The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest £40m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. Catalysts provide funding to innovative businesses and researchers working in priority areas with the aim of helping them to quickly turn excellent UK research into new or improved commercial processes and products.
The Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst programme will accelerate commercialisation by supporting the development of new industrial biotechnology products and processes, and enabling their potential scale-up. It will support R&D for the processing and production of materials, chemicals and bioenergy through the sustainable exploitation of biological resources. We are particularly encouraging a collaborative approach.
There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies; industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development.
The competition opens on 11 December 2014. The deadline for registration is noon on 13 May 2015 and the competition close date is noon on 20 May 2015.