Funding competition SBRI: Vaccine development for potential epidemic diseases stage 1
Organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million inclusive of VAT to develop vaccine candidates, technologies and platforms, up to and including phase 1 clinical trials.
- Competition opens: Wednesday 31 May 2023
- Competition closes: Wednesday 12 July 2023 11:00am
This competition is now closed.
Competition sections
Description
This is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), Official Development Assistance (ODA) competition funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) UK Vaccine Network.
The aim of this competition is to support further development of vaccine candidates, technologies and platforms against specified pathogens of epidemic potential including Disease X. The UK Vaccine Network has identified a list of priority pathogens, though applications for work on other pathogens within the same family will be considered.
Your proposal can address any part of the development pathway in the UK or in relevant low and middle-income countries (LMICs), including:
- pre-clinical and non-clinical development
- manufacturing process design
- phase 1 clinical trials
These must be within a 24-month time frame.
Your proposals must meet ODA requirements for funding.
This is stage 1 of a potential two stage SBRI competition. The decision to proceed with an SBRI stage 2 competition will depend on the outcomes from stage 1 and assessment of a separate application into a subsequent SBRI stage 2 competition.
Only the successful applicants from the SBRI stage 1 will be invited to apply to take part in the stage 2.
Any adoption and implementation of a solution from this competition would be subject to a separate, possibly competitive, procurement exercise. This competition does not cover the purchase of any solution.
This competition closes at 11am UK time on the date of the deadline.Funding type
Procurement
Project size
Stage 1 projects can range in size up to total costs of £2 million, inclusive of VAT.
Who can apply
Your project
Projects must:
- start by 1 October 2023
- end by 31 September 2025
- last up to 24 months
- be costed in GBP sterling
Lead Applicant
To lead a project, you can:
- be an organisation of any size
- work alone or with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or the third sector as subcontractors
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Funding rules.
This competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. However, if you can justify subcontracting components of the work, you can engage specialists or advisers. This work will still be the responsibility of the main contractor.Funding
A total of up to £25 million, inclusive of VAT, is allocated to this SBRI stage 1 competition.
This funding is ODA and subject to ODA principles and must benefit low to middle income countries (LMIC).
ODA funding may be subject to unavoidable changes in value or availability. These changes may potentially be communicated at short notice.
Stage 1 Research and Development contracts will be up to £2 million, inclusive of VAT, for each project, for up to 24 months. We expect to fund up to 30 projects.
Up to £30 million may be available for stage 2 projects, for costs of a maximum of £5 million inclusive of VAT, for each project, for up to 3 years.
The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to:
- redefine the funding available
- adjust the provisional funding allocations between the stages
- apply a ‘portfolio’ approach
- in exceptional circumstances withdraw the funding, redefine the individual funding awards or terminate projects before the planned end date
The contract is completed at the end of stage 1. Successful applicants from stage 1, who have had their business case and technical plan approved will be invited into stage 2.
Applications developing standalone assays that are unrelated to specific vaccine development projects are not required to complete a business case and technical plan.
Projects whose business case and technical plan requires improvement, will only be invited into SBRI stage 2, if these are modified and approved before the stage 2 competition process begins.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your project costs.
VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.
VAT registered
If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £2 million.
Not VAT registered
If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £2 million.
Research and development
Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.
R&D does not include:
- commercial development activities such as quantity production
- supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs
- integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes
Subsidy control
Your project
The aim of this competition is to support further development of vaccine candidates, technologies and platforms against identified pathogens of epidemic potential, including Disease X.
This is to progress vaccines towards clinical development and ultimately regulatory approval, to decrease the likelihood of an epidemic outbreak in low and middle-income (LMIC) countries.
This funding is ODA and subject to ODA principles and must benefit low to middle income countries (LMIC)
In stage 1, your project can carry out any distinct work packages that address any part of phase 1 clinical trials, pre-clinical, non-clinical or manufacturing process design.
The UK Vaccine Network has identified priority pathogens in twelve priority viral and bacterial families. Applications for work on other pathogens within these priority families will be considered, as will technology targeting an unknown Disease X. Applications for work on pathogens outside the priority families will not be considered. Vaccine candidates or technologies must target Disease X, or one of the diseases of epidemic potential identified by the UK Vaccine Network (UKVN).
