Funding competition Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academic

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £110 million to deliver ambitious research and innovation and develop future leaders. This funding is from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

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Competition sections

Description

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £110 million through Future Leaders Fellowships Round 11. A proportion of this budget will support applicants hosted in business and non-academic organisations, administered by Innovate UK on behalf of UKRI. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

The aim of this competition is to:

  • provide sustained funding and resources for talented individuals with the potential to become future leaders in research and innovation
  • enable individuals to establish an independent research or innovation career
  • support the development of leadership capability
  • enable the delivery of high quality, impactful and ambitious work aligned with UK strategic priorities

A Future Leaders Fellow, working with their host organisation, will receive at least four years of funding to pursue an ambitious programme of innovation. The fellow will also have access to tailored opportunities and resources to develop their career as a future leader in their field.

Your proposal must clearly set out how the fellowship will accelerate your development as an independent leader and how your programme of work will deliver meaningful benefits for the UK.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.

Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 13% chance of success.

We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny.

We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project’s total eligible grant funding request must be between £100,000 and £3 million.

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 making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

  • have a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £3 million
  • last for 4 years, with an option to extend for a further three years
  • not start before October 2027

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

International partners and work overseas is allowed with full justification.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

If your project’s 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 then decide whether to approve your request.

If you project does not meet our criteria and you have not requested justification approval, your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment.

If the total cost of your application is expected to exceed £1.4 million, email the FLF team to inform us of the expected cost of your proposal. This soft cap has been put in place to help monitor application costs across the scheme. Applicants can exceed this cap if all costs are fully justified and are considered good value for money by the panel.

Email the team at fellows@ukri.org using the subject header ‘Application over £1.4 million’, you will receive an automated response acknowledging your email.

Lead organisation

To host a Future Leaders Fellowship project your organisation must be a:

  • UK registered business of any size
  • charity
  • not for profit
  • public sector organisation
  • agri-tech centre
  • eligible research organisation

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

Research organisations eligible to receive UKRI funding cannot apply to host a fellowship through this application form. Fellowship applications for these organisations must be made through the UKRI funding service. This does not apply to Catapult centres; Catapult centres must apply for this competition through this application form.

Project team

Fellow: You must demonstrate that you have the skills, knowledge and experience required to deliver the proposed project.

Your application must evidence readiness to lead an ambitious programme of research or innovation and include a clear plan for leadership development. This applies regardless of academic qualifications.

You do not need to hold a PhD, and there are no eligibility rules based on the number of years since your PhD. If you do not hold a PhD, you must be able to demonstrate equivalent research or innovation experience or training.

Future Leaders Fellowships are open to researchers and innovators from outside the UK, with the support of an eligible UK‑based host organisation. Researchers and innovators may be eligible for a Global Talent visa under the ‘exceptional promise’ category for future research and innovation leaders.

Future Leaders Fellowships offer flexibility to support outstanding individuals, including those:

  • from diverse career backgrounds
  • returning from a career break, or returning to research or innovation following time in other roles
  • wishing to work part‑time or in job shares to combine the fellowship with personal responsibilities

Fellows may spend up to 50% of their time on other activities that are not funded by the fellowship, where these activities are demonstrated to benefit or be necessary for their career development. Such activities may include business as usual responsibilities, other grant funding, or ongoing contracts. No additional salary may be claimed for non‑FLF activities during the fellowship.

Where a Fellow spends less than 100% of their time on the fellowship, the duration of the award may be extended on a pro‑rata basis, up to the maximum permitted duration, subject to approval.

Applicants interested in applying as a job share should contact fellows@ukri.org.

Partners: To ensure leadership remains with you as the Fellow, the involvement of partners should be limited to a maximum of six months over the lifetime of the fellowship.

Partners are only permitted when bringing complementary and different skills to the project. Their role should be clearly defined in the application.

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 the IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs in the application.

Partners are permitted from UK or abroad for six months over the lifetime of the project.

FLF is designed to help you develop and lead your own independent research or innovation vision. Because of this, we do not normally expect senior staff or established innovators to be costed on the fellowship. In most cases, senior input should be provided through mentoring, advisory, or supervisory roles rather than paid staff time.

Requests to include partners must be clearly justified. You should explain:

  • why their involvement is essential to delivering your programme
  • the distinct expertise they provide that cannot be met through mentoring or advisory support
  • how you will maintain leadership and ownership of the work

Partners must:

  • receive the same salary and conditions as staff at the organisation they are employed with
  • claim salary costs only for their time on the project

All costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible 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 cannot use subcontractors 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 eligible project costs.

Number of applications

A fellow can only lead on one application.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Human Participation:

Applicants applying for research grants involving human participants will need to complete a Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Template (SoECAT).

Full guidance and the template to be submitted can be found in the Online SoECAT Guidance | NIHR.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

You can resubmit an application previously submitted to the Future Leaders Fellowship programme. You will be asked to identify your application as a resubmission in your application form. You must indicate within your application where changes have been made to address previous feedback.


