Notice

Competition guidance: commercialisation of quantum technologies feasibility studies and collaborative research and development (R&D)

Updated 28 September 2016

This notice was withdrawn on 21 September 2017

This competition is no longer open. Search current funding opportunities.

1. Dates and deadlines

Competition opens	18 July 2016
Competition briefing event	6 September 2016
Final date for registration	Noon 28 September 2016
Submission of the full application (including finance forms, appendices and Je-S forms)	Noon 5 October 2016
Decision to applicants	by 11 November 2016

Please read the full competition scope before you make your application.

• competition brief: commercialisation of quantum technologies - feasibility studies
• competition brief: commercialisation of quantum technologies - collaborative research and development

2. Funding

There is up to £19.5 million of funding available from Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This is for research and development projects that tackle the technical challenges described in the brief for this competition.

Feasibility Studies: Projects with eligible costs of £50,000 and £400,000 and 6 to 12 months in duration. There is up to £6 million of funding available for these types of project.

Collaborative research and development (R&D): Projects with eligible costs of £500,000 and £2 million and up to 24 months in duration. Companies may apply for an additional 10% top up to spend on the purchase of capital equipment before 31 March 2017. There is up to £13.5 million of funding available for these types of project.

Note: We may consider projects outside these ranges but you must contact us to discuss this before you apply.

3. Requirements and Eligibility

• you may be eligible to receive different rates of funding depending upon the type and size of your organisation and the activity that you are doing in the project. Within your application form, please select the primary type of research that you will be doing within the project and calculate the amount of grant you wish to claim. This should be in line with the Innovate UK funding rules
• research organisations can participate in projects as collaborators. The level of total research participation is set at a maximum of 50% of total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them
• expected projects costs of between £50,000 and £2 million (plus up to an additional £200,000 for capital expenditure if you apply for it)
• projects are expected to last up to 24 months and must be completed by 31 March 2019
• only UK based companies and research organisations are eligible to apply
• projects must be business-led, with companies applying in collaboration with other businesses or research organisations
• applicants must address the specific requirements of the competition as outlined in the scope of the competition brief

4. Competition process

For this competition, Innovate UK will adopt a portfolio approach. This is to make sure that the strategic criteria described in the competition brief is met for all projects considered to be above the quality threshold as a result of independent expert assessment.

• applications will be assessed by up to 5 external assessors who are experts in the area of innovation identified in your application
• assessors will score applications consistently and in line with scoring matrices. They will provide written feedback for each marked question
• all applications are assessed on individual merit
• Innovate UK’s Funders panel makes the final decision regarding funding
• the lead applicant will be notified of the funding decision

5. How to apply

Before you apply into an Innovate UK competition, it is important to understand the whole application process. The information below is specific to this competition. In addition, please read our general guidance for applicants which will give information on:

• funding rules
• project costs
• state aid
• how to submit your application
• categories of research and development
• participation in a project

Register: You will receive an email acknowledgement of your registration followed by a second email up to 48 hours later. The second email will contain a username and password for our secure upload facility along with a unique application number and form.

Application: Once you have received your unique username and password, you can sign into the secure website to access the finance forms for this competition.

Please note: Only finance forms named ’Project Finance Form 2016.xls’ will be accepted into this competition. Previous versions of the project finance form will be ineligible. When you register for the competition you will have access to our secure site. You will be able to download the finance form from the public area of this site.

Submit your documents: You or your lead partner should submit:

• your application form supplied with your unique application number for this competition
• project appendices as PDF documents, labelled with your application number
• partner finance forms for every non-academic partner in your project
• Je-S submission PDF output document for every academic partner in your project, if any

Assessment: Once the competition submission deadline is reached, your application is sent for assessment.

Notification: We will notify you or your lead partner of the outcome of your application on the date stated in the timeline.

Feedback: We will give feedback to successful and unsuccessful applicants approximately 4 weeks after you have been notified of the decision. The lead applicant can access the feedback by logging on to the secure website where you uploaded your application documents. It is the responsibility of the lead partner to communicate the feedback with the rest of the consortium. No additional feedback can be provided and there will be no further discussion on the application.

6. The application form

This section explains the structure of the application form and offers guidance on what to answer in each question.

The structure is as follows:

• application details
• summary of proposed project
• public description of the project
• gateway question: scope
• section 1: The business proposition (4 questions)
• section 2: Project details (4 questions)
• section 3: Funding and added value (2 questions)
• other funding from public sector bodies
• finance summary table

Please make sure that you upload the final version of your application by the deadline. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not upload a blank or incomplete application form.