Twelve pathogen families of infectious agents for investment have been prioritised by the UK Vaccine Network Project. Within each priority family, the group has recommended the following priority or exemplar pathogens for which there is an unmet vaccine need as a focus of funding:
Priority pathogen list: viruses
Priority families : Exemplar pathogens
- Arenaviridae: Lassa fever virus
- Coronaviridae: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
- Filoviridae: Marburg virus, Sudan ebolavirus
- Flaviridae: Zika virus
- Hantaviridae: Hantaan virus
- Nairoviridae: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus
- Paramyxoviridae: Nipah virus
- Phenuiviridae: Rift Valley Fever (RVF) virus; Dabie bandavirus (formerly severe fever with thombocytopenia syndrome virus)
- Picornaviridae: Enterovirus 68
- Togaviridae: Chikungunya virus
Priority pathogen list: bacteria
Priority families: Exemplar pathogens
- Coxiellaceae: Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)
- Yersiniaceae: Plague (Yersinia pestis)
The UKVN will not fund research on individual pathogens for which there is an existing licensed vaccine, or a vaccine candidate in advanced stages of development. An exception to this is where it is within a multivalent vaccine candidate which includes pathogens for which there is no licensed vaccine.
UKVN funding will also support vaccine technology development suitable for responses to novel pathogens. These include new or newly recognised or characterised pathogens, Disease X, and known pathogens which have changed substantially and present a serious public health threat.
Applications are also acceptable for work targeting other pathogens within the priority families, where applicants can make the case for an alternative. The exception to this is any proposals for SARS-CoV-2 in the Coronavirus family, for which there are multiple licensed vaccines available, and further research will not be funded through the UKVN.
The UKVN will also not consider any proposals for funding influenza research. This reflects both the existing significant investment in this area, and that the funding would be unlikely to meet the test of ODA eligibility – which is that the primary purpose of the funding is to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries.
You must provide a rationale if your project targets a pathogen not identified as a priority in the specified area.
Vaccine candidates can be for human use or for animal use where there is an animal reservoir of the target pathogens.
Your project must:
- show that you have the required expertise to complete any pre-clinical, clinical or manufacturing work packages to the appropriate time, cost and GxP standards
- have vaccine candidates, platforms and technologies addressing a pathogen in the specified area or Disease X
- describe the candidate vaccines, platforms, technologies, manufacturing technology or supporting research for future vaccine deployment you intend to develop, explaining its relevance to epidemic disease threats, anticipated clinical application and medical value
- demonstrate how the vaccine candidates, platforms, technologies and manufacturing technologies primarily impact and are beneficial to populations in LMICs
- describe how the product or capability would be used, where and by whom, and the impact this is likely to have
- give evidence that the technologies or models are appropriate and fit for purpose
- have a defined and justified intended use
- be Official Development Assistance (ODA) compliant, meaning your project can be carried out in high-income countries, but the primary aim of the research must be to improve the health, welfare or economic development of countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list
- include a milestone for submission of a full business case and technical plan for stage 2, this must be completed no later than month 12 of your project
You must note that the milestone for the business case and the technical plan is different and additional to the technical project summary. Applications developing standalone assays that are unrelated to specific vaccine development projects are not required to complete a business case and technical plan.
Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across different themes for disease and developmental process, technologies and technological maturities. We call this a portfolio approach.
Business case and technical plan
You must read the additional guidance document to help you understand:
- what is needed in your business case and technical plan
- what you need to consider in your business case and technical plan to ensure that the assessors can complete their review
- what we will review in your business case and technical plans as part of the selection process for Stage 2 funding
- information needed to further support the independent technical review of projects seeking Stage 2 funding
- timelines and the process for project selection of this 2-stage SBRI
Specific themes
Your project can focus on, but is not restricted to, one or more of the following:
- work to create a regulatory package suitable for endorsement by the appropriate regulatory or ethical authority, for example the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and ethics committees, to allow future work packages to start as soon as funding is available
- completion of work on pre-clinical, non-clinical and supportive assays and technologies packages to aid the transition from the laboratory to clinical trial-enabling activities
- distinct packages of work to enable vaccine substance manufacture development, clinical development, including assay development, clinical design, and production of regulatory documents
- ideas to increase technical or economic utility or acceptance of vaccines and therefore likely availability or use in LMICs
- improving acceptability or potential deployment of vaccines, including addressing barriers such as vaccine hesitancy
- phase 1 clinical trials in the UK or relevant LMIC
Research categories
Stage 1: Initial technical development
This means planned research or critical investigation to gain new knowledge and for the development of new vaccine candidates or technologies and platforms.