We will not award you funding if you have:

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is 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. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies 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 not do anything which could cause a breach of Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £110 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this round of the programme. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million can be awarded in the form of a grant to any one enterprise in any one competition.

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, experimental development and innovation support you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

Category 2 Industrial research projects

Funding available 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

Category 2 Experimental development projects which are nearer to market

Funding available 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, 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.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Organisations not undertaking economic activity may receive 100% of eligible project costs. See further details below.

Overheads

FLF will only fund overheads at 20% of labour costs.

Research participation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 100% 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 100% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

  • 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation
  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you an academic institution

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

1.Research organisations must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method as the Je-S form has now been decommissioned.

2.We pay 100% of the 80% Full Economic Cost (FEC). On IFS only enter the 80% being claimed.

To find out more see our: Cost Guidance for Academics.

Your proposal

Text update 12 June 2026: additional information added for clarity.

The aim of this competition is to:

  • provide sustained funding and resources for talented individuals with the potential to become future leaders in research and innovation
  • enable individuals to establish an independent research or innovation career
  • support the development of leadership capability
  • enable the delivery of high quality, impactful and ambitious work aligned with UK strategic priorities

Your project must:

  • clearly set out an ambitious programme of work that will deliver meaningful benefits for the UK
  • go beyond business as usual and show clear novelty
  • include a clear leadership development plan that will accelerate your development as an independent leader
  • include explicit host commitments, such as protected time, access to facilities and senior mentorship

Your project can:

  • be made up of a single programme of work, or multiple projects led by the Fellow, known as a ‘Portfolio Fellowship’
  • be altered once underway to react to changes in the research landscape, capitalise on advance in understanding, or react to changing business needs

Intellectual property (IP)

All participants in the scheme and their host organisations are required to give due regard to the appropriate protection of any IP arising from the project. You must describe effective routes to exploitation which have the potential to achieve maximum benefit for the UK economy and wider society.

Portfolio approach

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

If there is an evidenced need, UKRI may make appropriate and proportionate interventions, including in final funding decisions. This is in accordance with their duty to advance equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This may include using the EDI monitoring data provided by lead applicants in the decision making process for interview selections.

Specific themes

Proposals are invited from all areas of research and innovation, including:

Research and innovation are considered in the fullest sense, including business, creative, cultural, service and knowledge-based sectors.

Research categories

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

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

  • submitted by senior innovators, meaning individuals already running significant programmes or teams, or holding substantial leadership roles where FLF funding would not accelerate leadership development
  • supporting business as usual activities

We cannot fund projects that are:

  • dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product
22 June 2026
Competition opens
26 June 2026
Online briefing event: register to attend
(Briefing slides will be available to download from Supporting Information after the event)
4 November 2026 11:00am
Competition closes
30 April 2027
Invite to interview
1 May 2027
Interview panel start
31 May 2027
Interview panel end
31 July 2027
Applicants notified
1 October 2027
Project start from

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 responsibility of the fellow that started the application 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 three sections:

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

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 making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

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

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

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 can 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 to 11. 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.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

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 more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 2. Host organisation (not scored)

You must provide the name and role of your host organisation contact.

Your answer can be up to 200 words long.

Question 3. Core team members (not scored)

List the core members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

  • fellow
  • partner
  • visiting researcher
  • specialist
  • technician
  • subcontractor

Only list one individual as the fellow.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 4. Non-funded project partners (not scored)

Will your proposed research include non-funded partners?

A non-funded project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect contributions, for example, expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No

If you answer ‘yes’ you must add details of non-funded project partners’ contributions and letters of support as an appendix.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer which must include:

  • the non-funded project partners organisation name and address
  • the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value
  • letters or emails of support, which must be on headed paper and signed by each of the non-funded partners you are including: these must be in English or Welsh only

The appendix must be a PDF and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

For audit purposes UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made

Question 5. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 6. 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 which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

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

Question 7. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

International collaboration is permitted with justification that the majority of the work and exploitation must be in the UK.

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 8. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No

Question 9. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

  • a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research
  • a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
  • whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications
  • a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 10. Resubmissions (not scored)

Is this application a resubmission of a proposal to the Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) scheme?

If this application is a resubmission, you must provide the grant reference of your previous submission and briefly outline changes that have been made to your application. You can also include how this submission addresses feedback from reviewers and interview panel where applicable.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Question 11. Reduced hours (not scored)

Do you wish to take your fellowship as reduced hours?

Type “Yes” or “No”. If requesting reduced hours, you must provide a percentage of the hours in relationship to 'full time' (100%) and justification for this.

Your answer can be up to 100 words long.

Question 12. Vision

What are your plans for the fellowship?

Explain:

  • the main motivation for your project
  • how your proposed work is of excellent quality and is timely
  • the business need, technological challenge, organisational objective 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 potential direct or indirect benefits of your innovation and who the beneficiaries might be

Your answer can be up to 1500 words long.

Question 13. 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

Your answer can be up to 1500 words long.

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 14. Your capability to deliver

Why are you the right person to deliver this work?

