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WORLD LEADING BUSINESS SUPPORT

ADVANCED ENGINEERING &

MANUFACTURING

Multiple funding & business support opportunities for SMEs
& academics in the advanced engineering and manufacturing sector

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The UK has a thriving manufacturing industry, with significant growth in areas such as advanced materials, low carbon technologies, digital process engineering, additive manufacturing, and robotics and autonomous systems. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing engineering with new technologies are set to transform productivity in the next few years, a process referred to as the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.

Our six partner universities possess internationally-recognised centres of research excellence with established track records of collaborative R&D with innovators in the Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing sector.

We therefore invite companies innovating with advanced engineering and manufacturing technologies, researchers (from the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey) and consortia (comprised of companies & researchers) to apply for support to develop R&D proposals.

We are looking to support the most compelling bids with the best chances of success. We can:

  • help businesses to identify missing research expertise from our partner universities’ ecosystems to form a collaboration on the bid
  • offer a wealth of expertise and experience to craft strong bids for major funding calls – we can review your bid, identify gaps and make suggestions for improvements, essentially acting as a ‘critical friend’
  • fund a professional bid consultant’s time to further strengthen the bid.

If you are considering a bid to any upcoming funding calls now is the time to apply for our support to boost your chances of success.

Supported funding calls:

Faraday Battery Challenge Round 5 Innovation: Feasibility Studies

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £25 million in innovation projects across the two strands of this competition. This funding is from the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC).

The aim of this competition is to:

  • support business-led research and development of sustainable propulsion batteries
  • support technologies with the potential to enter the automotive market within the next 15 years and, where appropriate, allow for early or synergistic entry into other sectors
  • move UK battery innovations from technological potential towards commercial capability
  • develop and secure material and manufacturing supply chains for battery technologies in the UK

The feasibility studies strand will draw on the most exciting, high potential impact, early-stage research where a feasibility study of less than 12 months, can catalyse the route to commercialisation. This strand will support short term focused projects which could open avenues for overcoming big challenges in manufacturing or other critical processes for advancing the technology.

Projects can have total costs between £100,000 and £750,000, start by 1 January 2023 and end by 31 December 2023, and last up to 12 months.

Applications for funding close at 11am on 17 August 2022 so please submit your application for support below.

Apply Now

Faraday Battery Challenge Round 5 Innovation: CR&D

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £25 million in innovation projects across the two strands of this competition. This funding is from the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC).

The aim of this competition is to:

  • support business-led research and development of sustainable propulsion batteries
  • support technologies with the potential to enter the automotive market within the next 10 years and, where appropriate, allow for early or synergistic entry into other sectors
  • move UK battery innovations from technological potential towards commercial capability
  • develop and secure material and manufacturing supply chains for battery technologies in the UK

This CR&D strand will support the research and development of the most promising, innovative and sustainable battery technologies for the propulsion of electric vehicles in the automotive sector​. The competition is looking to support large, ambitious, impactful projects which will deliver breakthrough advances in sustainable propulsion battery technologies.

Projects can have total costs between £500,000 and £12 million, start by 1 January 2023 and end by 31 December 2024, and last up to 24 months.

Applications for funding close at 11am on 17 August 2022 so please submit your application for support below.

Apply Now

Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 – Feasibility

The Department for Transport will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest £12 million in innovative feasibility studies and pre-deployment projects. This competition is part of a suite of interventions to be launched by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE aims to transform the UK into a global leader in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technology.

Strand 1 of the competition is funding detailed feasibility studies and plans for innovative technology demonstrations of scalable clean maritime solutions. A project must undertake a technical and economic feasibility study associated with the development and real world demonstration of one or more of the specific themes. A plan must be in place for the real world demonstration being developed in the project to be operational by March 2025. Technologies for all sizes and categories of maritime vessel, including pleasure and commercial vessels, are in scope. Solutions can be suitable for one target size of vessel or multiple.

Projects must have total costs between £100,000 and £1 million, and end by 31 August 2023.

Applications for funding close at 11am on 13 July 2022 so please submit your application for support below.

Apply Now

Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 – Collaborative R&D

The Department for Transport will work with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest £12 million in innovative feasibility studies and pre-deployment projects. This competition is part of a suite of interventions to be launched by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE aims to transform the UK into a global leader in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technology.

Strand 2 of the competition is funding agile technology demonstrations and pre-deployment testing of clean maritime technologies. A project must design, develop and test novel clean maritime technologies focused for on-vessel technologies or shoreside infrastructure including at ports and harbours. A plan must be in place for the real world demonstration being developed in the project to be operational by March 2025. Technologies for all sizes and categories of maritime vessel are in scope. Solutions can be suitable for one target size of vessel or multiple. Pleasure and commercial vessels are in scope.

Projects must have total costs between £100,000 and £3 million, and end by 31 August 2023.

Applications for funding close at 11am on 13 July 2022 so please submit your application for support below.

Apply Now

Innovation Loans Future Economy Competition – Round 3

Innovate UK is offering up to £25 million in loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Loans are for highly innovative late-stage research and development (R&D) projects with the best potential for the future. There should be a clear route to commercialisation and economic impact.

Projects must lead to new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. They can also involve a new or innovative business model. The SETsquared Scale-Up Programme is only supporting applications that include at least one of our partner universities (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton or Surrey) in the application.

Applicants can apply for a loan of between £100,000 and £2 million to fund the project’s eligible costs. Projects can last up to 5 years, including both the R&D and commercialisation phases. Projects are expected to start by July 2022.

The funding available will be allocated across a series of competitions with the next round opening on the day the previous round closes. The final round 4 will close on 13 July 2022.

Please submit your application for support as far in advance of the final round deadline in July.

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Application form

If you wish to apply for funding and support for the R&D opportunities shown above complete the form below to join the Scale Up Programme as an associate – which is free and without commitment. Read a guide on how to make a good application

Alternatively, if you are unsure which opportunity is for you still complete the form below and we will get in touch to discuss your proposal and check it’s in scope for the support programme.


















Membership of the Scale Up programme is open to any company pending internal review of the expression of interest raised by the company and incurs a one off charge of £150 inc. VAT. Full Membership will be offered to companies who are already part of our network and wish to access the CR&D proposal development support or investment raising support services. Full membership is subject to payment by the member company of a one-off fee and Membership is valid for one year. For the year 2020/21 the Membership Fee is £1,600 inc. VAT or for any eligible company, it can be waived under the Article 3.2(4) exemption of the Subsidy Control chapter of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement ("TCA"), and which requires eligible companies to complete a Statement of Previous Aid declaration.

The Scale-Up Programme is a partnership between: