Innovate UK, the Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Ministry for Science and Technology (MoST) China are to invest up to £16 million in collaborative research and development projects that propose new commercial solutions to critical challenges impacting the socio-economic growth and development of China in relation to energy, healthcare, urbanisation and agri-food.
The UK investment has been made possible through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills-managed Newton Fund
The aim of the competition is to bring together companies (small to medium-sized companies and/or larger businesses), research organisations, academics and other collaborators from China and the UK for the joint research and development of new solutions to key socio-economic challenges, in the form of innovative products, processes or services. The principal market a project must consider is China.
Projects must be collaborative, involving both UK and Chinese participants, with both a UK lead partner and a Chinese lead partner. On the UK side, projects can be led by either a business or a research organisation. The lead partner should be able to demonstrate a clear route to commercialisation of the proposed product(s) or service(s), and should have a primary focus on the translation of research and/or knowledge.
We expect to fund mainly industrial research projects. For UK participants, 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 range in size from £800,000 to £1 million (although we may consider project costs outside this range), and for projects to last for up to 24 months.
The UK lead partner must submit an application on behalf of all UK participants in the project to Innovate UK. The Chinese lead partner will submit their application for the same project to MoST or MoST’s executing agency.
This is a 2-stage competition that opens for applicants on 16 November 2015. The deadline for stage 1 applications is at noon UK time on 30 March 2016. UK applicants must register by noon on 23 March 2016, one week before the application deadline.
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