Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to invest a total of up to £4million in innovation projects. These will enable transition to net zero for the automotive, rail, or maritime transportation sectors.
The aim of this competition is to foster and support collaborative research and development (CR&D) through Canadian and UK partnerships. Your proposal must demonstrate high potential for commercialisation, address a technological challenge and target large global markets.
The total grant for all UK partners can be up to £300,000 for each application. NRC IRAP will provide a contribution of up to CA$500,000 to each eligible Canadian SME participating in the project.
Canadian funding applicants are required to register and submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) before being eligible to apply for this competition.
The registration deadline for Canadian SMEs is 9 May 2022.
Canadian funding applicants who do not complete an EoI and have not been invited to proceed will not be eligible for funding through this competition.
Your project must:
Projects should have a balanced contribution of the total eligible project costs among the partners from the participating partner countries.
No one country or project partner can represent more than 70% of the total project cost.
The majority of the project work must be undertaken in the UK and Canada.
Your proposal must demonstrate a clear intention to commercially exploit the results of the project domestically or globally.
You must only include eligible project costs in your application.
To lead a project your organisation must be either:
or
Your collaboration must include at least one grant claiming UK registered sme and one eligible Canadian registered SME.
Academic institutions and research and technology organisations (RTOs) cannot lead.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following:
Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and UK registered organisations must enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.
Applicants from UK academic institutions or RTOs cannot claim more than 30% of the UK’s total grant requested.
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding. Their costs must be included in the total project costs.
Canadian project participants who are not eligible for funding (including researchers from the National Research Council of Canada) are welcome to collaborate as additional participants on a self‑funded basis or as subcontractors.
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition, but are limited to no more than 20% of your organisation’s total eligible costs.
The aim of this competition is to foster and support collaborative research and development (CR&D) through Canadian and UK partnerships.
Your joint Canadian and UK project must focus on innovations that enable transition to net zero transportation, for the automotive, rail, or maritime sectors. Your project can address on-vehicle, including locomotives, or on-vessel technologies, processes, or technology-based services.
This competition covers 4 themes in net zero on-vehicle or on-vessel technologies:
1. Low and zero emission propulsion.
2. Advanced sustainable materials and manufacturing.
3. Highly disruptive technologies.
4. Assistive technologies and control systems.
Technology transfer projects from other transport or energy sectors, or projects that span across multiple sectors are welcome.
A project in the automotive sector can cover both niche and mainstream on-road vehicles and off-road vehicles, including mopeds, motorcycles, passenger and goods vehicles and trailers, agricultural, construction vehicles, and special use vehicles.
A project in the rail sector can target all locomotive classes including those for freight and passenger carrying services and carriages.
A project in the maritime sector can include a range of ship types from small vessels to large cargo carriers.
Your project must:
We want to fund a portfolio of projects, across the themes and a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities, research categories and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations.
Your application must focus on at least one of the following themes. If your project spans more than one theme, you must select the one that reflects the majority of work and clearly state the other themes within your application.
If your application does not directly fit with the themes described below, you can contact Innovate UK or NRC IRAP International Office who will be able to advise on eligibility.
Your project can focus on one or more of the examples listed for each theme.
1. Low and zero emission propulsion:
2. Advanced sustainable materials and manufacturing:
3. Highly disruptive technologies:
4. Assistive technologies and control systems:
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