In phase 1 the supplier:
- can deliver distinct packages of work to further develop their vaccine candidate or technology
- will complete and submit a business case and technical plan that includes technical data generated to date, of how the vaccine candidate platform or technologies will be developed in Phase 2 (estimated to be 3 years) and post contract development plans, no later than month 12 of your project
- must add details of what should be considered in the plan, although this might vary depending on the product being developed
- can resubmit a revised business case and technical plan no later than month 19 of your project
Stage 2: Advancing further technical development
This means further planned research or critical investigation, based on the outputs of the technical phase I. This is to gain new knowledge and data to further develop the technical solution including technical phase 1 clinical trials in Target populations.
Projects we will not fund
We will not fund projects that:
- do not include complete pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory or manufacturing work packages delivered to the appropriate time, cost and GxP standards
- do not have appropriate industrial expertise and commercial insight in project design
- have entered funding which is not GBP sterling
- focus on pathogens outside the specified priority families or Disease X
- cannot be undertaken within the working restrictions of coronavirus (COVID 19)
- duplicate other UK government work you have already been funded to deliver
- duplicate existing innovation, or work in progress by others
- are not Official Development Assistance (ODA) compliant
- do not demonstrate how project outputs are likely to be of primary benefit to populations in ODA eligible countries
- have total eligible project costs over the amount allowed
- have not considered ethical and regulatory implications and requirements.
- do not have a dedicated project manager
We may withdraw funding from projects that do not submit a suitable business case and technical plan. This milestone must occur before month 12 of the project. Applications developing standalone assays that are unrelated to specific vaccine development projects are not required to complete a business case and technical plan.
We cannot fund projects that are:
- dependent on export performance, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
- dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product
- 31 May 2023
- Online briefing event at 09.00 am: join here
- 31 May 2023
Presentations from the launch of the vaccine call.
Welcome and aims of the workshop: watch the recording
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: watch the recording
The Global Health Security Consortium: watch the recording
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations: watch the recording
Baillie Gifford - Health Innovation: watch the recording
- 31 May 2023
- Competition opens
- 8 June 2023
- Online briefing event: watch the recording here
- 12 July 2023 11:00am
- Competition closes
- 29 August 2023
- Feedback
- 29 August 2023
- Applicants notified
- 1 October 2023
- Stage 1 contracts awarded
Before you start
By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.
The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.
When you start an application, you will be prompted to create an account as the lead applicant or sign in as a representative of your organisation. Using your account, you will be able to track your applications progress.
As the applicant you are responsible for:
- collecting the information for your application
- representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful
You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application.
What happens next
A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided. Contracts for this stage 1 will then be issued to all successful applicants.
Stage 2 is invitation only to recipients of stage 1 funding and consists of two entry points:
- entry point A will be invitation only for stage 1 projects whose business case and technical plan for stage 2 is acceptable
- entry point B will be open to stage 1 projects whose business case and technical plan requires some improvement, the revised submissions will be subject to assessment
Both entry points in to stage 2 are subject to available funding and a portfolio approach.
For stage 2 assessors can also take into account the stage 1 end-of-stage report. They might ask a number of finalists to attend an interview or give a demonstration.
What we will ask you
The application is split into 3 sections:
1. Project details.
2. Application questions.
3. Finances.
You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.
Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:
- that all the information provided in the application is correct
- your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
- all sections of the application are marked as complete
You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.
Accessibility and inclusion
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. Read more on how we have made our application process accessible and inclusive to everyone.
You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date to ensure we can provide you with the most suitable support possible.
You can contact us by emailing support@iuk.ukri.org or calling 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
1. Project details
This section provides background for your application and is not scored.
Application details
Give your project’s title, start date and duration.
Who made you aware of the competition?
Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.
How long has your organisation been established for?
Select a category to state how long has your organisation been established for. You cannot choose more than one.
What is your organisation’s primary area focus?
Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.
Project and scope summary
Please provide a short summary of your project.
Describe your project briefly. Be clear about how it relates to the scope and aims of the competition.
