UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £1 million to develop projects focused on industrial research with the Israel Innovation Authority.
This competition is for UK businesses that want to apply to the UK – Israel Eureka call. Please visit the Eureka call for proposals web page if you are not a UK applicant.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £1 million to fund collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects focused on industrial research with the Israel Innovation Authority.
The UK and Israel are jointly funding this competition under the EUREKA framework.
The aim of this competition is to support business led collaborative, research and development (CR&D) projects resulting in new products, industrial processes or services. Projects must be innovative, involve a technological risk and target large global markets.
We will fund projects in any technological area.
The national funding agencies will fund their respective participants in the projects.
In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding budget of up to £1 million so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects.
The UK lead applicant must submit your Innovate UK application by 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.
Your project team must submit the Eureka project application form to the Eureka website by 5pm central European time (4pm UK time) on 30 October 2024.
Grant
UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £300,000 for each project.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.
You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.
We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.
You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Your project
UK applicants can apply for total grant of up to £300,000 for each project.
Your project can last up to two years and is expected to start May 2025. The start date depends on the national funding procedures of the Eureka members involved in the selected projects.
Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
Organisations from other Eureka member states may also participate provided they arrange their own funding. The project must meet the eligibility participation criteria of UK and Israeli organisations.
If your project’s duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.
If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.
Eureka terminology and roles
The terminology differs between Eureka and Innovate UK. In the Innovate UK application the ‘project lead’ is responsible for the entire project but Eureka uses the term ‘main participant’. For partners in the collaboration Eureka uses ‘other participants’.
Even if the project lead is from a participating Eureka member other than the UK, the UK registered partners can still claim funding from Innovate UK. These collaborations must include at least one UK registered micro, small or medium enterprise (SME).
UK lead applicant
The UK registered partners in your Eureka project must nominate one business, of any size, to start an Innovate UK application. We refer to them as the ‘lead organisation’ and the person they nominate to have overall responsibility as the ‘lead applicant’.
The lead applicant has an overall view of the application and must:
The UK lead applicant must collaborate with at least one Israeli organisation participating in the competition. It must be a separate legal entity, not linked to the UK partners. Only UK organisations can be invited to the Innovate UK application on the Innovation Funding Service. The involvement of your non-UK organisations must be outlined in your answers.
Your consortium must ensure that a joint application is also submitted to the Eureka platform, known as SmartSimple.
Overall Eureka project team
The organisations from participating Eureka members must meet the funding and eligibility conditions of their respective national funding bodies. These will be published on the Eureka call for proposals web page when this competition opens. These organisations must apply through their own funding bodies and not through the Innovation Funding Service.
Each partner must carry out the majority of their funded work within the Eureka member from which they receive funding, for example the UK for Innovate UK funding.
There must be a genuine collaboration. No more than 70% of the total eligible project costs can be claimed by a single partner or by all partners from a single participating Eureka member collectively.
UK project team
The UK lead applicant can also collaborate with:
UK research organisations cannot lead or work alone. They must be able to show how they will exploit the results of the project to grow the wider sector in the UK.
Subcontractors
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition but they must not account for more than 20% of the UK partners’ total eligible costs. Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK. Where subcontractors are non-UK based, please justify why you are unable to use a UK alternative.
We would expect subcontractor costs to be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.
Partners not claiming funding
A non-grant claiming UK partner cannot lead on a project.
Your collaboration can include organisations from Eureka members that are not participating in this funding competition provided:
Number of applications
A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications.
A research organisation can collaborate in any number of applications.
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.
You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.
We will not award you funding if you have:
For UK organisations this competition provides funding in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).
Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.
EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.
Further Information
If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.
You must always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.
This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.
We have allocated up to £1 million to fund UK organisations participating in innovation projects in this competition.
For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:
The UK registered research organisations in your consortium can share up to 30% of the UK total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one UK research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them.
Of that 30%, if you are an RTO, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to 100%.
The UK and Israel are jointly funding this competition under the EUREKA framework.
The aim of this competition is to support business led collaborative, research and development (CR&D) projects resulting in new products, industrial processes or services. Projects must be innovative, involve a technological risk and target large global markets.
