Innovate UK: Aerospace Technologies – Call

innovate-uk-logoInnovate UK are shortly to announce the “Game Changing Technologies in Aerospace” call, which is seeking collaborative R&D and Feasibility studies to accelerate highly innovative technology development for civil aerospace. They are looking for projects that offer solutions to key aerospace industry challenges and for opportunities to bring in technologies and capabilities from outside the traditional aerospace sector.

Innovate UK will be investing up to £10 million in this topic, and are looking for projects that offer solutions to key aerospace industry challenges and for opportunities to bring in technologies and capabilities from outside the traditional aerospace sector. It is expected that collaborative R&D projects will range in size from total costs of £250,000 to £1.5 million. Feasibility studies are expected to have total project costs of up to £100,000.

The R&D call will have a registration deadline of the 9th September, whilst the Feasibility call will have a registration deadline of the 5th November. The EOI deadline for each will fall a week later. There will be a competition briefing on the 15th July 2015 which will become active for registration once the call goes live.

To find out more – Click Here

Innovate UK: Complex Biological Data – Call

innovate-uk-logoInnovate UK and BBSRC have opened a call for Collaborative R&D and Feasibility studies into the topic of “Finding value in complex biological data – integrated ‘omics'”, and are to invest up to £2.5 million to stimulate innovative, integrated approaches to biological systems. The aim of this competition is to build a commercial ecosystem to exploit the commercial opportunities of ‘omics (e.g. genomics, proteomics etc.), systems biology and complex biological data streams. These could become key technologies for growth in the UK economy through enabling quicker  identification of promising products and services and de-risking development.

Funding has been allocated of up to £2 million to fund collaborative R&D projects.
It is expected that the total project costs to be between £250,000 and £400,000 and projects to last up to 2 years. A further £500,000 is available for smaller-scale feasibility study projects lasting 12 to 18 months with total project costs up to £150,000. Projects must be business-led.

The purpose of this competition is to develop enabling technologies, products and services that pioneer the commercial exploitation of complex biological data-streams and models. We are looking to fund projects developing one or more of the following:

• data analysis platforms tailored to ‘omics and complex biological data streams
• analytical or diagnostic tools that look at multiple parameters within a discrete
complex biological system
• predictive biological system models in silico
• evidence based models that demonstrate the impact on a biological system by introducing new candidate compounds or interventions
• data driven tools and services to speed development of bio-products

A competition briefing is being held on the 2nd June 2015 in London (or via Webinar). This will be followed by the expression of interest deadline on the 24th June 2015, later followed by the application deadline of the 1st July 2015.

To find out more – Click Here (PDF)
To register for the briefing in London – Click Here
To register for the briefing via Webinar – Click Here

Developing Non-Animal Technologies – Competition

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Animal models are not always accurate predictors of the effects of a new substance on humans, animals and the environment. The use of non-animal technologies in a limited number of areas has already significantly reduced attrition and improved human safety. Recent advances in relevant fields in the biosciences offer many more opportunities for these systems to transform drug and chemical development. Innovate UK, in collaboration with other funders, are to invest up to £6m in collaborative R&D projects that support the development and application of non-animal technologies in the UK, with the aim to harness advanced technologies emerging from the research base and assess their potential to better predict the impact on humans and the environment of new molecular and chemical entities.

Innovate UK, NC3Rs, BBSRC, EPSRC, and the MRC aim to support projects that will improve the discovery (early stages when active substances and their potential uses are identified) of new human and veterinary medicines, agrochemicals and chemicals and their assurance for effectiveness and safety as they are developed.Proposals must be collaborative and led by a business, with the expectation to fund mainly industrial research projects in which a large business partner can claim up to 50% public funding for their project costs (60% for SMEs). It is expected that projects are to range in size from total costs of £500,000 to £1 million.

This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 23rd March 2015. The deadline for registration is noon on 29th April 2015 and the deadline for expressions of interest (stage one) is noon on 6th May 2015. There will also be a briefing event and webinar for potential applicants at the end of March:

Date: 26th March 2015
Time: 10:00am – 12:30am
Location: London

To find out more – Click Here
To view the agenda and register for the Webinar – Click Here