Give details of the lead organisation. Before you submit, we expect you to have discussed your application within your organisation.
Your answer for this section can be up to 800 words long.
This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it may be rejected.
Public description
Please provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project. This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application.
Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Applicant location
You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.
You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors.
We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.2. Application questions
The assessors will score all of your questions except question 1 which is not scored.
Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any URLs in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video.
Question 1. Themes (not scored)
Select one main disease from the specific disease list in the ‘Scope’ section of this competition.
Vaccine candidates or technologies must target Disease X, or pathogens from one of the following viral or bacterial families identified by the UK Vaccine Network:
Priority families : Exemplar pathogens
- Arenaviridae: Lassa fever virus
- Coronaviridae: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
- Filoviridae: Marburg virus, Sudan ebolavirus
- Flaviridae: Zika virus
- Hantaviridae: Hantaan virus
- Nairoviridae: Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus
- Paramyxoviridae: Nipah virus
- Phenuiviridae: Rift Valley Fever (RVF) virus; Dabie bandavirus (formerly severe fever with thombocytopenia syndrome virus)
- Picornaviridae: Enterovirus 68
- Togaviridae: Chikungunya virus
- Coxiellaceae: Q fever (Coxiella burnetii)
- Yersiniaceae: Plague (Yersinia pestis)
Question 2. Proposed idea or technology
How does the project meet the challenge described in the competition scope?
Provide a description of your proposed idea or technology.
Include a description of the current state of development.
You can submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It can be no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘Does the proposal describe a distinct package of work that will improve the readiness of the vaccine candidate or technology platform for clinical development or regulatory submission?’
Question 3. Technical project summary
What are the main technical challenges you are addressing?
Explain:
- how you will improve the readiness of the vaccine candidate, platform or technology for clinical development or regulatory submission
- evidence for the scientific and commercial merit of the project based on previous research and development
- the main technical deliverables
- what will be achieved on completion of the distinct work package and how it will increase the readiness of the vaccine candidate, platform or technology for future clinical development
This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How valid is the technical approach?’.
Question 4. Intellectual property and freedom to operate
Do you have freedom to operate?
You must explain how you would handle any intellectual property (IP) issues which might arise during the project.
Include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract if you are working with subcontractors.
You must include details of:
- any existing intellectual property (IP)
- its significance to your freedom to operate
- novel concepts you develop or employ
- new approaches or technologies you use
- new tools or technologies
This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: ‘Are there any constraints due to existing intellectual property and have these been mitigated?’
Question 5. Project plan and methodology
Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones.
The emphasis throughout should be on practicality. We are seeking evidence that your project will move the vaccine candidate or technology platform along the development pathway, enhancing its readiness for future clinical development and putting it in a stronger place to obtain future funds.
You must:
- describe resources that will be needed to deliver the project
- describe what the main success criteria will be
- identify the project management processes that will ensure you achieve the milestones
- describe the main technical, commercial and environmental risks and what you will do to mitigate them
- set a milestone to provide a clear business case and technical plan by month 12 of your project
Please note: Applications developing standalone assays that are unrelated to specific vaccine development projects are not required to complete a business case and technical plan.
You must upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Your milestones must:
- be clear
- be defined using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) criteria
- be associated with the appropriate deliverables and payments
- indicate your payment schedule by month
This question will be assessed against these assessment criteria:
- does the proposal show a clear and achievable plan for completing a distinct work package that will advance the vaccine candidate, platform or technologies along the developmental pathway and help the readiness for future clinical development and funding opportunities
- is there a clear management plan and distinct project management role
- what are the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks to the project’s success
- how will these be effectively managed
- are the milestones, success criteria and evaluation procedures appropriate
Please note: information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed milestones and associated payments stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.
Question 6. Technical team and expertise
Who is in the technical team? What expertise do they offer?
Provide a brief description of your technical team, including any subcontractors.
Describe:
- how each organisation has the skills, capabilities, and experience to deliver the intended benefits
- how much of their time will be spent on the project
- the project management role
This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: Does the applicant have the skills, capabilities and experience to deliver the intended benefits?
Question 7. Costs and value for money
How much will the project cost for stage 1? How does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?
Describe:
- the total costs, inclusive of VAT if applicable, you are requesting in terms of the project goals
- how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer
- your expected overall costs for stage 2
Proposed costs stated in this section for stage 1 must match those entered in the finance summary and be appropriately justified.
