Innovate UK has up to £3 million available for UK organisations using engineering biology to solve problems set by Defra and the Food Standards Agency, with individual contracts worth up to £200,000.
This is phase 1 of a potential two phase competition, and it is a contract rather than a grant. Innovate UK is buying research and development from you, so you get 100% of your agreed costs and there is no match funding to find. You pick one of four challenges and build your project around it.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
You must be a UK-based organisation of any size. The contract goes to a single legal entity, so you can't apply as a consortium, but you can bring in subcontracted specialist skills as collaborators from:
- Business
- Research and technology organisations
- Research organisations
- The third sector
You also must not be subject to UK sanctions restrictions, and your procurement, business development and supply chain activities must not expose UKRI to sanctioned entities.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Be no more than £200,000 in total costs, inclusive of VAT
- Last up to nine months
- Start on 1 January 2027 and finish by 30 September 2027
The majority of your project work and your key deliverables must be completed in the UK, and most of the contract value must be spent here.
You also have to pick one of four challenges and focus your whole project on it:
- