Applications for our 2023 Open Innovation Programme are now closed.
Please contact [email protected] if you experienced technical issues and were unable to submit your idea.
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Please review the full terms and conditions before entering the Funding Competition
- Projects are expected to: Start by 1 Nov 2023 and end by 31st Oct 2025 and last up to 24 months.
- Applicants can be an organisation of any size and either work alone with others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations or subcontractors.
- Contracts will be awarded only to a single legal entity. However, you can employ specialist consultants, advisers or partnering organisations as subcontractors. This work will still be the responsibility of the main contractor. In the case of a consortium application for funding, only one submission covering all the developers is required but consortia are advised to make clear the proposed role that each developer will play in delivering the project. NZTC expect the applicant to indicate who in the consortium will be the lead developer for the project who will ultimately be the contracting entity with NZTC to receive the funding.
- We are looking for proposals that involve all the necessary stakeholders relevant to the proposed innovation, including end users of the solution. NZTC will facilitate end user support during the assessment period if required.
- Each grant request can be from £50K up to £500k and cover each project for up to 24 months.
- The total grant request in your application cannot exceed 50% of the total eligible project costs. The remaining project costs can be provided as mix of benefit in kind and cash funding.
- You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition. We will not award you funding if you have: failed to complete a previously funded project or failed to comply with grant terms and conditions.
- There are no restrictions on the number of applications an eligible organisation can lead or partner on. Should you be successful, we will ask you to confirm you have the capacity to run multiple projects simultaneously.
- This competition provides funding in line with the UK’s obligations and commitments to Subsidy Control. Further information about the UK Subsidy Control requirements can be found within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
- NZTC 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.
Funding agreement
Directed Project Agreement (DPA)
All successful applications will be governed under the terms of the NZTC DPA. Prior to submitting your application we advise that you familiarise yourself with the terms of the funding agreement – see DPA example/template here and full Terms & Conditions here – as these terms are non-negotiable. If the terms are not acceptable to organisations receiving the funding or industry partners supporting the project then we cannot proceed with the funding application. NZTC reserve the right to revise or amend these terms at any point prior to contract award. Applicants should note that at this stage that this information has been provided as an example only and applicants are not expected to complete these documents during this stage of the application.
Company Information
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a company information document which will be provided to you by your NZTC assigned project manager at the relevant stage. This form will ask you to supply information to support the size of your company (headcount and turnover) along with details of the company group structure (if relevant). Information on any prior Subsidy / State Aid Awards received in last 3 years and self-declaration requirements for Company Director(s), Shareholder(s) and any key personnel whom you expect to be involved in the project.
Funding
It should be noted in compliance with requirements of Subsidy Control – only eligible costs can be included and as such:
- NZTC cannot provide any funding to your company that results in your company realising profit from conducting this specific R&D project activity.
- Eligible personnel costs will be funded at cost rates and capped at £500 per day
- Only costs associated with the project should be included, either in full or part (where any item is not fully utilised for the purpose of the project).
- General company costs that are not directly linked to the project cannot be included.
- Any costs incurred prior to NZTC approval of the project cannot be included in the project budget and will not be eligible for funding.
Detailed Budget
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a funding template which will be provided to you by your NZTC assigned project manager at the relevant stage. This form will ask you to provide a listing of all eligible costs, including both total value and phasing per month. Descriptions of all costs, including any calculations used and justification for inclusion as part of the project and supporting information and documentation to substantiate/evidence the proposed costs.
In addition, for reference, an assessment will be carried out by the NZTC Finance team to ensure the application meets the requirements of Subsidy Control, please click here, for further information regarding Subsidies.
