Funding competition EUREKA GlobalStars Taiwan digital industrial collaborations

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £865,000 to develop collaborative innovation projects in partnership with organisations from participating EUREKA members and GlobalStars countries.

Competition opens: Monday 13 September 2021
Competition closes: Wednesday 12 January 2022 4:00pm

This competition is now closed.

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Description

This competition is for UK businesses that want to apply to the Globalstars EUREKA call. Please visit the EUREKA call for proposals web page if you are not a UK applicant.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £865,000 to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research.

The aim of this competition is to identify collaborators and collaboration projects between UK and Taiwanese businesses.

We will fund projects enabling UK industrial digital companies to access, collaborate with and find new markets in Taiwan.

Your project must have high market potential and develop at least one of the following:

innovative products
technology-based applications
technology-based services

Projects must include at least one partner from the UK and Taiwan. Projects can include other partners from one of the EUREKA members participating in the competition.

Projects must have 50% co-investment in place.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process.

The lead applicant must submit your Innovate UK application by 4pm UK time on the deadline stated.

Your project team must submit the EUREKA project application form to the EUREKA website by 5pm central European time (4pm UK time) on 15 December 2021.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £300,000 for each project.

Who can apply

Your project

UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £300,000 for each project.

Your project can:

start by 1 August 2022
end by 31 July 2024
last from 3 to 24 months

Your project must be collaborative.

If your project’s duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@innovateuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

EUREKA terminology and roles

The terminology differs between EUREKA and Innovate UK. In the Innovate UK application the ‘project lead’ is responsible for the entire project but EUREKA uses the term ‘main participant’. For partners in the collaboration EUREKA uses ‘other participants’.

Even if the project lead is from a participating EUREKA member other than the UK, the UK registered partners can still claim funding from Innovate UK. These collaborations must include at least one UK registered SME.

UK lead applicant

The UK registered partners in your EUREKA project must nominate one business, of any size, to start an Innovate UK application. We refer to them as the ‘lead organisation’ and the person nominated by that one business to have overall responsibility for the application, as the ‘lead applicant’.

The lead applicant has an overall view of the application and must:

start the application
monitor the partners’ application progress
make sure all UK partners complete their parts of the application
click submit once the application is complete

The lead organisation must:

be a UK registered business, of any size
involve at least one UK registered SME, if the lead is not an SME
collaborate with at least one Taiwan registered organisation

The UK registered SME in your consortium must incur at least half of the UK total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one UK SME, this minimum is shared between them

Overseas partners

The UK lead applicant must collaborate with at least one organisation from a EUREKA member or Globalstars country participating in the competition. It must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners.

You can also collaborate with other participating EUREKA members.

Overall EUREKA project team

The organisations from participating EUREKA members must meet the funding and eligibility conditions of their respective national funding bodies. These will be published on the EUREKA call for proposals web page when this competition opens. These organisations must apply through their own funding bodies and not through the Innovation Funding Service.

Each partner must carry out the majority of their funded work within the EUREKA member from which they receive funding, for example the UK for Innovate UK funding.

There must be a genuine collaboration. No more than 50% of the total eligible project costs can be claimed by a single partner or by all partners from a single participating EUREKA member collectively.

The consortium must include at least two businesses that are independent from each other.

UK project team

The UK lead applicant can collaborate with:

UK research organisations cannot lead or work alone. They must be able to show how they will exploit the results of the project to grow the wider sector in the UK.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but they must not account for more than 20% of the UK partners’ total eligible costs. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. Where subcontractors are non-UK based, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative.

We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Partners not claiming funding

A non-grant claiming UK partner cannot lead on a project.

Your collaboration can include organisations from EUREKA members that are not participating in this funding competition provided:

they have secured full funding elsewhere
you describe in your application why and how they will be involved and where they have secured financing from

Number of applications

A business, can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further 2 applications.

If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.

Previous applications

You cannot use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

We will not award you funding if you have:

failed to exploit a previously funded project
an overdue independent accountant’s report
failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding in line with the UK's obligations and commitments to Subsidy Control.

Further information about the UK Subsidy Control requirements can be found within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation agreement and the subsequent guidance from the department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see our general guidance to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the UK Subsidy Control regime or the State aid rules, please take independent legal advice.

You must make sure at all times that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.
This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

If there are any changes to the above requirements that mean we need to change the terms of this competition, we will tell you as soon as possible.

