Funding competition Mindset: Extended reality for digital mental health – Strand 2

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £4.5 million across two strands of the competition. This is for industrial research projects that provide immersive digital mental health therapeutic solutions.

• Competition opens: Monday 9 October 2023
• Competition closes: Wednesday 6 December 2023 11:00am

This competition is now closed.

Competition sections

Description

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £4.5 million in innovation projects across the two strands of the competition.

The aim of this competition is to is to develop digital therapeutic Extended Reality (XR) solutions to provide improved delivery of mental health and wellbeing services.

This competition is split into two strands:

• Mindset: Extended reality (XR) for digital mental health – strand 2: Industrial Research (this strand)
• Mindset: Extended reality (XR) for digital mental health – strand 1: Feasibility Studies

Your solution must plan to be applied and trialled following an industrial research cycle of between 6 months and 20 months. It must have the potential to be adopted at scale to form part of the UK’s formal mental healthcare ecosystem.

Your proposal must include the design and features of your solution and how it will be applied.

It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.

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

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s total costs must be between £100,000 and £300,000.

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• have total project costs between £100,000 and £300,000
• last between 6 months and 20 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• start by 1 June 2024
• end by 31 March 2026

If your project has total costs of below £100,000 or above £300,000 you will be made ineligible and will not be sent for assessment.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

Projects must always start on the first of the month and this must be stated within your application. Your project start date will be reflected in your grant offer letter if you are successful.

Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.

Lead organisation

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

You can collaborate with other UK registered organisations, but you are limited to collaborations of no more than five, this includes the lead and up to four partners.

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Academic institutions and RTOs cannot lead or work alone.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and 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 UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and 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 to the total project costs.

Number of applications

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications in this strand of the competition.

A business not leading an application, an academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit, or public sector organisation can be included as a collaborator in up to three applications in this strand of the competition.

Previous applications

You can 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 Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

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 Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must always 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.

Funding

Up to £4.5 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects across the two strands of this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

If 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 but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

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 more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance.

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

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. 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 Je-S registered institution such as an academic
• 100% of your project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to is to develop digital therapeutic Extended Reality (XR) solutions to provide improved delivery of mental health and wellbeing services.

Your project must undertake research and development (R&D), in the form of industrial research, in the application of Extended Reality (XR) to provide mental health care solutions.

Your proposal must specifically explore how digital therapeutic content can provide positive mental health applications and outcomes for young adults (aged 13 and above) or older adults.

Your project must demonstrate that the solution could be applied, trialled and ultimately adopted at scale, to provide a broad benefit to the UK mental health sector.

Portfolio approach
We want to fund a variety of projects across the two competition strands, themes, geographic regions and mental health conditions. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on a digital mental health therapy through the application of Extended Reality (XR).

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• early-stage research
• unsuitable for potential trial following an industrial research cycle of up to 20 months

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

• 9 October 2023: Competition opens
• 12 October 2023: Online briefing event: watch the recording
• 6 December 2023 11:00am: Competition closes
• 22 January 2024: Invite to interview
• 12 February 2024: Interview panel start
• 16 February 2024: Interview panel end
• 23 February 2024: Applicants notified

Before you start

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
• if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1. Project details.
2. Application questions.
3. Finances.
4. Project Impact.

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.

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 12 pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Interviews

If your application passes the first stage of assessment, you may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place online. The date and time of your interview will be included in your invitation.

Before the interview and by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:

• must send a list of who will attend the interview
• must send your interview presentation slides
• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. Up to 5 people from your project can attend, ideally one person from each organisation. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

• use Microsoft PowerPoint
• be no longer than 10 minutes
• have no more than 10 slides
• not include any video or embedded web links

You cannot change the presentation after you submit it or bring any additional materials to the interview.

Written response to assessor feedback

This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:

• be up to 2 A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document
• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend 20 minutes asking questions. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and the response to feedback.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will supersede the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in the competition brief. We will notify you whether you have been successful or not by email and you will receive feedback on your interview within a week of notification.

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

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

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

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 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 all your answers apart from questions 1, 2 and 3. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. 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 and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects who do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes
• No
• In process of being applied for
• Not applicable

Question 3. Video demonstration (not scored)

You must provide a video to describe or show your digital content. You must include an excerpt of your proposed digital XR therapeutic solution.

This question is not scored, but the assessors will use it to understand your project.

You must upload your video to YouTube. It must be no longer than 2 minutes. If your video is over 2 minutes long, only the first 2 minutes will be viewed.

Ensure:

• your video is ‘unlisted’ in the privacy settings
• your video remains available until 1 July 2024
• you give the link and any passwords required in your answer to this question

If we are unable to view your video or it is not hosted on YouTube, your application will be made ineligible.

You can find more information on how to create an unlisted video on YouTube.

The video does not need to be a costly production. It is simply an opportunity to give the assessors clarity in understanding your solution.

If there is content you do not want to include in the video for reasons of confidentiality, explain these in your answer to this section.

Check that your video can be opened with the link and any passwords and can be played before completing your submission.

Your video will be considered together with the responses you give in the other application questions.

If you cannot upload your video to YouTube, you must contact support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes for advice or to ask permission to use an alternative platform.

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 and using our Horizons tool if appropriate

Question 5. Approach and innovation

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

Explain:

• how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
• how you will 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 reports, 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 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
• the details of any vital external parties, including subcontractors, who you will need to work with to successfully carry out the project
• if your project is collaborative, 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

You can submit one appendix, with 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 or markets you are targeting look like?

Describe:

• the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets, either 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
• 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 be
• how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 8. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business 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
• 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 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 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

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 other requirements identified, 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 organisations involved?

Explain:

• what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example, appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market
• the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved
• what other routes of investment or means of support you have already approached and why they were not suitable
• how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding
• 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

3. Finances

Each organisation in your project must complete their 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. You can also view our Application Finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Background and further information

If you are successful in this competition, you may be expected to support evaluation activities.

These can include, engaging with collaboration or knowledge sharing programmes facilitated by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) during the lifetime of your project or the lifetime of the Mindset project portfolio.

These terms will be stated explicitly in your Grant Offer Letter (GOL). You will receive the GOL if you are successful in this competition, and if your project passes the necessary UKRI due diligence at the onboarding phase.

Data sharing

This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK 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.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN.

Support for 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.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by up to 5 independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria.

Standard 11 questions and assessor guidance - Mindset FS and IR.pdf (opens in a new window)

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
• a collaboration agreement, if applicable
• an exploitation plan
  

In order for us to process your claims, you must make sure you have a valid UK bank account. It is possible that it can take several weeks for a new account to be created. We would recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to you project start date.

The bank details you give to us must 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.

Failure to complete project setup may result in your grant offer being withdrawn.

Your Grant offer letter (GOL)

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your GOL.

The GOL will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.

You must not start your project before the date stated on your email and GOL. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your grant.

If your GOL is approved on or before the fifteenth of the month it will be dated from the first of that month. If your GOL is approved after the fifteenth, it will be dated the first of the next month.

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.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Need help with this service? Contact us