Explain:

  • who you are, your experience and how it makes you an excellent candidate for FLF funding
  • how your skills will allow you to deliver the work
  • how you have contributed to developing a positive working environment and wider innovation community
  • how you have demonstrated team working or leadership skills
  • any roles you will need to recruit for

You must frame your response using the following headings:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit

You can provide further details relevant to your application that do not fit within the specified headings. Describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your response such as, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them.

Please see external link to Peer Exchange Platform, this may guide your response: PEPCV (mariecuriealumni.eu)

Your answer can be up to 1650 words long.

Question 15. Career development

Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others?

Describe:

  • your career development goals and how the fellowship will support your personal development and help you to achieve these goals
  • how you will develop skills, for example, in research, leadership, communication, and management
  • your proposed mentoring arrangements and how they are appropriate to support your career development
  • how you will support your team in their continued research and professional development
  • how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community through, for example, equality diversity and inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in peer review, influencing policy, public engagement or outreach

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

Question 16. Host organisation support

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

Explain:

  • how your host will support you in your career development and delivery of your innovation
  • how your research or innovation environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the fellowship
  • how the host organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected
  • what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations as a future leader
  • what financial or practical support, such as, access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application
  • details of any fellowship work to be conducted at another UK or overseas host organisation and how they will support you, if applicable

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

Question 17. Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

What are the ethical and RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work?

You must demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

You must explain why, if you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues.

You must complete the attached template and additional animal research question template.

If your proposed work involves human or animal participation, you must complete the required information in the templates.

If this is not applicable you must upload a blank template stating ‘template not applicable’ in your answer to the question.

You must upload the templates as a PDF with a file size of up to 10MB. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 500 words long.

Question 18. 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 no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your answer can be up to 500 words long.

Question 19. 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

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 20. Added value

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your innovation. What impact would this fellowship have on your career development that another grant would not?

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
  • how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding
  • how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved

Your answer can be up to 500 words long.

Question 21. 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 eligible 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
  • any NHS costs

For more information on NHS costs please see the SoECAT guidance.

You must fully justify your project’s larger costs, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration, not including regular travel between collaborating organisations or conferences
  • any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
  • any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • training costs
  • all resources that have been costed as ‘exceptions’

Demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts 

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

Question 22. Data Management and Sharing

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?

Explain how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Your answer can be up to 1000 words long.

3. Finances

Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.

Academic institutions must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method and upload to IFS to support their costs. This is a replacement to the Je-S form which has now been decommissioned.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by three 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.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

Interviews

Written response to assessor feedback

If your application progresses to the shortlisting panel you will have the opportunity to respond to the assessor’s feedback. Your response to feedback must be a single PDF or Word document up to a maximum of three A4 pages and can include charts and diagrams.

Your response to assessor feedback will be considered by the shortlisting panel, who will make the recommendation for the applicants to be invited to interview.

Interview

An expert interview panel will conduct interviews with invited applicants after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

We expect interviews to be held in May 2027. If you are selected for an interview, we will contact you with details of the time and date of interview. Interviews will last for up to an hour and will require a short presentation.

Background and further information

Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) support talented people working across universities, businesses, and other research and innovation environments. The scheme enables organisations to develop and retain their most promising early career researchers and innovators, or to attract new talent, including from overseas.

Facilities:

You can request access to research organisation facilities. Follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.

Facilities and resources – BBSRC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – EPSRC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – ESRC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – NERC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – MRC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – STFC – UKRI

Facilities and resources – Innovate UK – UKRI

Some facilities also require a technical assessment, which should be obtained by contacting the relevant facility prior to submitting an application to discuss usage. You do not need to submit these documents with your application, but we will contact you to provide them if your application is successful.

NERC British Antarctic Survey ship time and aircraft requests:

For requests relating to ship and aircraft request note that these can take up to three months and approvals will need to be sought in advance of applying.

Antarctic Logistic Support – UKRI

How to apply for marine facilities – UKRI

Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme Information

This award is being offered under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme in accordance with section 10(4) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Projects funded must meet the following definition(s):

Category 2: Industrial research​

​The planned research or critical investigation that is aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. It can also be for projects that are aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. ​

This would include digital products, processes or services, in any technology, industry or sector (including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as super-computing, quantum technologies, block chain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies). ​

Industrial research comprises the creation of component parts of complex systems. It may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines. Where necessary, this would be for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation.​

Category 2: Experimental development

Means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. ​

This includes:

  • digital products
  • processes or services in any technology, industry or sector, including but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, for example, super-computing
  • quantum technologies
  • block chain technologies
  • artificial intelligence
  • cyber security
  • big data
  • cloud or edge technologies ​

This may also encompass, for example, activities aimed at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.​

Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. This would be where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. ​

This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessary for the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes. ​

Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements. ​

Briefing recording and slides

Briefing recording and slides will be available to download here after the briefing event.

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

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.

Find a project partner

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

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK and UKRI (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 UKRI and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

Innovate UK and UKRI may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK and UKRI 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, Innovate UK Business Connect and UKRI will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

UKRI’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

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 UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.

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