Eligibility overview

Here is a diagram showing a summary of eligibility.

This is a new way of showing you eligibility. Your feedback will help us to improve it.

Eligibility Tree - EUREKA Taiwan.pdf (opens in a new window)

Funding

We have allocated up to £865,000 to fund innovation projects in this competition.

For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

up to 50% if you are an SME
up to 40% if you are a large business

Your project must have a minimum of 50% co-investment in place.

The UK registered research organisations in your consortium can share up to 50% of the UK total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one UK research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them.

Of that 50% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-s registered institution such as an academic
100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, non-profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to facilitate collaboration between UK and Taiwanese businesses and encourage innovation and deployment of novel digital technologies for manufacturing.

Your project must identify collaborators and collaboration projects between UK and Taiwanese businesses.

Your collaborative R&D proposal must demonstrate:

a clear game-changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes, or services
a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses and documents market potential and needs
sound, practical financial plans, and timelines
good value for money, which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions
a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
clear, considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
the benefit of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
a clear route to market within 2 to 3 years of project completion

We want to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities, and research categories.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the following:

smart manufacturing
sensing
chemicals
industrial Internet of Things (IoT)
artificial intelligence (AI)
virtual and augmented reality
robotics and automation
additive manufacturing
machine learning
big data
wider digital technologies, including block chain and enterprise architecture
industrial digital technology capability and capacity in both the UK and Taiwan
enabling continued growth in key Taiwanese manufacturing sectors, including electronics, energy, and smart machinery
key sectors including: pharmaceuticals, energy offshore wind, smart machinery, food and drink

Research categories

Your project can focus on feasibility studies and industrial research as defined in the general guidance.

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

develop defence or military technologies
have a detrimental impact on the competitiveness of UK industrial digital technologies (IDT) or smart manufacturing capability and capacity
focus on semiconductors
are not in scope
do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
do not submit all mandatory documentation
are dependent on export performance - for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that they export a certain quantity of bread to another country
are dependent on domestic inputs usage - for example if they insisted that a baker use 50% UK flour in their product

13 September 2021: Competition opens
21 September 2021: Online briefing event:
12 January 2022 4:00pm: Competition closes
14 April 2022: Applicants notified

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Your Innovate UK application will be ineligible if you do not upload the appendices on questions 2, 9 and 10, including the completed EUREKA project application.

UK led consortium

If you are a UK lead applicant, you must:

submit an Innovate UK application
complete the EUREKA application on behalf of your project following the process on the EUREKA call for proposals web page on the EUREKA website

More information about the application process for non-UK EUREKA members is provided on the EUREKA call for proposals web page once the competition opens.

What we will ask you

The application is split into 3 sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

1. Project details

This section provides background for the assessors and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which organisations will work with you on the project. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

The lead applicant must complete this section. Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Subsidy basis
Is your company based in Northern Ireland and are you planning to undertake any work for which you are seeking Innovate UK funding in Northern Ireland?

All participants must complete this section.

Equality, diversity and inclusion survey

We collect and report on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data to address under-representation in business innovation and ensure equality, diversity and inclusion across all our activities.

All participants must complete this EDI survey and the lead applicant must then select yes in the application question. The survey will ask you questions on your gender, age, ethnicity and disability status. You will always have the option to ‘prefer not to say’ if you do not feel comfortable sharing this information.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope it will be immediately rejected and will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score your answers for questions 3 to 12, questions 1 and 2 are not scored. You will receive feedback from them for each scored question.

Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video.

Question 1. Project partners location (not scored)

You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.

If you are working in collaboration, you must also state the name and full registered address of all your partners.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.

Question 2. EUREKA application (not scored)

You must submit a copy of your completed EUREKA application as an appendix. It must be in a PDF format, up to 19 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Type ‘EUREKA application attached’ as your answer.

Question 3. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Describe or explain:

the main motivation for the project
the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
the nearest current state-of-the-art, including those near market or in development, and its limitations
any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one
the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations, using our Horizons tool if appropriate

Question 4. Approach and innovation

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?

