16/06/2017

Businesses and research organisations have been invited to bid for a share of £15 million put up by Innovate UK* in a competition designed to help stimulate the development of innovative infrastructure solutions, particularly in priority areas such as energy, urban living and connected transport.  

£5m has been allocated for projects that last 3-12 months, while the remaining £10m will support projects that last up to 3 years and have total costs between £100,000 and £5m.

Bidding opens on 10 July and closes on 13 September and full details of eligibility etc are available at ‘Innovate UK: Infrastructure systems’.

Businesses can attract up to 70% of their eligible costs and small and medium sized enterprises are able to work alone on projects costing under £100,000 and lasting less than a year. Otherwise they must work with partners that include at least one SME.

‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: what they are and how to apply’ explain how businesses  looking to bid for Infrastructure Systems and other Innovate UK funding can add new skills and knowledge to their project team by linking with a university and one of its recent graduates.

Depending on the needs of the business, a KTP can last between 12 and 36 months, with part of the costs funded by a grant, which is larger for smaller companies.

(* ‘Innovate UK’ is an Executive non-departmental public body of the Dept for Business.)