Funding competition Canada-UK Net Zero Value Chains - Transportation
UK registered businesses and Canadian SMEs can apply to collaborate on joint R&D projects that enable the transition to net zero for the automotive, rail, or maritime sectors.
- Competition opens: Monday 4 April 2022
- Competition closes: Wednesday 29 June 2022 5:00pm
This competition is now closed.
Competition sections
Description
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to invest a total of up to £4 million in innovation projects. These will enable transition to net zero for the automotive, rail, or maritime transportation sectors.
The aim of this competition is to foster and support collaborative research and development (CR&D) through Canadian and UK partnerships. Your proposal must demonstrate high potential for commercialisation, address a technological challenge and target large global markets.
This competition closes at 5pm UK time (which is 9am PDT and 12pm EDT) on 29 June 2022.Funding type
Grant
Project size
The total grant for all UK partners can be up to £300,000 for each application. NRC IRAP will provide a contribution of up to CA$500,000 to each eligible Canadian SME participating in the project.
Who can apply
Text update 5 May 2022: New registration deadline for Canandian SME's added.
Canada specific rules
Canadian funding applicants are required to register and submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) before being eligible to apply for this competition.
The registration deadline for Canadian SMEs is 23 May 2022.
Canadian funding applicants who do not complete an EoI and have not been invited to proceed will not be eligible for funding through this competition.
Please see the NRC IRAP call page for more information in English and French on Canadian eligibility requirements and to register.
Your project
Your project must:
- have a grant funding request of no more than £300,000 allocated to UK organisations
- have a grant funding request of no more than CA$500,000 allocated to each eligible Canadian SME
- start by 1 January 2023
- end by 31 December 2024
- last between 12 and 24 months
Projects should have a balanced contribution of the total eligible project costs among the partners from the participating partner countries.
No one country or project partner can represent more than 70% of the total project cost.
The majority of the project work must be undertaken in the UK and Canada.
Your proposal must demonstrate a clear intention to commercially exploit the results of the project domestically or globally.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application.
If your total grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request. If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.
Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian source.
Lead organisation
To lead a project your organisation must be either:
- a UK registered business of any size
or
Your collaboration must include at least one grant claiming UK registered sme and one eligible Canadian registered SME.
Academic institutions and research and technology organisations (RTOs) cannot lead.
Project team
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following:
- UK registered business of any size
- UK registered academic institution
- UK registered research and technology organisation (RTO)
- Canadian SME
- Canadian research organisation
Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and UK registered organisations must enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.
Applicants from UK academic institutions or RTOs cannot claim more than 30% of the UK’s total grant requested.
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding. Their costs must be included in the total project costs.
Canadian project participants who are not eligible for funding (including researchers from the National Research Council of Canada) are welcome to collaborate as additional participants on a self‑funded basis or as subcontractors.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but are limited to no more than 20% of your organisation’s total eligible costs.
You must select them through your usual procurement process.
You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the country providing your funding.
You must provide a detailed rationale and evidence of the potential Canada or UK contractors you approached, with the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.
All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate for the project.
Number of applications
A UK business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in 1 further application.
A UK business that is not leading an application can collaborate on a maximum of 2 applications.
A Canadian SME may only participate in one application either as a lead or partner.
Academic institutions or RTOs 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
UK Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)
This competition provides funding to UK registered organisations 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, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.
You must at all times make sure 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.
Funding
Selected collaborative R&D projects will be eligible to receive funding from their respective national funding body. Up to £2 million and up to CA$3 million, an equivalent of £4 million in total, has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.
UK Organisations
If the majority of your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically.
For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation
- up to 50% if you are a large organisation
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
- up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation
- up to 25% if you are a large organisation
For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance. This is a change from the EU definition unless you are applying under State aid.
If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.
Research participation for UK organisations
UK research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the UK’s total grant requested. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them.
Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:
- 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a UK Je-S registered institution such as an academic
- 100% of your project costs if you are a UK registered RTO
Canadian SMEs
NRC IRAP will provide a maximum contribution of up to CA$500,000 to each eligible Canadian SME participating in the project. Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs.
Canadian SME applicants must be registered as NRC IRAP clients to be considered for funding through this competition. Please see the NRC IRAP call page for more information in English and French.Your proposal
The aim of this competition is to foster and support collaborative research and development (CR&D) through Canadian and UK partnerships.
Your joint Canadian and UK project must focus on innovations that enable transition to net zero transportation, for the automotive, rail, or maritime sectors. Your project can address on-vehicle, including locomotives, or on-vessel technologies, processes, or technology-based services.
This competition covers 4 themes in net zero on-vehicle or on-vessel technologies:
1. Low and zero emission propulsion.
2. Advanced sustainable materials and manufacturing.
3. Highly disruptive technologies.
4. Assistive technologies and control systems.
Technology transfer projects from other transport or energy sectors, or projects that span across multiple sectors are welcome.
