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The National Materials Innovation Programme: CR&D Round 1 is providing up to £12 million to support collaborative industrial research projects that accelerate the development, translation and adoption of advanced materials innovations.
The competition forms part of the UK's National Materials Innovation Programme and is intended to strengthen advanced manufacturing, unlock strategic materials opportunities and improve competitiveness across the UK's eight growth-driving sectors.
Projects must focus primarily on a significant materials innovation and show how it can overcome a clear technical barrier, deliver improved performance or functionality, and move towards commercial deployment in the UK.
Key Dates and Funding
Opens: 1 September 2026
Closes: 28 October 2026
Funding: £500,000 to £1 million in grant funding per project
For industrial research, businesses can receive up to:
Projects must last between 18 and 30 months.
What Does the Competition Support?
The programme supports innovations involving advanced materials where the project is focused on improving or applying the material itself, rather than simply developing digital tools around it.
Eligible materials innovation can include:
Projects should demonstrate improved performance, functionality, productivity, competitiveness or sustainability and must also explain how the innovation contributes to wider UK net zero objectives.
Priority Themes
Projects must align with one of four themes and at least one associated sub-theme.
Theme 1: Future Healthcare Solutions
Theme 2: Structural Materials Innovation
Theme 3: Power Electronics and Connectivity
Theme 4: Metamaterials and Metasurfaces
Who Can Apply?
The project must be led by a UK-registered business of any size.
The consortium must include at least one UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise claiming grant funding.
Other eligible UK collaborators can include:
The lead and at least one other organisation must request funding, and no single organisation can account for more than 70% of total project costs.
End User Requirement
A particularly important requirement is the involvement of at least one named end user operating within one of the UK's eight growth-driving sectors.
The end user must be further downstream in the supply chain and directly use or benefit from the materials innovation. This could include an OEM, Tier 1 supplier or another industrial user.
The end user must have a defined role within the project's governance or work plan. A simple letter of support or other written evidence of interest is not enough.
This means applicants need to demonstrate genuine end-user involvement rather than simply showing that there may be future market interest.
Project Requirements
Projects must:
Subcontracting is allowed but cannot exceed 30% of total eligible project costs.
Eligible Countries
Funded organisations must be UK registered, conduct their funded project activities in the UK, spend most of the funding in the UK and intend to exploit the results within the UK.
Non-funded partners from the UK, EU or other countries may participate using their own resources. Non-UK partners can undertake their activities in their home countries and exploit results outside the UK.
What Will Not Be Funded?
Projects will not be funded if they:
Dual-use materials innovations can be considered where the primary focus is on civil applications.
Why This Competition Matters
Advanced materials often have the potential to unlock major improvements in sectors such as healthcare, electronics, telecommunications, energy, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. However, translating promising materials from development into industrial adoption can require substantial validation, end-user engagement and scale-up work.
This competition is designed to help bridge that gap by funding collaborative industrial research that connects materials developers with businesses and end users.
The requirement for a clear UK scale-up pathway also means projects need to show how the innovation can contribute not only to technical advancement, but also to manufacturing growth, competitiveness and future commercial value in the UK.
How Inventya Can Help
A successful application needs to connect the materials innovation, industrial application, end-user need and commercialisation strategy into one convincing case. Inventya can help applicants shape and strengthen each of these elements.
Our support can include:
Inventya's experience in Innovate UK collaborative R&D, advanced technology commercialisation and market strategy can help applicants position their materials innovation as both a strong technical development and a credible UK industrial opportunity.