• you can only use the application form provided. It contains specific information including a unique reference number for your project
• the application form contains specific fields. It is important that you complete each field and submit a fully completed form. Incomplete forms will be rejected
• the application form must not be altered, converted or saved as a different version of Microsoft Word
• the space provided in each field of the form is fixed. You must restrict the content of your responses in each of the fields to the space provided. The typeface, font size and colour are predetermined and cannot be changed. Illustrations and graphics cannot be included in the application form. Please check your completed application form in print view, any text that can’t be seen in this view or when the form is printed will not be assessed
• the light grey shaded fields are completed automatically from other information entered on the form, for example, the total columns of a table. These cannot be overwritten

Field	Guidance
Competition name	This field will show the full name of the Innovate UK competition to which the form applies. You do not need to enter anything here
Document ID	This field is completed automatically
Applicant number	This field is completed automatically and is the reference that you should use on all correspondence (this is the 5 or 6 digit number after the dash)
Application details
Project title	Enter the full title of the project
Theme	Please select from the dropdown list
Research category	Please select from the dropdown list
Project timescales	Enter the estimated start date and its planned duration. These are indicative at this stage and are not guaranteed
(Lead ) organisation name	Enter the full registered name of the (lead) organisation for the project. If you are not in a consortium application, these will be your organisation details. Please note that the lead organisation will be the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project team
(Lead) organisation contact details	Enter the full name, postcode, email address and telephone number of the main point of contact between Innovate UK and the project

6.1 Summary of proposed project (not scored)

Guidance

Please provide a short summary of the content and objectives of the project including what is innovative about it.

This summary is not scored, but provides an introduction to your proposal for the benefit of Innovate UK staff and assessors only. It will not be used for any public dissemination. It should cover, in brief:

• need or challenge. The business need, technological challenge or market opportunity to be addressed
• approach and innovation. The approach to be taken and how this will improve on current state-of-the-art
• outcomes. The difference the project will make to the competitiveness and productivity of the partners involved

6.2 Public description of the project (not scored)

Guidance

To comply with government practice on openness and transparency of public-funded activities, Innovate UK has to publish information relating to funded projects. Please provide a short description of your proposal in a way that will be comprehensible to the general public. Do not include any commercially confidential information, for example intellectual property or patent details.

Please describe your project. Funding will not be provided to successful projects without this.

6.3 Gateway Question: Scope

Guidance

How does this application align with the specific competition scope?

• all applications must align with the specific competition scope criteria as described in the relevant competition brief
• to demonstrate alignment, you need to show that a clear majority of the project’s objectives and activities are aligned with the specific competition

7. Competition questions

All questions apply to all project partners and are scored out of 10 marks.

7.1 Section 1: The business proposition

Question 1: What is the business opportunity that this project addresses?

Outline the business opportunity and what the project team needs to do to successfully address it within the preferred timeframe and cost.

Describe the nature of the problems or issues facing you and/or your potential customers. How will the intended outputs of the project address these problems and issues?

Question 2: What is the size of the market opportunity that this project might open up?

Describe the size of the market opportunities that this project might open up, including details of:

• current nature of the specific market(s) at which the project is targeted (eg, is it characterised by price competition amongst commoditised suppliers? Is it dominated by a single leading firm?)
• the dynamics of the market including quantifying its current size, actual and predicted growth rates
• the projected market share for the project outcome, with justification in the light of any potential competitors
• the potential to create value-added for the UK and/or the European Economic Area (EEA)

Describe and clearly quantify the return on investment that the project could achieve. Provide relevant source data references.

Where possible provide evidence for your statements about the addressable market for project outcomes. Outline your strategy for developing market share.

For highly innovative projects (see question 6) where the market may be unexplored, explain:

• what the route to market could or might be
• what its size might be
• how the project will explore the market potential

Question 3: How will the results of the project be exploited and disseminated?

List or describe the potential exploitable outputs of the project such as:

• products or services
• processes
• applications

Then describe how these outputs will be exploited including, where applicable:

• the route to market
• protection of intellectual property rights
• reconfiguration of the value system
• changes to business models and business processes
• other methods of exploitation and protection

Where helpful to the exchange of best practice, and not damaging to commercial interests, the results from this work should be made public on a voluntary basis. A plan for dissemination of general outputs from the funded project should be included.

Please note: Where research organisations are involved in a project and funded for undertaking non-economic activity, we need evidence of plans to disseminate their project outputs over a reasonable timescale. This is to obtain wider benefit from the higher level of public support given to research organisations. For further information, please see the Innovate UK funding rules

Question 4: What economic, social and environmental benefits is the project expected to deliver to those inside and outside of the consortium, and over what timescale?