A project in the automotive sector can cover both niche and mainstream on-road vehicles and off-road vehicles, including mopeds, motorcycles, passenger and goods vehicles and trailers, agricultural, construction vehicles, and special use vehicles.
A project in the rail sector can target all locomotive classes including those for freight and passenger carrying services and carriages.
A project in the maritime sector can include a range of ship types from small vessels to large cargo carriers.
Your project must:
- develop on-vehicle or on-vessel technologies that deliver net zero solutions, speeding up their introduction to the market
- justify how the technology improves overall vehicle or vessel efficiency and lifecycle CO2 emissions
- validate the technology in a relevant environment, for example in a testbed or through a development mule or adapted current production vehicle or vessel for higher maturity technologies
- deliver the technology at a lower cost than today without compromising safety or capability
- consider approach to manufacturing including at the target scale and using advanced processes
- show a clear route to market including appropriate business models to exploit the technology commercially and identify an appropriate end customer(s)
- show a reduction of the environmental impact of the technology including resource efficiency and end of life options such as recycling, remanufacturing or reuse
Specific themes
Your application must focus on at least one of the following themes. If your project spans more than one theme, you must select the one that reflects the majority of work and clearly state the other themes within your application.
If your application does not directly fit with the themes described below, you can contact Innovate UK or NRC IRAP International Office who will be able to advise on eligibility.
Your project can focus on one or more of the examples listed for each theme.
1. Low and zero emission propulsion:
- power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) systems for electrified powertrains for vehicles, locomotives or vessels, including retrofitting of fossil fuel internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs or FCEVs
- hydrogen and fuel cell (FC) technologies
- low emission carbon neutral propulsion, including range extenders (ICE or FC) and hydrogen ICE
- energy storage technologies (including batteries) and energy management software and controls
- energy efficient electrification for traction and non-traction rail vehicles, and bi-mode locomotives (hydrogen and battery powered)
- vessel propulsion that uses batteries, fuel cells, hybrids, or engines with low carbon alternative fuels such as hydrogen, methanol or ammonia
- on-vessel power generation and fuel production to reduce GHGs, e.g. wind turbines, solar panels and synthetic fuel production
2. Advanced sustainable materials and manufacturing:
- sustainable lightweight materials, including processes, composites and joining, for vehicle and vessel panels and structures
- additive manufacturing processes for complex structural vehicle and vessel components
- advanced methods for corrosion resistance and durability improvement in multi materials including composites, metal, and ceramic blends, and novel materials
- materials and manufacturing processes for batteries, fuel cells and PEMD
- extraction or recovery, recycling and remanufacturing reuse processes for critical valuable materials used in devices such as fuel cells, batteries and electric powertrains
3. Highly disruptive technologies:
- technologies or processes that significantly increase the efficiency of the powertrain or reduce the energy demand of auxiliary systems
- advanced design methods and tools for aerodynamic vehicle (or hydrodynamic vessel) designs, including simulation and modelling, and design for manufacture
- energy transmission technologies that efficiently deliver power to vehicles or vessels such as battery recharging and connectivity
- novel electrochemical catalysts or membranes for the conversion of CO2 emissions into low or net zero carbon fuels including syngas and ethanol
- on-board hydrogen technologies to power the drive or auxiliaries in passenger or freight rail systems
- technologies that optimize rail vehicle ventilation systems and climate control for healthier travel
4. Assistive technologies and control systems:
- autonomous mobility technologies from platooning, to ADAS and last mile delivery solutions that provide direct and indirect efficiency savings
- technologies that increase safety and operational efficiency via in-service remote health monitoring
- smart shipping technologies delivering quantifiable energy efficiency savings and GHG emission reductions
- technologies to support automated train and track inspections such as machine vision and AI
- optimisation of fleet energy efficiency
Research categories
Projects we will not fund
We are not funding projects that:
- are not covered by any of the 4 specific themes
- focus on the aviation sector
- focus on micro-mobility
- focus on development of fossil fuels or zero carbon fuels and their combustion
- focus purely on production scale up activities and supply chain development
- focus on factory-based vehicles, including forklift trucks
- focus on physical infrastructure including those which support low and zero emission vehicles and vessels, for example vehicle charging
- are business as usual projects
- are dependent on export performance
- are dependent on domestic inputs usage
- involve R&D related to products, processes, or technological-based services with military or non-peaceful applications
- 4 April 2022
- Competition opens
- 7 April 2022
- Online briefing event: watch the recording
- 25 April 2022
- Matchmaking event: register to attend
- 23 May 2022
- Canadian EoI registration deadline
- 27 May 2022
- Canadian EOI submission deadline
- 29 June 2022 5:00pm
- Competition closes
- 16 September 2022
- Applicants notified
Before you start
You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.
What we 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
Will the project, including any related activities you want Innovate UK to fund, affect trade between Northern Ireland and the EU?
You and all your project partners must respond and mark this question as complete before you can submit your application.
Research category
Select the type of research you will undertake.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
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 the right 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
Text update 10/6/2022: we have changed Question 1 by adding Subcontractors to the text to make it clearer.
