IUK’s Foundation Industries Lab to Lab India Collaboration Competition Now Open

UK research organisations can apply for funding to develop virtual networks and explore UK and India capabilities for the foundation industries.

The Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge is working with Innovate UK (IUK) to invest in innovation lab to lab projects. The aim of this competition is to develop close ties with counterparts in India and further work and develop technologies to meet the challenges facing the foundation industries sector (cement, paper, glass, ceramics, metals and bulk chemicals).

Applications can include projects that:

  • Build virtual relationships between UK research labs and Indian research labs.
  • Complete market development activities with Indian high growth innovation companies.
  • Develop proposals for further project development between the UK and Indian organisations led by UK-based labs.

IUK has allocated up to £400,000 to fund projects in this competition. Each project’s total eligible costs must be between £40,000 and £80,000.

Project can focus on one or more of the following:

  • Process efficiency, energy costs and optimisation such as heat or energy recovery and reuse.
  • Process measurement, optimisation and digitisation, such as sensor technology or digital tools.
  • Waste recycling, utilisation and symbiosis, such as reuse of waste, industrial symbiosis or circular economy models.

Proposals must outline the scope of projects and the capabilities of the research lab to undertake them.

To lead a project the organisation must be a UK research organisation (RO), academic institution or a research and technology organisation (RTO). The organisations should not act in any way to gain selective commercial or economic advantage from the outputs of this project. Applicants must carry out the majority of the project work in the UK. With justification, some aspects can be completed in India.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 25 August 2021 (11:00 BST).

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)