Later this month, the second round of the Large Research and Development (R&D) Partnerships fund will open.
From 20 February, agri-businesses, farmers, growers and foresters in England will be able to apply for a share of £8 million to improve productivity, sustainability and resilience.
This opportunity follows the Research Starter competition which I blogged about last month.
In this post, I’ll give an overview of the competition and details of events for you to find out more.
Large R&D Partnerships competition
The Large R&D Partnerships competition funds Industrial Research and Experimental Development projects. These range from those that will accelerate the development and demonstration of new agricultural solutions, to those that can be integrated into existing agricultural practices.
They should help address major challenges and opportunities on-farm, or those immediately post farmgate.
Your project must address a significant industry challenge or opportunity in at least one of the industry subsectors below:
- livestock
- plants
- novel food production systems
- bioeconomy and agroforestry
Your solutions or project outputs must also significantly improve:
- productivity
- sustainability and environmental impact of farming
- progression towards net zero emissions
- resilience. For example, helping farms deal with input stresses, such as the recent spike in fertiliser prices, or threats from pests and disease
Businesses are encouraged to come together as a partnership to solve these major challenges or opportunities.
Projects will last up to 4 years and be valued between £3 million to £5 million. Businesses will be expected to provide match funding for the projects.
We want to fund a wide portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, industry sectors, and business sizes.
Your projects should have a significant focus on demonstration and enable the commercialisation and adoption of new solutions by sharing knowledge and ideas.
UKRI will host a Q&A session on 21 February. Innovate UK KTN will host a consortium building event on 2 March.
I'll add the links to attend at the bottom of this post.
The application process
The competition opens 20 February and closes 19 April 2023.
Stage 1: Submit an application through the Innovation Funding Service website
Stage 2: After the competition closes, you'll be told the outcome. If you make it through, you will be invited to an interview
Stage 3: After the interviews conclude, you'll be told the outcome. Feedback will be released for all projects
Dates for your diary
20 February: Competition window opens for you to submit an application through IFS website
21 February: UKRI will host a Q&A session
2 March: Innovate UK KTN will host a consortium building event
19 April: Application window closes
More from the Farming Innovation Programme
The Farming Innovation Programme is delivered in partnership with UKRI. More competitions to follow in the months ahead. Stay in the know by subscribing to the Future Farming blog.
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