UK – Singapore Collaborative R&D Call Sustainability and Net Zero

Fund details

Your project must demonstrate:

• a clear game-changing or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
• a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses and documents market potential and needs
• sound, practical financial plans and timelines
• good value for money, which will always be a consideration in Innovate UK funding decisions
• a clear, evidence-based plan to deliver significant economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation as soon as possible after project completion
• considerable potential to significantly benefit the UK economy or national productivity
• the benefits of participants from the countries working together and how this adds value
• a clear definition of where intellectual property (IP) can be used and shared between the participants and countries
• a clear route to market within 2 to 3 years of project completion

Your project must directly address Sustainability and Net Zero challenges. This can include but is not limited to the following key technological areas:

• Agrifood
• Clean Energy and Renewables
• Green Buildings
• Sustainable Manufacturing
• Urban Mobility
• Water & Environment
• Waste Management
• Carbon

Specific themes

Your project must directly address Sustainability and Net Zero challenges. This can include but is not limited to the following key technological areas:

Agrifood

• Solutions that maximise food production efficiency, minimise resource requirements or waste outputs

Clean Energy and Renewables

• Solutions involving new ways to improve yields and handle the intermittency of renewables
• Solutions that push boundaries of what can be achieved via energy storage technologies
• Solutions contributing to net zero in energy production such as green hydrogen
• Solutions that can capture and store carbon at scale

Green Buildings

• Solutions that can further drive renewables adoption for built environments in dense, high-rise urban city environments such as Singapore
• Solutions that reduce the embodied carbon in new construction or asset enhancement of existing buildings

Sustainable Manufacturing

• Solutions that support materials and manufacturing organisations to become significantly more resource efficient
• Solutions that enable technologies like digital twins, sensors and controls in manufacturing processes including transformative low-temperature processes, planning optimisation, waste heat capture and recovery systems

Urban Mobility

• Solutions that enable autonomous net-zero maritime, electric vehicles or batteries
• Solutions that reduce carbon emissions in transportation

Water and Environment

• Solutions for high-performance, low-emissions wastewater treatment

Waste Management

• Solutions that better manage waste and contribute to a circular economy, including sustainable packaging, solid waste and recycling

Carbon

• Solutions that improve the tracking and management of carbon

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

• are military applications
• do not meet Innovate UK’s eligibility criteria
• do not submit all mandatory documentation
• have a total grant request of more than £750,000
• do not meet the project theme requirements
• do not have an eligible Singapore partner

Eligibility

Your project must:

• have a maximum grant funding request of no more than £750,000
• start by 1 June 2024
• end by 31 May 2027
• last between 24 and 36 months

UK project partners must carry out the majority of their project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

The consortium must include at least one business registered in Singapore. Singapore partners must not be invited into Innovate UK’s application on the Innovation Funding Service and will be funded by EnterpriseSG following a parallel application.

Funding 

Up to £5 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

If the majority of 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.

For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation

up to 50% if you are a large organisation
Singapore partners must request any funding