Funding competition UKRI Ideas to address COVID-19 – Innovate UK Temp F’work Aug 2020

UK registered businesses and RTOs can apply for funding for short-term projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding is from UKRI.

Competition opens: Friday 31 July 2020
Competition closes: Monday 14 September 2020 4:45pm

This competition is now closed.

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Description

The aim of this competition is to address and mitigate the health, social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Your proposal must:

describe the approach you will take and put it in the context of the national response to COVID-19. International collaboration is permitted, so long as the research is of relevance to the UK
explain the level of urgency, and why the activity is important now
demonstrate that the proposal has the necessary critical mass to make a difference
demonstrate a clear route to impact within the timescale of the project
confirm whether the research requires any access to the health and care system and if so, describe how you will comply with the newly established National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) single, national process for prioritisation of COVID-19 research studies
provide evidence that the host institution or business supports the proposal
provide evidence the research can be carried out under present institutional or business restriction

We are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities and research categories.

Where relevant, demonstrate the strength of links to relevant decision makers.

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

Funding type

Grant

Project size

UKRI has not set a limit on project size, but maximum grant size is determined by the type of project and the type of organisation under state-aid regulations.

Who can apply

State aid

Continuity grants are a form of state aid under the COVID-19 Temporary Framework for the UK.

If you are offered funding under the EU Temporary Framework, you must complete and return the Grant Offer Letter by 31 December 2020. This is a condition of the EU Temporary Framework and grants will not be awarded if this deadline is not met.

It is your responsibility to make sure that your organisation is eligible to receive aid under the EC temporary framework. We strongly recommend that you seek independent legal advice before applying into, and accepting the terms of, this funding award.

Innovate UK will manage a series of competitions as part of the UKRI COVID-19 programme. Each competition will be open for approximately four weeks.

Once you start an application, you must complete it by the competition deadline. We will not process an incomplete application.

As this is a fast-track programme, you will not be allowed to apply to a later competition with the same project.

Your project

Your project must:

have total eligible costs within the state-aid limits described in the funding section
be no longer than 18 months in duration

be able to be carried out under current restrictions due to COVID-19

Lead organisation

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
carry out its project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

If the lead organisation is an RTO it must collaborate with at least two businesses of any size.

Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

Find out which definition your organisation falls into.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must:

be a UK registered business, academic institution, charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation, research and technology organisation (RTO)
carry out its project work in the UK
intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
be invited by the lead organisation

For collaborations,the lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding by entering their costs during the application.

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Partners must enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.

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 eligible project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. Where subcontractors are non-UK based, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative. We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Multiple applications

When a business or RTO leads on an application it can collaborate in a further 2 applications.

If a business is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to 3 applications.

If an RTO is not leading any application, it can collaborate in any number of applications.

An academic institution can collaborate on any number of applications.

Previous applications

Resubmissions

You cannot use a resubmission to apply for this competition.

Failure to exploit

If you applied to a previous competition as the lead or sole organisation and were awarded funding by Innovate UK or UK Research and Innovation, but did not make a substantial effort to exploit that award, we will award no more funding to you, in this or any other competition. You will not be able to contest our decision. We will:

assess your efforts in the previous competition against your exploitation plan for that project
review the monitoring officers’ reports and any other relevant sources for evidence
document our decision, which will be made by 3 team members, and communicate it to you in writing

Previous projects

Under the terms of Innovate UK funding, you must submit an independent accountant’s report (IAR) with your final claim. If you or any organisation in your consortium failed to submit an IAR on a previous project, we will not award funding to you in this or any other competition until we have received the documents.

Funding

There is no fixed budget to fund innovation projects in this competition or the additional 2 strands

UKRI Ideas to address COVID-19 – Article 25 funding
UKRI Ideas to address COVID-19 – De minimis funding
UKRI Ideas to address COVID-19 – EU Temporary framework funding (this strand)

The EU has put in place a temporary framework with a higher and simpler funding intensity limit of 80% for grants for any projects addressing COVID-19, such as those under this call. This enables payment of up to €800,000 towards eligible project costs. If you applied for any other funding under the temporary framework this will count as part of the maximum €800,000 project costs.

Aid may be granted to undertakings that were not in difficulty (within the meaning of Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation 21) on 31 December 2019, but that faced difficulties or entered into difficulty thereafter as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Micro and small companies are exempt from this test unless:

they are in insolvency proceedings
have received rescue aid that has not been repaid
or are subject to a restructuring plan under State aid rules

Unless you are exempt as a micro or small company, you must complete a state aid declaration in question 1 to confirm that your organisation was not an undertaking in difficulty as of 31 December 2019.

The cumulative aid that any organisation may receive under the Temporary Framework must not exceed €800,000 in total. All applicants must provide a simple declaration to this effect. This will be uploaded as an appendix to Question 1.

Please refer to the temporary framework, the first amendment and second amendment to the framework and a summary of these amendments. There are specific terms and conditions under the Temporary Framework, including potential clawback of the award, so it is important that you review these and satisfy yourself that this is the best route for your business.

The research organisations, or RTOs, undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 50% 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.

