Funding competition UK Israel open collaborative competition 2018

UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop innovative technologies targeting global markets in partnership with Israeli companies.

This competition is now closed.

Register and apply online

Competition sections

Description

UK and Israel are announcing a joint funding competition under the EUREKA framework. This will support collaborative, business led research and development (R&D) projects which should result in a new product, industrial process or service. Projects must be innovative, involve a technological risk and target large global markets.

We welcome proposals from any technological or market area.

The national funding agencies will fund their respective participants in the projects. Please contact your agency for further guidance.

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation.

UK contact details

Innovate UK Customer Support Services : support@innovateuk. ukri.org

Israel contact details

Israel Innovation Authority:

ISERD

Mr. Uzi Bar-Sadeh

Tel: +972-3-5118185

Email: uzi@iserd.org.il

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

Funding type

Grant

Project size

UK project total eligible costs are expected to be between £200,000 and £250,000. Projects are expected to last up to 24 months.

Who can apply

To be eligible for funding your collaboration must:

  • be led by a UK business of any size
  • include at least one business in the UK and at least one in Israel

The Israeli partner or partners must be separate, non-linked legal entities from the UK partners.

Research organisations, including universities, are welcome to participate as subcontractors, according to each country’s funding regulations. For UK partners sub-contracting is allowed for up to 20% of total project costs.

Each partner must carry out the majority of their funded work within the country from which they receive funding. That is the UK for Innovate UK and Israel for the Israel Innovation Authority funding.

Any UK business claiming funding must be eligible to receive state aid at point of award. If you are unsure please take legal advice. For further information please see our general guidance.

Organisations from other EUREKA member states can participate provided:

  • your project meets the minimum participation levels for UK and Israel organisations
  • the partners have secured funding

Funding

UK

For UK participants we have allocated up to £1 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

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

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small business
  • up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
  • up to 50% if you are a large business

This competition provides state aid funding under the General Block Exemption Regulation. It is your responsibility to make sure that your organisation is eligible to receive state aid.

Israel

The Israeli funding support is in the form of a conditional grant. This generally amounts to up to 50% plus regional incentives for companies located in the designated ’development zones’ of the eligible R&D budget. You can find out more about development zones, grants and payment of royalties from the Israel Innovation Authority website.

Your proposal

This competition provides innovation research and development (R&D) funding for industrial research projects.

Your proposal must demonstrate:

  • a clear game-changing and/or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
  • a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses (and documents) market potential and needs
  • a team, business arrangement or working structure with the necessary skills and experience to run and complete the project successfully and on time
  • awareness of all the main risks the project will face (including contractor or equipment failure, recruitment delays and so on) with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each
  • sound, practical financial plans and timelines
  • good value for money which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions
  • a clear, evidence based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
  • clear, considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK and Israeli economies and/or national productivity
  • the benefit of participants from the 2 countries working together
  • how this adds value

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

  • have non-civilian applications
  • do not include at least one UK based business and one Israel based business
19 November 2018
Competition opens
27 November 2018
Briefing event.
27 February 2019 12:00pm
Registration closes
11 March 2019 12:00pm
Competition closes
9 August 2019
Applicants notified

Before you start

You should read the guidance for applicants for this competition.

There are 3 stages to the submission and assessment procedures

This is a description of the UK application process only. Further details are available in the Innovate UK general guidance for applicants.

Stage 1

The lead applicant must download and complete the EUREKA project application form on behalf of their consortium.

Email the form to projects@eurekanetwork.org. The subject line must be: UK and Israel open competition 2018. The form must be submitted simultaneously to Innovate UK and the Israel Innovation Authority by 11 March 2019.

You must also submit your application form and supporting documents by clicking the green register button above. You will create an account on a secure FTP site in order to submit your application form to Innovate UK.

Applications will be checked for eligibility by the EUREKA National Project Coordinators.

Only give costs and duration for the implementation phase. You can leave the definition phase empty on the application.

Stage 2

Independent assessment will take place in both the UK and Israel.

Stage 3

A joint UK and Israel consensus panel will agree which projects to fund. The EUREKA Network will decide which of the successful projects are put forward for a EUREKA label.

The Israel Innovation Authority and Innovate UK will make the final decision on which projects to fund.

Background and further information

EUREKA is an intergovernmental network launched in 1985. Its aim is to support market-oriented R&D and innovation projects by industry, research centres and universities across all technological sectors. It is composed of 41 member states, including the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and 3 associated states:

  • Canada
  • South Africa
  • Chile

There is also a partner country, South Korea.

(Text update 12 February 2019: we have changed the list of countries above to add Chile to the associated states and describe South Korea as a partner country rather than an associated state.)

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

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

The joint UK-Israel call for proposals is an initiative between Innovate UK and the Israel Innovation Authority which results from the 2017 MOU between the 2 countries in industrial collaboration

If you want help to find a project partner, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network. Or the Enterprise Europe Network.

If you need more information, contact the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 or email us at support@innovateuk.ukri.org

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