£10m boost for technology research and development

A £10m moneypot has been announced to boost innovation within the technology sector.

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is investing in new research and development projects that stimulate innovation across key enabling areas including biosciences, electronics, sensors and photonics and information and communications technology.

Many of the solutions will be aimed at the healthcare sector, with additional funding available from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

A TSB spokesman said: “Proposals should focus on projects that advance the development of a recent technological discovery or breakthrough in the context of significant and identifiable technological risk, which can be broadly applied across a wide range of market opportunities and needs.

The funding will support collaborative, business-led projects at the applied research stage, containing a significant and identifiable element of technology innovation and risk, though there is also support for experimental development. The application of multi-disciplinary innovation is encouraged, with a view to technical developments or breakthroughs that could have applications in a range of markets.”

All projects must be collaborative and business-led, and the competition has two strands. The first is a single-stage, fast-track process for projects lasting between six and 12 months that must be led by a SME. The second is a two-stage process for projects lasting between 12 and 24 months, which can be led by a company of any size, although each consortium must contain at least one SME partner.

The competition opened on 3 December. Click here for more information.