Your collaborative R&D proposal must demonstrate:
We are looking to fund a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets, technological maturities and research categories.
We will not fund projects that:
We cannot fund projects that are:
10 June 2024
Competition opens
17 June 2024
Online briefing event: watch the recording
30 October 2024
Eureka deadline 4pm UK time (5pm CET)
30 October 2024 11:00am
Competition closes
11 February 2025
Applicants notified
You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.
Your Innovate UK application will be ineligible if you do not upload the appendices on questions, where requested, including the completed Eureka project application.
UK led consortium
If you are a UK lead applicant, you must:
Non-UK led consortium
If your consortium is led by an organisation from a non UK participating Eureka member, one of the UK grant claiming partners must be the Innovate UK lead applicant. They will submit the Innovate UK application. Only UK organisations must be invited to be part of the Innovate UK application on the Innovation Funding Service.
More information about the application process for non UK participating Eureka members is provided at the Eureka call for proposals once the competition opens.
The application is split into four sections:
Accessibility and Inclusion
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.
You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.
We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.
You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
This section provides background for the assessors and is not scored.
Application details
The UK lead applicant must complete this section. Give your project’s title, start date and duration.
UK Application team
Decide if UK organisations will work with you on the project. Invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.
Project summary
Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign experts to assess your application.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Public description
Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
Scope
Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be eligible for funding.
Your answer can be up to 400 words long.
The assessors will score your answers to these questions except for questions 1 to 4. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess.
Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video.
Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)
You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on the project.
We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.
Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)
Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?
You must select one option:
We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.
Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.
Question 3: Eureka application (not scored)
You must upload a copy of your completed Eureka application as an appendix. It must be in a PDF format. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Type ‘Eureka application attached’ as your answer.
Question 4. Permits and licences (not scored)
Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?
We are unable to fund projects who do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.
You must select one option:
Question 5. Need or challenge
What is the business need, technological challenge or market opportunity behind your innovation?
Explain:
Question 6. Approach and innovation
What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be?
Explain:
You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF, up to two A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 7. Team and resources
Who is in the project team and what are their roles?
Explain:
You can submit one appendix. This can include a short summary of the main people working on the project to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to two A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 8. Market awareness
What does the market you are targeting look like?
Describe:
If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:
Question 9. Outcomes and route to market
How are you going to grow your business and increase your productivity into the long term as a result of the project?
Explain:
If there is any research organisation activity in the project, describe:
Question 10. Wider impacts
What impact might this project have outside the project team?
Describe, and where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to:
Describe, and where possible, measure:
Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative on, for example:
Question 11. Project management
How will you manage your project effectively?
Explain:
You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF, can be up to two A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 12. Risks
What are the main risks for this project?
Explain:
You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF and can be up to two A4 pages long. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.
Question 13. Added value
How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved?
Explain:
Question 14. Costs and value for money
How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?
In terms of your project goals, explain:
Each UK organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application.
For full details on what costs you can claim see our project costs guidance. You can also view our Application Finances video.
This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.
Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.
More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.
Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.
This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, and Israel Innovation Authority (each an ‘agency’).
Your submitted application and any other information you provide at the application stage can be submitted to each agency on an individual basis for its storage, processing and use. Any relevant information produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.
This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to Israel Innovation Authority and vice versa.
Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. It is held in accordance with its Information Management Policy.
Innovate UK and Israel Innovation Authority are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, and Israel Innovation Authority will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.
Israel Innovation Authority Privacy Policy
Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.
The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.
Download the slides.
Applicant briefing Eureka UK-Israel CR (opens in a new window)
If you want help to find a project collaborator, contact the Innovate UK Business Connect or the Enterprise Europe Network.
If you need help with the Eureka project application form, contact Eureka directly.
If you need more information on submitting to Innovate UK, email us at support@iuk.ukri.org or call the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357,
Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.
Eureka is an intergovernmental network launched in 1985. Its aim is to support market-oriented R&D and innovation projects by industry, research centres and universities across all technological sectors. It has 47 member states, including the European Union, represented by the European Commission.
With its flexible and decentralised network, Eureka offers project partners: