Status: Closed
Key features: Innovate UK and the Government of India are to invest up to £3.4 million in collaborative industrial research and development projects that propose new commercial solutions to critical challenges impacting the socio-economic growth and development of India in relation to its clean-tech, healthcare and ICT sectors.
Programme: International Programme

Award: Up to £3.4 million
Opens: 09 Nov 2015, 00:00
Registration closes: 13 Apr 2016, 12:00
Closes: 20 Apr 2016, 12:00
Support phone number: 0300 321 4357

« go back

India–UK collaborative industrial research and development competition: Clean-tech, affordable healthcare and ICT

Summary

Innovate UK and the Government of India are to invest up to £3.4 million in collaborative industrial research and development projects that propose new commercial solutions to critical challenges impacting the socio-economic growth and development of India in relation to its clean-tech, healthcare and ICT sectors.

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 India 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 India.

Projects must be collaborative, involving both UK and Indian participants with both a UK lead partner and an Indian lead partner. On the UK side, the lead partner must be a business but other businesses or research organisations can collaborate as partners in the consortium. The lead partner in India must be a business. Academic institutions, research hospitals, other R&D institutes that are headquartered and operate in India are encouraged to participate as co-investigators/partners.

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 £350,000 to £450,000, and for projects to last for up to 24 months.

The UK lead partner must submit an application on behalf of the entire consortium to Innovate UK. The Indian lead partner must submit an identical application, again on behalf of all participants, to the Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA).

This competition opens for applicants on 9 November 2015. The deadline for applications is at noon UK time on 20 April 2016. UK applicants must register by noon on 13 April 2016, one week before the application deadline.

A briefing webinar for potential applicants will be held on 17 November 2015, which will cover the UK part of the application process.

Key dates

Competition opens	9 November 2015
Webinar briefing	17 November 2015
Deadline for registration	noon UK time 13 April 2016
Deadline for applications	noon UK time 20 April 2016

Supporting documents & links

Background

Tackling global challenges – such as extreme weather conditions, urbanisation, access to affordable healthcare, food and energy security, and meeting the social and economic needs of a growing and aging population – requires an integrated research and innovation approach, bringing together stakeholders from different disciplines, sectors and nations in high-quality collaborations.

The Newton Fund, which provides the foundation for this collaborative competition, was established in 2014 to strengthen science and innovation partnerships between the UK and 16 countries around the world, with the aim of promoting the economic development and welfare of partner countries. The Fund forms part of the UK government's official development assistance to middle- and lower-income countries. With India, it is called the Newton-Bhabha Fund.

The Newton Fund recognises that the UK business and research communities have skills and expertise to work with our partner countries, and identify novel solutions to critical challenges within those countries. Many of the challenges that our partner countries grapple with are those that the UK itself is grappling with.

This is the third round of the collaborative industrial research and development competition supported by Innovate UK and GITA on behalf of the Government of India.

Scope

This Newton Fund competition will support industrial research projects in clean-tech, affordable healthcare and ICT that can deliver innovative commercial solutions fit for the Indian market.

For more details, please read the Guidance for Applicants document.

All projects should show the additional benefits of co-operation between the UK and India. Projects should not only demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential, but must also demonstrate that they will have a positive impact upon the economic development and social welfare of India, beyond primary commercial interests. Proposals that do not demonstrate how they aim to further sustainable development (and thereby contribute to a reduction in poverty), or improve the welfare of India's population, will be considered out of scope.

Funding allocation and project details

We have allocated up to £2.5 million to fund UK participation in collaborative R&D projects that address the challenges outlined in the scope. The Government of India has allocated the remainder of the sum to fund the Indian participation.

Successful applicants can attract grant funding towards their eligible project costs. The percentage of costs that we pay varies, depending on the type of research being carried out and the type of organisation involved.

This competition is primarily focused on industrial research projects, for which small or micro businesses are eligible to receive up to 70% of their project costs as grant, medium-sized businesses 60% and large businesses 50%. For further information see Innovate UK's funding rules.

To be eligible for this competition, projects must be conducting industrial research which will aim to acquire knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services or significantly improve existing products, processes or services. We will consider applications that have work packages related to experimental development, as part of an overall focus on industrial research.

For more information on the definition of industrial research and experimental development, please see Innovate UK's funding rules.

Projects must be collaborative and involve at least one UK business and one Indian business. On the UK side, projects must be led by a UK business. Other non-business UK partners, including research organisations, may participate as additional partners. The total of all non-business partner costs on the UK side cannot exceed 30% of the overall UK partner project costs, and must take no more than 50% of the grant from Innovate UK.

We expect total UK project costs to range from £350,000 to £450,000. Projects should last for up to 24 months.

To view the Indian side of the application process, please see GITA's website

Find out if your business fits the EU definition of an SME

Application process

This competition opens for applicants on 9 November 2015. To apply, the UK lead partner must first register via our website. The deadline for registration is at noon UK time on 13 April 2016, while the deadline for applications is at noon UK time on 20 April 2016.

Note: all deadlines are at 12 noon UK time.

Applications are assessed on individual merit by an independent panel of experts in both the UK and India.

A briefing webinar for potential applicants will be held on 17 November 2015 to highlight the main features of the competition and explain the UK side of the application process. Applicants are strongly recommended to attend and can register for the briefing webinar in advance.

More information

Read all attached documents before you apply, including the Guidance for Applicants and watch Innovate UK's applications process video.

Looking for partners to work on your project?

Meeting Mojo allows all interested applicants to add a profile and then search for partners in a database specific to this India–UK competition. When you find a potential partner, please message them via Meeting Mojo to discuss and determine whether you are a good match to apply as a project team for grant funding.

Please follow the Meeting Mojo and register, giving your full details.

NOTE: It will take up to 24 hours to be approved by the site admin before you can then search for partners.

Get help to understand the future market for your innovation before you apply at the Horizons Tools site

For more information about the Newton Fund and funding opportunities, visit the Newton Fund website and follow @NewtonFund.

Publicity

As part of the application process all applicants are asked to submit a public description of the project. This should adequately describe the project but not disclose any information that may impact on intellectual property, is confidential or commercially sensitive. The titles of successful projects, names of organisations, amounts awarded and the public description will be published once the decision to offer an award has been communicated to applicants by email. Information about unsuccessful project applications will remain confidential and will not be made public.

Email pressoffice@innovateuk.gov.uk with any queries.