Identify all benefits that will be gained inside and outside of the consortium as a result of the proposed project. Truly sustainable development balances economic growth with social impacts and benefits and protects the environment.

Benefits to those outside the consortium and to consortium participants should be considered and you should make a clear distinction between the two.

Economic: This is the real impact the organisation has on its economic environment. This is not simply traditional corporate accounting profit, and can include cost avoidance. You should highlight any expected ‘spill over’ benefits external to the project, eg, benefits to users (intermediaries and end users), suppliers, the broader industrial markets and the UK economy. The application should identify and quantify where possible the benefit to each of the beneficiaries.

Social: Quantify any expected social impacts, either positive or negative, on, for example, the quality of life, social inclusion/exclusion, education, public empowerment, health and safety, regulation, diversity, and any expected impact on government priorities.

Environmental: Demonstrate how your project will benefit the natural environment as much as possible, or at the least do no harm and avoid environmental impact. For example, this could include careful management of energy consumption and reductions in carbon emissions whilst reducing manufacturing and materials waste, rendering waste less toxic before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner (cradle to grave) or re-manufacturing (cradle to cradle).

7.2 Section 2: Project details

Question 5: What technical approach will be adopted and how will the project be managed?

Provide an overview of the technical approach including the main objectives of the work. Describe the main areas of work together with their resource and management requirements.

In evaluating this the assessors will consider these questions:

• is the technical approach and methodology appropriate to the needs of the project and are the innovative steps achievable through the proposed approach?
• is the project plan sufficient in comparison to the complexity of the project? For example, is there enough detail to understand the tasks involved and the resources required?
• is the timing of important milestones realistic?
• is there demonstration of sufficient resource commitment and capability to undertake the project?
• are clear management reporting lines identified?

Describe rival technologies and alternative R&D strategies and describe why your proposed approach will offer a better outcome.

Question 6: What is innovative about this project?

Identify the extent to which the project is innovative both commercially and technically.

In evaluating this section assessors will consider these questions:

• does it push boundaries over and beyond current leading-edge world science and technology?
• is it looking to apply existing technologies in new areas?

Highlight and explain the timeliness and novelty of the research aspects of the project in an industrial and/or academic context.

Describe any evidence you have to back up your belief that the intended work is innovative. This could include the results of patent searches, competitor analyses, literature surveys etc. If applicable, you should also outline your own background intellectual property rights, as related to the project.

Question 7: What are the risks (technical, commercial and environmental) to project success? What is the project’s risk management strategy?

Innovate UK recognises that projects of this type are inherently risky, but seeks assurance that the projects it funds have adequate arrangements for managing this risk. Focus, therefore, on the arrangements for managing and mitigating risk as follows:

• identify the main risks and uncertainties of the project and provide a detailed risk analysis for the project content and approach. This should include the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks as well as other uncertainties (eg, ethical issues) associated with the project. The main risks should then be rated as High/Medium/Low (H/M/L)
• state how the project would avoid these risks. You should address all significant and relevant risks and their mitigation
• identify main project management tools and mechanisms that will be used to minimise operational risk and promote a successful project outcome. This should include arrangements for managing the project team and its partners

Question 8: Does the project team have the right skills and experience and access to facilities to deliver the identified benefits?

Describe the track record of the project team members in undertaking and exploiting the results of research and development projects. This should highlight your capability to develop and exploit the technology.

In evaluating this, the assessors will consider whether:

• the project team has the right available mix of skills and experience to deliver the project successfully
• the project team’s formation objectives are clear and if it would have been formed without Innovate UK investment

If a consortium, is there evidence of additional benefit from the collaboration? For example, increased knowledge transfer. If the consortium is greater than the sum of its parts, how will the organisations achieve more working together than if they were working individually?

7.3 Section 3: Funding and added value (10 points per question = 20 points in total)

Question 9: What is the financial commitment required for the project?

Detail the estimated project cost making clear the level of contribution from any project participants and the level of funding required from Innovate UK. This information should be provided in the financial summary table in the application form.

Supporting information and explanation for project costs should be provided in this section of the form. It must be consistent with the category of research and development being undertaken within each work package. Please see the guidance section of our website for further details on funding rules

Important: If the project spans more than one type of funding (eg, because significant work packages are in both fundamental and industrial research), you must describe and justify the breakdown of costs between them in the answer to this question.

