Close date TBC
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Aviation cargo screening can be a laborious process that takes a significant amount of time. Cargo can be either distributed on pallets or in large containers. Currently, aviation cargo is screened for threat items by a variety of methods including x-ray systems

Scope

DASA are seeking novel, innovative ideas that would help increase the speed, accuracy and volume at which cargo is screened to improve the throughput of cargo as well as enhance security. They are interested in screening methods screen dark, dense regions within consignments (such as dense materials or densely packed items), aiding the detection of explosives and hidden weapons.

Project size

£50 – £350 k

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This is an open call, with the next assessment being the 2 Dec 2019

More information can be found here‍

Seeking projects to transform food production systems, improve productivity and sustainability, and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040

Scope

Projects must create integrated, data-driven solutions to drive agricultural productivity as well as target net zero emissions. Projects funded under this competition must address one of the following:
   - the development of new, resource efficient, low emission food production systems
   - the technological and other bottlenecks that prevent existing state-of-the-art systems from supplying mainstream consumer markets

Project size

£1 - £10 m

More information can be found here

The aim of this competition is to bring businesses from different foundation industries (cement, paper, glass, ceramics, metals and bulk chemicals) to work on common resource and energy efficiency opportunities

Scope

Will fund cross-sector and collaborative research and development projects aimed at improving the productivity and competitiveness of the sectors’ companies and supply chains.  The technical scope of the competition is broad, encompassing any resource or energy efficiency activity for the foundation industries. Projects can focus on any part of the manufacturing process, including: feedstock inputs, production and material product development.

Project size

£50k – £500k

More information can be found here

Applications are sought for projects that test the feasibility of solutions that can transform food production and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040. This funding is from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Scope

Projects must accelerate the development of new, early stage solutions that address industry identified problems, by evaluating their potential in a commercial environment. The objective will be to enable decisions to be made quickly on whether the solution should be developed further and, if so, inform its future development.

Projects must:

• consider appropriate business models and routes to adoption alongside technical feasibility
• draw in relevant expertise to enable this (for example economic and social sciences)
• engage with end users to ensure the development of solutions is informed by their needs
• focus on the development of precision, data-driven solutions and systems that will make a significant step towards net zero emissions and improved resource use efficiency for food production
• improve the sector’s productivity
• meet the specific objectives of the Transforming Food Production challenge

Projects can focus on one or more agricultural sectors, including, but not limited to:

• arable, such as cereals, field-scale vegetables or potatoes
• dairy
• ruminants, such as beef, lamb, goat
• monogastrics, such as pork, poultry and eggs
• horticulture, including berries, apples, lettuce and tomatoes but not ornamentals
• aquaculture

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Project size

£75,000 – £250,000

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More information can be found here

Smart is the new name for Innovate UK’s ‘Open grant funding’ programme.
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‍Seeking the best game-changing, innovative or disruptive ideas with a view to commercialisation.  
Applications can come from any area of technology (including arts, design, media or creative industries), science or engineering and be applied to any part of the economy
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Project size 

£25,000 – £500,000 (6 –18 months)

£25,000 – £2,000,000 (19 –36 months)

Your proposal must demonstrate: 

• a clear game-changing and/or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services

• an idea that is significantly ahead of others in the field, set for rapid commercialisation

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Projects should take customer and user needs into account to deliver more desirable and useful solutions.

More information about eligibility here

The aim of the competition is to demonstrate to stakeholders how proven technologies can be integrated into a railway environment for the first time.

Scope

This competition has 4 themes:

• Environmental sustainability
• Customer experience
• Optimised railway operations
• Optimised and cost-effective maintenance

Projects must create a highly interactive and innovative demonstrator. This should be in an environment where railway customers and industry respresentatives can witness the product as a compelling business proposition, for instance: 

• Within a railway station
• In rolling stock
• On railway infrastructure
• In the environment close to the railway

Project size

£100 – £400k including VAT

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More information can be found here‍

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Seeking early-stage projects in smart and sustainable plastic packaging that aim to help make the plastic packaging supply chain more circular, deliver targets of the UK Plastics Pact, and improve on current state-of-the-art packaging while still demonstrating practical, close-to-market solutions.

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Scope

Proposals must: 

• Show how your project supports the objectives of the UK Plastics Pact and delivers systemic change
• Clearly explain how you would reduce the UK plastic packaging system's overall environmental impact

Projects that are across one or more of the following 4 areas are welcomed:

• Materials
• Design
• Technology or process
• Business model or behaviour change

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Project size

£30,000 – £100,000

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More information can be found here