Your proposal

The aim of this competition is to address and mitigate the health, social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Your proposal must:

describe the approach you will take and put it in the context of the national response to COVID-19. explain the level of urgency, and why the activity is important now
demonstrate that the proposal has the necessary critical mass to make a difference
demonstrate a clear route to impact within the timescale of the project.
where relevant, demonstrate the strength of links to relevant decision makers.
confirm whether the research requires any access to the health and care system and if so, describe how you will comply with the newly established National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) single, national process for prioritisation of COVID-19 research studies
provide evidence that the host institution or business supports the proposal and that the research can be carried out under present institutional or business restriction
address the sudden shortage or unavailability of finance arising from the coronavirus outbreak

We are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of:

technologies
markets,
technological maturities
research categories

In assessing projects’ impact, we will take a balanced view between very significant clinical or public health outcomes and market impact.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding:

projects to directly mitigate the effects of the pandemic on specific institutions and businesses
applications that were previously submitted to the UKRI ‘Ideas to address COVID-19’ call, but which were declined.
proposals we deem more appropriate to other existing funding calls and/or other research funders
longer term research proposals that address the COVID-19 emergency or future pandemics that do not meet the urgency guidelines should be submitted through normal responsive mode

31 July 2020: Competition opens
14 September 2020 4:45pm: Competition closes
21 October 2020 4:02pm: Applicants notified

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Innovate UK is unable to award grant funding to organisations meeting the condition known as undertakings in difficulty unless you are an exempt micro or small company.

What we ask you

The application is split into 3 sections:

Project details.
Application questions.
Finances.

1. Project details

This section provides background for the assessors and is not scored.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We collect and report on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data to address under-representation in business innovation and ensure equality, diversity and inclusion across all our activities.

You must complete this EDI survey and select yes as your answer. The survey will ask you questions on your gender, age, ethnicity and disability status. You will always have the option to ‘prefer not to say’ if you do not feel comfortable sharing this information.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign 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 eligible for funding. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.”. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score your answers. You will receive feedback from them for each one.

Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

1.. Declarations

You must state in your answer:

how this funding will ensure that your portion of the project will be able to be completed
how you will manage the staff needed to continue this project (including returning staff from furlough)

Using the attached template you must tell us about any other awards you have received under the temporary COVID-19 framework. The maximum amount of cumulative aid you can claim under the temporary framework is €800,000. You must also evidence that you were not an undertaking in difficulty as of 31 December 2019 unless you are exempt.

If you are exempt as a micro or small company from the UID declaration, then you only need to complete the declaration on cumulative aid.

Please download the declaration provided, complete and sign this and re-upload it as an appendix to this question.

You can submit your declaration as one PDF appendix.

Question 2. Need or challenge

What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?

Describe or explain:

the main motivation for the project
the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity
the nearest current state-of-the-art, including those near market or in development, and its limitations
any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one
the wider economic, social, environmental, cultural or political challenges which are influential in creating the opportunity, such as incoming regulations, using our Horizons tool if appropriate

Question 3. Approach and innovation

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

Describe or explain:

how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified
how you will improve on the nearest current state-of-the-art identified
whether the innovation will focus on the application of existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas or a totally disruptive approach
the freedom you have to operate
how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings
how it will make you more competitive
the nature of the outputs you expect from the project (for example report, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design) and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified

You can submit one appendix. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10 MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 4. Team and resources

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Describe or 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 sub-contractors, 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. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 4 A4 pages long and 10 MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 5. Market awareness

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Describe or explain:

the markets (domestic, international or both) you will be targeting in the project, and any other potential markets
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 to be
how your project will try to explore the market’s potential

Question 6. Outcomes and route to market

How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?

Describe or 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 7. 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 8. Project management

How will you manage the project effectively?

Describe or explain:

the main work packages of the 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 and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10 MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 9. Risks

What are the main risks for this project?

Describe or explain:

the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks, providing a risk register if appropriate
how you will mitigate these risks
any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, data sets
any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and so on, and how you will manage this

You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to 2 A4 pages long and 10 MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Question 10. Added value

What impact would an injection of public funding have on the businesses involved?

Describe or explain:

whether this project could go ahead in any form without public funding and if so, the difference the public funding would make, such as a faster route to market, more partners or reduced risk
the likely impact of the project on the businesses of the partners involved
why you are not able to wholly fund the project from your own resources or other forms of private-sector funding, and what would happen if the application is unsuccessful
how this project would change the nature of R&D activity the partners would undertake, and the related spend

Question 11. 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 the project goals, describe or explain:

the total eligible project costs
the grant you are requesting
how each partner will finance their contributions to the 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 sub-contractor costs and why they are critical to the project
how you are addressing a shortage or unavailability of finance arising from the Coronavirus outbreak

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.

Background and further information

Extra help

The Knowledge Transfer Network’s (KTN’s) Good Application Guide aims to help you prepare the best application for Innovate UK competitions. This guide has been produced by KTN to supplement the official Innovate UK Guidance for Applicants. In addition to the guide, contact KTN for support in finding project partners and providing independent, objective feedback on your application.

If you need more information about how to apply email support@innovateuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Enterprise Europe Network

If you are a UK SME and successful in receiving an award, you will be contacted by your local Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) Innovation Advisor. They act on behalf of Innovate UK to discuss the growth opportunities for your business.

They offer bespoke business support services to help you maximise your project and business potential. This service forms part of your Innovate UK offer under our commitment to help UK SMEs grow and scale.

Please engage positively with your EEN contact so that, working together, you can determine the most appropriate form of growth support for your business.

Need help with this service? Contact us