Innovate UK and the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT) are to invest up to £6 million in collaborative research and development projects to stimulate innovation across three sectors that underpin future Mexican socio-economic growth:

• agroindustry
• energy
• health

This investment from the UK has been made possible through the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills-managed Newton Fund: www.newtonfund.ac.uk

The aim of the competition is to bring together companies (small-to-medium-sized companies and/or larger, well established businesses), research organisations, academics and other collaborators from Mexico and the UK for the joint R&D of innovative products, processes or services that meet critical challenges existing within these three sectors. The principal market a project must consider is Mexico.

Projects must be collaborative, involving both UK and Mexican participants. On the UK side, projects must be business-led, and can involve other non-business partners.

Innovate UK and CONACYT are running parallel application processes under this competition. The UK applicants (that is the UK side of each project collaboration) must apply through Innovate UK; the UK applicant’s Mexican partners must apply through CONACYT.

For UK participants conducting industrial research, small or micro businesses could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs, medium-sized businesses 60% and large businesses 50%.

We expect total UK project costs to be between £450,000 and £850,000 (although we will consider projects outside of this range) and projects to last between 12-24 months.

The UK lead partner must submit an application on behalf of all UK participants in a project to Innovate UK. The Mexican partner lead must submit an identical application on behalf of Mexican participants to CONACYT.

This competition opens on 25 June 2015, and the deadline for applications is at noon on 14 October 2015. UK applicants must register one week before the deadline, that is noon on 7 October 2015.

Scope

The scope for this competition has been kept intentionally broad to enable Innovate UK and CONACYT to understand where the interest in bilateral engagement on business-led innovation and commercialisation of research lies.

The competition will support businesses and researchers that can deliver innovative solutions to critical challenges that Mexico faces in the following three sectors:

• agroindustry
• energy
• health

Funding will be made available for collaborative research and development projects that will result in products, processes and services that provide solutions to key challenges existing within these three sectors. Projects should not only demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential, but also demonstrate that they will have a positive impact upon the economic development and social welfare of Mexico, beyond primary commercial interests.

Such challenges might relate to, for example:

• access to clean energy
• improving security of energy supply
• carbon abatement
• tackling emerging diseases of national relevance
• food security and nutritional challenges
• downstream food processing

For further information click here https://interact.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/mexico-uk-collaborative-industrial-r-d-competition

If you are working with partners in Mexico within these areas and are interested in applying for this funding please contact Naomi Arblaster: n.arblaster@staffs.ac.uk, 01785 353519