Grants for Innovation Activities in the Life and Health Sciences Cluster (UK)

This funding is from Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme which supports the UK government’s goals for local economic growth. This Launchpad is also supporting Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI) as the local cluster management organisation.

Aims

• The aim of this competition is to support outstanding innovation projects led by businesses. Your business must use the funding to grow your innovation activities in the life and health sciences cluster in Northern Ireland, both during and after the project.

Themes

• Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
  • Diagnostics, therapeutics and biomarkers
    • multi-omics
    • medical imaging
    • liquid biopsy
    • biomarker or genetic testing
    • diagnostic or therapeutic development
  • Data, digital and medical devices
    • point-of-care testing
    • wearable or ambient sensors
    • clinical trials decision support
    • augmented reality
    • digital health
• Innovations in healthcare service delivery
  • health service productivity
  • integrated care platforms
  • remote rehabilitation
• Your project can also consider the following enabling areas:
  • artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum
  • advanced therapies, novel formulation or delivery
  • regulation or ethics
  • supporting innovation in skills development
• These lists are not exhaustive.
• Where you can show your proposal fits within the scope of this Launchpad competition you can focus on other themes.

Funding Information

• They have allocated up to £4.3 million to fund innovation projects across the two strands of this Launchpad competition for Northern Ireland.
• Funding will be in the form of a grant.
• The total funding available for this Launchpad competition can change. The funders have the right to:
  • adjust the funding allocations between all Launchpad competitions and strands
  • apply a ‘portfolio’ approach
• If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.
• The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisation receiving the grant.
• have a total grant funding request of between £150,000 and £1 million.

Eligibility Criteria

• Your project
  • Your project must:
    • last between 6 and 18 months
    • carry out all of its project work in the UK
    • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
    • not start before 1 May 2025
    • end by 31 December 2026
  • Projects must always start on the first of the month. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean they need to delay your project start date.
  • You must only include eligible project costs in your application
  • If your project’s grant funding request or duration falls outside of their eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email at least 10 working days before the competition closes. They will decide whether to approve your request.
  • If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by them, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.
• Lead organisation
  • To lead a project your business must:
    • be a UK registered business of any size
    • be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
    • collaborate with other UK registered organisations
    • be growing your innovation activities in the life and health sciences cluster in Northern Ireland
    • have a demonstrable ambition for business growth.
• Project team
  • To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
    • business of any size
    • academic institution
    • charity
    • not for profit
    • public sector organisation
    • research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in the IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.
  • To be an eligible collaboration, the lead and at least one other organisation must apply for funding when entering their costs into the application.
• Non-funded partners
  • 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 are allowed in this competition.
  • Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
  • All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.
• Number of applications
  • A business can lead on only one CR&D strand application for this competition, and can be included as a collaborator in any number of applications. Any subsequent applications submitted with the same project lead will be ineligible and will not be forwarded for assessment.
  • If you are not leading any application, you can collaborate in any number of applications.
  • If you apply to the Minimal Financial Assistance strand of this competition, as well as this CR&D strand, each project must be clearly distinctive and separate. They will monitor closely for this separation if you are awarded funding in both competition strands.
• Sanctions
  • This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.
• Use of animals in research and innovation
  • Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.
  • Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.
  • Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

For more information, visit Innovate UK.