Describe or explain:

how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
how you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identified
whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
the freedom you have to operate
how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
how it will make you more competitive
the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You can submit one appendix. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 5. Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Describe or explain:

the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking
the resources, equipment and facilities needed for the project and how you will access them, particularly in the light of any continuing COVID-19 restrictions
the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
the current relationships between project partners and how these will change as a result of the project
any roles you will need to recruit for taking into account the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the team structure

You can submit one appendix. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer.. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 6. Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Describe or explain:

the markets (domestic, international or both) you will be targeting in the project, and any other potential markets
the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist
the current UK position in targeting these markets
the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

what the market’s size might to be
how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 7. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?

Describe or explain:

your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position
your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example why they would use or buy your product
your route to market
how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction
how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term
how you will protect and exploit the outputs of the project, for example through know-how, patenting, designs or changes to your business model
your strategy for targeting the other markets you have identified during or after the project

If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:

your plans to spread the project’s research outputs over a reasonable timescale
how you expect to use the results generated from the project in further research activities

Question 8. Wider impacts

What impact might this project have outside the project team?

Describe, and where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:

external parties
customers
others in the supply chain
broader industry
the UK economy

Describe, and where possible, measure:

any expected impact on government priorities
any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative
any expected regional impacts of the project

Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:

quality of life
social inclusion or exclusion
jobs, such as safeguarding, creating, changing or displacing them
education
public empowerment
health and safety
regulations
diversity

Question 9. Project management

How will you manage the project effectively?

Describe or explain:

the main work packages of the project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one
your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome
the management reporting lines
your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones, taking into account the possible impact of further COVID-19 restrictions

You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Describe or explain:

the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks
how you will mitigate these risks
any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets
any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 11. Added value

What impact would an injection of public funding have on the businesses involved?

Describe or explain:

whether this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market, more partners or reduced risk
the likely impact of the project on the businesses of the partners involved
why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful
how this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spend

Question 12. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

In terms of the project goals, describe or explain:

the total eligible project costs
the grant you are requesting
how each partner will finance their contributions to the project
how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise
the balance of costs and grant across the project partners
any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to the project

3. Finances

Each UK organisation in your project must complete its own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.

For full details on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance.

Background and further information

This is a EUREKA Globalstars competition to enable collaborative innovation projects between the UK and Taiwan, conducted under a thematic scope.

We will fund CR&D projects of 3 to 24 months duration, at either the feasibility study or industrial research stages of R&D. Projects must be delivered by collaborations led by UK and Taiwanese businesses, potentially in multilateral partnerships with organisations from other EUREKA countries.

These collaborations and collaborative projects will enable UK digital tech businesses to develop new products, processes and services that will find demand in Taiwanese smart manufacturing businesses, and UK smart manufacturing businesses to find Taiwanese industrial design technology (IDT) solutions not currently available in UK.

This competition seeks to build partnerships that exploit UK digital technology strengths (including sensing, industrial Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence) to enable continued growth in key Taiwanese manufacturing sectors (including electronics, energy and smart machinery, pharmaceuticals).

The competition also seeks to enhance IDT capability and capacity in both the UK and Taiwan.

Context

Taiwan was identified in the 2019-20 International Prioritisation as a strategic priority geography for Innovate UK. Collaborating and innovating with Taiwan provides opportunities for UK businesses to:

1. Co-develop and supply innovative goods and services into the larger companies that drive the Taiwanese Manufacturing Sector and access the wider Chinese and ASEAN economy.

2. Enable UK companies to increase their own technological abilities and productivity.

3. Form strong relationships with Taiwanese partners to access ASEAN, Asian and global business opportunities jointly.

About EUREKA

EUREKA is an intergovernmental network launched in 1985. Its aim is to support market-oriented R&D and innovation projects by industry, research centres and universities across all technological sectors. It has 45 member states, including the European Union, represented by the European Commission.

With its flexible and decentralised network, EUREKA offers project partners:

rapid access to skills and expertise across Europe
national public and private funding schemes

Extra help

If you want help to find a project collaborator, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network or Innovate UK EDGE.

If you need help with the EUREKA project application form, contact EUREKA directly.

If you need more information about how to apply, email support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK is committed to making support for applicants accessible to everyone.

We can provide help for applicants who face barriers when making an application. This might be as a result of a disability, neurodiversity or anything else that makes it difficult to use our services. We can also give help and make other reasonable adjustments for you if your application is successful.

If you think you need more support, it is important that you contact our Customer Support Service as early as possible during your application process. You should aim to contact us no later than 10 working days before the competition closing date.

Need help with this service? Contact us