Competition brief: analysis for innovators
Updated 1 February 2017
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1. Dates and deadlines
| Competition opens | Monday 9 January 2017 |
| Briefing event for applicants | Thursday 12 January 2017 |
| Application deadline | Midday Wednesday 1 February 2017 |
2. The competition scope
The aim of this competition is to help companies overcome intractable product, manufacturing or process performance problems through advanced measurement and analytical technologies. The ultimate aim is to improve companies’ overall performance and productivity.
We are looking to fund projects that can show the negative business impact of an existing process or product variability.
Examples of the types of business problems include, but are not limited to:
- poorly understood structure and properties of emerging technology products where the business impact is high
- undesirable variation in product or process performance, where the root cause is not understood, but the negative business impact is high
- repeated unexplained product failures
- lack of precision in composition measurement or flow of multi-component systems, or processes
- lack of detailed understanding of structure, mechanism or function, preventing further product enhancements
The latest analytical technologies and data analysis approaches may be able to identify the root causes of problems. They may also be able to enhance control measures for products or processes.
Examples of technologies that could be made available under the scheme include, but are not limited to:
- ultra-sensitive elemental and chemical structure analysis techniques
- dimensional measurement of complex or miniaturised parts
- non-destructive inspection technologies and engineering measurements
- ultra-trace nucleic acid detection technologies
- next generation sequencing technologies
- advanced hyphenated mass spectrometry tools and techniques
- ultra-precise flow measurement of complex fluids
- advanced imaging tools and techniques
- analysis and modelling requiring novel sequential or parallel processing approaches
- environmental measurements
- electromagnetic technologies
- other technologies, as recommended by an expert panel
At stage 1, applicants do not need to know what analysis or measurement is required, or how to do it. They do need to have a commitment to work with one of our 4 co-funding partners; Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), LGC or NEL; to overcome their business challenges.
3. Projects that we won’t fund
In this competition, we are not funding projects where the business problem could be solved using techniques that are widely available through commercial service companies. Examples include:
- established measurement services, such as materials or environmental testing and calibration services
- mainstream technologies based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ultra-violet (UV) and gas chromatography (GC)
Before we will fund the use of more advanced technologies, applicants should show that they have already explored more mainstream techniques, but they failed to provide the necessary precision or accuracy.
4. Find out if you are eligible to apply
To lead a project, you must:
- be a UK-based business of any size
- carry out your project in the UK
- work with one of our 4 partner organisations (STFC, NPL, LGC or NEL) in stage 2
5. Funding and project details
Innovate UK has allocated up to £3 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. Our 4 partner organisations; STFC, NPL, LGC and NEL; will contribute up to £3.5 million. This makes a total of up to £6.5 million.
A business must lead the project, and collaborate with at least 1 of the 4 partner organisations listed above.
Successful applicants can attract grant funding towards their eligible project costs. There are two streams for funding.
Stream 1
If you expect your eligible project costs to be up to £50,000 in total for both you and the funding partner, you can receive 100% funding under the de minimis scheme. You must read and meet the de minimis conditions to qualify for this funding stream.
Stream 2
If you expect your eligible project costs to be £50,000 or above in total for both you and the funding partner, you can receive funding for a percentage of the total costs. Stream 2 funding also applies where you expect your eligible projects costs to be under £50,000 but you are not eligible for funding under the de minimus scheme.
The rules for this funding stream are different from other Innovate UK collaborative competitions. You can receive funding for a percentage of both your costs and the costs of the expertise from funding partners, but you must pay the remainder yourself, both of your own costs and your funding partners.
The percentage of total project costs (including costs of partner expertise) that we pay varies but you could get:
- up to 70% if you are a small business
- up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
- up to 50% if you are a large business
Find out if your business fits the EU definition of an SME.
We are primarily seeking to fund industrial research or feasibility studies.
We expect projects to last 3 to 11 months. We expect them to range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £250,000, depending on the type of project. We may consider larger projects but applicants should discuss this with us before making an application.
The earliest date work can start is 1 May 2017. All projects must be completed by 31 March 2018. We will not reimburse any work undertaken beyond this point.
6. How to apply
To apply:
- read the guidance for applicants for this competition, which will be available once the competition opens
- watch the briefing event for potential applicants from 12 January 2017
- complete and upload your online application (short video and a digital form) on our secure server
We will not accept late submissions. Your application is confidential.
Stage 1 applications must specify the nature of the business problem, and the value of overcoming it. An expert panel will assess the applications based on the scope detailed above and according to the value of the solution, should it be achieved, and how the partners could help.
Successful applicants at stage 1 must attend mandatory consortium-building events, held between 21 and 23 February 2017. These allow companies to meet funding partners and discuss the precise nature of the business problem. This will enable you to identify the best approaches to solving the problem and develop collaborative project proposals for stage 2. Companies will work with partners to work out costs, resources and plans for a project proposal and grant funding levels.
An independent panel will assess the proposals resulting from this process in stage 2. We will then select the projects that we fund, to build a portfolio of projects as described in the guidance for applicants. Please read this carefully before you apply.
Also please read the general guidance for applicants. It will help your chances of submitting a quality application.
7. Background and further information
All natural, physical, biological, chemical and manufacturing processes are subject to variability. Understanding and control of this variability is a critical part of ensuring production efficiency and product quality. In the best and most productive businesses this is very well done, often using techniques such as TQM, SPC or 6 sigma. These techniques work well in controlling and reducing the variability of known and measurable parameters. But sometimes there is a residual level of ‘unexplained’ variation in product or process performance. Where these variations have no known cause, they cannot be improved. This competition aims to bring UK companies that are ambitious to drive down process or quality problems in touch with cutting-edge analytical capabilities. This is to diagnose the cause of unexplained performance variation and develop improved control tests and processes.
If you want information about the roadshow events, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network.
If you need more information, contact the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 or email us at support@innovateuk.gov.uk.