All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.
You can submit a single appendix as a spreadsheet in PDF format, no larger than 10MB and up to 2 A4 pages long to support your answer. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Progression to stage 2 depends on your success in stage 1.
Please note: all payments are made quarterly in arrears on submission of an invoice. The invoice must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.
Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for SBRI competitions. SBRI is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations. Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.
The assessors are required to judge the application finances in terms of value for money. They will score your finances against this assessment criterion: ‘Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?
Please note information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed costs stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.
Question 8. ODA compliance
This competition is funded from UK Official Development Assistance (ODA). In order to be eligible for ODA funding, the primary purpose of a project must be to benefit the economic development or welfare of one or more countries on the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list. Projects may have secondary benefits beyond ODA eligible countries.
Explain why the project is eligible for ODA funding, including the merits of the technical approach for use in lower resource settings.
This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: ‘How significant is the potential benefit to populations in ODA eligible countries? Are the vaccine candidates or technology platforms appropriate for use in lower resource settings?
Question 9. Pathway to impact
Describe, with appropriate supporting evidence, the potential pathway to positive impact in ODA eligible countries after the lifespan of the award?
This question will be scored against the assessment criterion: ‘Has the project appropriately considered pathways to access the proposed vaccine candidate, platform or technologies for target populations?’
Finances
Enter your stage 1 project costs, organisation details and funding details.
You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your project costs. We advise you answer the VAT registered question first before entering your costs. Your total project costs must not exceed £2 million inclusive of VAT.
If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total.
If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered.
VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and advise you to seek independent advice from HMRC.
For full information on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance.Background and further information
Text update 02/06/2023: We have updated the text in the following paragraph to reflect that this SBRI competition is open to organisations globally.
About Small Business Research Initiative competitions
SBRI provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector. This can lead to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness.
The SBRI programme:
- supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of R&D
- generates new business opportunities for companies
- provides a route to market for their ideas
- bridges the seed funding gap experienced by many early-stage companies
SBRI competitions are open to all eligible organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. Under current regulations, this SBRI contract is open to applications from organisations that are able to show a route to market. The SBRI scheme is particularly suited to small and medium-sized businesses, as the contracts are of relatively small value and operate on short timescales. Developments are 100% funded and focused on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation.
SBRI is a procurement of R&D services. If successful, you will receive a contract to deliver the proposed activity. Costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.
You must submit an invoice for the work undertaken. All payments are made in arrears on submission of an invoice. Invoices must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.
If you are VAT registered, your total costs are expected to include VAT that you would charge as a service provider. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business, and applications are expected to list total costs inclusive of VAT.
Suppliers for each project will be selected by an open competition process and retain the intellectual property generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the contracting authority. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an early customer for a new technology and to fund its development.
You are encouraged to review the information relating to the business case and technical plan.
Data sharing
This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) (each an “agency”).
Any relevant information submitted and 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 DHSC and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:
- the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants
- scoring and feedback on the application
- information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports
Innovate UK and DHSC 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 DHSC will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application. Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy is accessible here.
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.
Next Steps
If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.
You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, the tool that Innovate UK uses to gather necessary information before we can allow your project to begin.
You will need to provide:
- the name and contact details of your project manager and project finance lead
- a redacted copy of your bank details
In order to process your claims, we need to make sure that the bank details you give to us relate to a UK high street bank that is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The account must have a BACS clearing facility and be in the same company name as your application.
If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.
Finance checks
We will carry out checks to make sure you are an established company with access to the funds necessary to complete the project.
You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays. We will also review your milestones, which, if not suitable, will need to be amended during project setup.
Failure to complete project setup may result in your contract being withdrawn.
Your Contract
Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your contract.
The contract will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this before you start your project, and this must be completed within 30 days of being notified your application was successful.
Your contract will show the start date for your project, do not start your project before this date. Any costs incurred before your start date cannot be claimed as part of your contract.
If your application is unsuccessful
If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.
Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.
Further help and guidance
If you want help to find an organisation to work with, contact the Innovate UK KTN.
If you have any questions about the scope requirements of this competition, email support@iuk.ukri.og.
If you need more information about how to apply, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.
Our phone lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).Need help with this service? Contact us