Your application will be assessed by independent assessors in both the UK and Canada.
Innovate UK's assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1, 2 and 3. You will receive feedback from them for each scored question.
You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long apart from question 2. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.
Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)
You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation, any partners and subcontractors working on your project. We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.
Question 2. Themes
You must select the sector in which the majority of your project is focused:
- Low and zero emission propulsion
- Advanced sustainable materials and manufacturing
- Highly disruptive technologies
- Assistive technologies and control systems
Question 3. How is equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) incorporated into your proposed project? (not scored)
Describe:
- your consideration of EDI in the development of your innovation, for example, unintended exclusion of minority groups
- how you will ensure that the expected project results are inclusive and accessible, for example, in terms of future commercialisation
- your plans to increase diversity and gender equity in the composition of the project team and partners
- how you will create an equitable and inclusive project team and work environment for your project team and partners
Do not provide personal information on individuals or identifiable statistics on diversity within your organisation.
If you are assessed as eligible for funding, your answer will be taken into consideration by Innovate UK and NRC IRAP during the competition portfolio review.
Question 4. Need or challenge
What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?
Explain:
- the main motivation for the project
- the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
- whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development
- 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 5. Approach and innovation
What approach will you adopt to take the opportunity to market and where will the focus of the innovation be?
Explain:
- how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
- how will you improve on any similar innovation that you have identified
- whether the innovation will focus on 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 to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF, up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 6. Team and resources
Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
Explain:
- the core capabilities of each organisation in the consortium and its relevance to achieving the project objectives
- 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 disruption
- 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. It must be a PDF, up to 4 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 7. Market awareness
What does the market you are targeting look like?
Describe:
- the target markets for the project outcomes, any other potential markets (domestic, international or both)
- 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
- your position in targeting these markets in the short and long term
- 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 be
- how your project will try to explore the market’s potential
Question 8. Outcomes and route to market
How will the project team work together to grow their businesses and increase long term productivity as a result of the project?
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, particularly if COVID-19 has changed market dynamics
- your approach to commercialisation taking into account the international partnership
- 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 9. 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 and Canadian economies
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 10. Project management
How will you manage your project effectively?
Explain:
- the main work packages of your 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 COVID-19
You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 11. Risks
What are the main risks for this project?
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, and 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, up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 12. Added value
How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisation involved?
Explain:
- what advantages would public funding offer your project, for example, appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market (this list is not exhaustive)
- the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved
- what other routes of investment have you already approached
- what your project would look like without public funding
- how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved
Question 13. 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 your project goals, explain:
- your total project costs
- the grant you are requesting
- how each partner will finance their contributions to your 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 your project
You must complete the project financial cost breakdown template provided to the Canadian partners in your consortium by NRC IRAP.
You must upload the completed template as an appendix to this question in the form of a PDF.
All partners in the consortium must work together to complete the project financials on the first page by entering a high-level summary of the full project cost breakdown in both national currencies.
Canadian SMEs must enter zeroes into the finance section of the Innovation Funding Service.
3. Finances
Each organisation in your project must complete their own section in project costs.
UK organisations
UK organisations must list their project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. UK Academic institutions must complete and upload a Je-S form.
For full details on what costs you can claim see our Innovate UK project costs guidance .
Canadian organisations
All Canadian organisations will need to enter zeroes into the finance section of the Innovation Funding Service and select ‘no’ in answer to the question ‘are you requesting grant funding’.
The full costs for each Canadian organisation must be listed in the project financial cost breakdown template provided by NRC IRAP to eligible applicants. This must be uploaded as an appendix to question 13 of your application.
Background and further information
Data sharing
This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) (each an “agency”).
Your submitted application and any other information you provide at the application stage can be submitted to each agency on an individual basis for its storage, processing and use. Any relevant information produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.
This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to NRC IRAP and vice versa.
Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. It is held in accordance with its Information Management Policy.
Innovate UK and NRC IRAP are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, and NRC IRAP will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.
Innovate UK complies with the requirements of GDPR, and is committed to upholding the data protection principles, and protecting your information. The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.Find a project partner
Innovate UK and NRC IRAP will hold an information session at 4:00pm UK time on 7 April 2022 and a matchmaking event on 25 April 2022.
If you are interested in participating in the matchmaking event visit the registration website and create an online profile. Participants' profiles will be visible to all who are interested in this collaboration opportunity.
If you want help to find a project partner, contact the Innovate UK KTN.
Support for UK SMEs from Innovate UK EDGE
If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK EDGE. This service forms part of our funded offer to you.
These specialists focus on growing innovative businesses and ensuring that projects contribute to their growth. Working one-to-one, they can help you to identify your best strategy and harness world-class resources to grow and achieve scale.
We encourage you to engage with Innovate UK EDGE, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.Contact us
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.
Canada
Canadian applicants contact the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) International Office: IRAP.International.PARI@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
Need help with this service? Contact us