In evaluating this the assessors will consider the following questions:

• is the budget realistic for the scale and complexity of the project?
• does the financial support required from Innovate UK fit within the limits set by the specific competition?
• is a financial commitment from other sources demonstrated for the balance of the project costs?
• has a realistic budget breakdown been provided?
• have any work package breakdowns been described and justified adequately?

Detailed guidance on eligible and ineligible project costs is provided on our website.

Please note: For collaborations involving research organisations, the costs of PhD research students are no longer eligible to be included in project costs. This is in line with current research council guidelines. Please refer to the guidance via the above link for further details

Make sure that all main finance project points that you wish the assessors to consider, are included in the main body of your application form, or in the relevant appendix. These are the main documents used within the assessment process.

Question 10: How does financial support from Innovate UK and its funding collaborators add value?

You will need to provide evidence that:

• successful delivery of your project will increase the total amount of money the project team spends on research and development in the UK and either;
  • why the funding is required for the project to be able to proceed or
  • how Innovate UK funding would allow you to undertake the project differently (more quickly, on a larger scale etc) and why this would be beneficial to the UK?

7.4 Other funding from public sector bodies

If you have included one or more entries in column 7 of the finance summary table (on the following page), please provide:

• the name(s) of the bodies
• the name of the programme or scheme from which the funds are provided
• the amount of the funds

8. Finance summary and project appendices

This table lists the total eligible project costs by participant. Please note that only certain project costs are eligible for grant funding under UK State Aid rules. For information on eligible project costs and how to complete the finance forms see the Innovate UK website.

Column 1 Organisation name	Please provide the full names of the (lead) organisation and any participants in the project consortium (organisation names as noted in Companies House)
Column 2 Organisation registration Number	Companies should provide the Company Registration Number (as noted in Companies House). Universities/HEIs should enter their RC number/charitable status/legal entity registration number etc
Column 3 Enterprise category	Please select your enterprise category. SME definition is based on the EU definition Medium sized: Headcount <250: Turnover <=50 million euros or balance sheet total <=43 million euros Small: Headcount <50: Turnover <=10 million euros or balance sheet total <=10 million euros Micro: Headcount <10: Turnover <=2 million euros or balance sheet total <=2 million euros
Column 4 Postcode where majority of work will be done	Please provide the postcode of each organisation participating in the project
Column 5 Contribution to the project by each organisation (£)	Please list the total contribution to be made to the project by each organisation
Column 6 Funding sought from Innovate UK	Please enter the funding sought from Innovate UK for each participant organisation for this competition
Column 7 Other funding from public sector bodies	Please include any funding for the project from any other public sector bodies which has been applied for separately, and not as part of this competition. Funding from other public sector bodies might include other applications to research councils, other government departments, devolved administrations, other public sector organisations and some charities. The purpose of this column is to provide Innovate UK with information on the total public funding for the project
Column 8 Total (£)	The total cost of the project for each participants. This is the sum of columns 5, 6 and 7 and will be entered automatically
Bottom Row Total (£)	The total of each column will be entered automatically

Each non-academic participant in your project must provide a finance form which must be submitted with the application form by the lead applicant. Each finance form provides a detailed breakdown on each participant’s total eligible project costs listed in your finance summary table.

8.1 Project appendices

You may include appendices of additional supporting information for particular questions with the application form. Please do not use the appendices as an overflow of answers to the application form questions.

Appendix A

Up to 5 sides of A4. Use Appendix A to provide additional information to support Section 1 of the application form: The Business Proposition. You may include graphics describing the nature of the problem, market dynamics and exploitation plans.

Appendix B

Up to 5 sides of A4 (7 sides of A4 for academic and business applications). Use Appendix B to provide further information to support Section 2 of the application form: The Project Details. You may include, for example, a Gantt chart, risk analysis table, project management structure and details of evidence for innovation.

Academic and business applications may submit an additional 2 A4 sides for additional assessment information such as the Pathways to Impact. Please refer to separate guidance on your project costs for more information.

Appendix C

Up to half a side of A4 for each partner and subcontractor. Use Appendix C to provide details of the specific expertise and track record of each project partner and subcontractor to answer Question 8 of the application form. Academic collaborators may refer to their research standing.

In order that assessors can open and read the appendices, each appendix must:

• conform to the maximum length specifications stated for each question
• be submitted in Portable Document Format (pdf)
• be legible at 100% zoom/magnification
• display prominently the ‘application number’ as in the filename of the application form

Please do not submit appendices longer than the specified lengths. Assessors are instructed to only read appendices to the lengths specified in the guidance.