must submit an independent accountant’s report (IAR) with your final claim. If you or any organisation in your consortium failed to submit an IAR on a previous project, we will not award funding to you in this or any other competition until we have received the documents.Your proposalThe aim of this competition is to support an innovation-led recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and to protect the UK’s foundation industries innovation capability. Aligned with the objectives of the ISCF Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge, projects will have to demonstrate how they address resource or energy efficiency of foundation industries and support resilience and sustainability of the sector and its supply chains.Projects can include techno-economic assessment of new products, services and business models.Projects must:help the UK’s foundation industries remain globally competitive and become more environmentally sustainableindicate how the innovation helps meet the needs of business and/or industry as it emerges from Covid-19 pandemic and aids rapid recoverydemonstrate that the business has the capability to deliver the projectWe are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, sectors, technological maturities and research categories.Specific themesProjects must focus on resource or energy efficiency in the foundation industries and can focus on one or more of the following areas:establish long-term viability of domestic supply chainsnew marketsnew business modelsnew products and servicesnew processesResearch categoriesWe will fund feasibility studies and industrial research projects, as defined in the general guidance.Projects we will not fundWe are not funding projects that:focus on fuel switching or greenhouse gas capture technologydo not focus on foundation industries and their immediate supply chainsfocus on skillsare capital or infrastructure projects5. CPV Code(s): 73110000, 853200006. NUTS code(s): UKK, UKK1, UKK147. Main site or location of works, main place of delivery or main place of performance: UK8. Reference attributed by awarding authority: Not provided.9. Estimated value of requirement: UK registered businesses can apply for a share of £8 million in grant funding for projects supporting recovery and growth of the UK’s foundation industries.Funding type GrantFundingWe have allocated up to £8 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 feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisationup to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisationup to 50% if you are a large organisationResearch organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum must be shared between them.This competition provides state aid funding under article 25, ‘Aid for research, development and innovation’, of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). It is your responsibility to make sure that your organisation is eligible to receive state aid.10. Competition closes: 4.11.2020 (11:00:00).11. Address to which they must be sent: For further information regarding the above contract notice please visit: 12. Other information: Competition opens: Monday 3 August 2020Competition closes: Wednesday 4 November 2020 11:00am17 July 2020 Webinar 1 – View recording20 July 2020 Webinar 2 – View recording3 August 2020 Competition opens4 November 2020 11:00am Competition closes11 December 2020 Applicants notifiedBefore you startYou must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.Innovate UK is unable to award grant funding to organisations meeting the condition known as undertakings in difficulty.What we ask youThe application is split into 3 sections:Project details.Application questions.Finances.Project detailsThis section provides background for the assessors and is not scored.Application teamDecide which organisations will work with you on the project. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.Application detailsThe lead applicant must complete this section. Give your project’s title, start date and duration. Is the application a resubmission?Equality, diversity and inclusionWe collect and report on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data to address under-representation in business innovation and ensure equality, diversity and inclusion across all our activities.You must complete this EDI survey (opens in new window) and type ‘EDI survey completed’ within your answer. The survey will ask you questions on your gender, age, ethnicity and disability status. You will always have the option to ‘prefer not to say’ if you do not feel comfortable sharing this information.Research categorySelect the type of research you will undertake.Project summaryDescribe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.Your answer can be up to 400 words long.Public descriptionDescribe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.Your answer can be up to 400 words long.ScopeDescribe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope it will be immediately rejected and will not be sent for assessment. We will give you feedback on why. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.Application questionsThe assessors will score your answers. You will receive feedback from them for each one.Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.Question 1. Need or challengeWhat is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?Describe or explain:the main motivation for the projectbriefly, the impact of COVID-19 has had on businesses or sectors that are a focus of your projectthe business need, technological challenge or market opportunitythe nearest current state-of-the-art, including those near market or in development, and its limitationsany work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new onethe wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations, using our Horizons tool if appropriateQuestion 2. Approach and innovationWhat approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?Describe or explain:how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identifiedhow you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identifiedwhether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approachthe freedom you have to operatehow this project fits with your current product, service lines or offeringshow it will make you more competitivethe nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identifiedYou can submit one appendix. It can include diagrams and charts to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.Question 3. Team and resourcesWho is in the project team and what are their roles?Describe or explain:the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be takingthe resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access themthe details of any vital external parties, including sub-contractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project(if your project is collaborative) the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the projectany roles you will need to recruit forYou can submit one appendix. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 4 A4 pages long and 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.Question 4. Market awarenessWhat does the market you are targeting look like?Describe or explain:the markets (domestic, international or both) you will be targeting in the project, and any other potential marketsthe size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where availablethe structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframesthe target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that existthe current UK position in targeting these marketsthe size and main features of any other markets not already listedIf your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:what the market’s size might to behow your project will try to explore the market’s potentialQuestion 5. Outcomes and route to marketHow are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?Describe or explain:your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market positionyour target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example why they would use or buy your productyour route to markethow you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reductionhow the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long termhow you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business modelyour strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the projectIf there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescalehow you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activitiesQuestion 6. Wider impactsWhat impact might this project have outside the project team?Describe, and where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:external partiescustomersothers in the supply chainbroader industrythe UK economyDescribe, and where possible, measure:any expected impact on government prioritiesany expected environmental impacts, either positive or negativeany expected regional impacts of the projectDescribe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:quality of lifesocial inclusion or exclusionjobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing themeducation and gain of new skillspublic empowermenthealth and safetyregulationsdiversityQuestion 7. Project managementHow will you manage the project effectively?Describe or explain:the main work packages of the project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each oneyour approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcomethe management reporting linesyour project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestonesYou must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.Question 8. RisksWhat are the main risks for this project?Describe or explain:the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks, providing a risk register if appropriatehow you will mitigate these risksany project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data setsany output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage thisYou must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.Question 9. Added valueWhat impact would an injection of public funding have on the businesses involved?Describe or explain:whether this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market, more partners or reduced riskthe likely impact of the project on the businesses of the partners involvedwhy you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessfulhow this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spendQuestion 10. Costs and value for moneyHow much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?In terms of the project goals, describe or explain:the total eligible project coststhe grant you are requestinghow each partner will finance their contributions to the projecthow this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayerhow it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwisethe balance of costs and grant across the project partnersany sub-contractor costs and why they are critical to the projectFinancesEach organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance.Background and further informationExtra helpIf you want help to find a project partner, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network.If you need more information about how to apply email support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.Our phone lines are open from 9am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).Enterprise Europe NetworkIf you are a UK SME and successful in receiving an award, you will be contacted by your local Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Innovation Advisor. They act on behalf of Innovate UK to discuss the growth opportunities for your business.They offer bespoke business support services to help you maximise your project and business potential. This service forms part of your Innovate UK offer under our commitment to help UK SMEs grow and scale.Please engage positively with your EEN contact so that, working together, you can determine the most appropriate form of growth support for your business.# funding opportunity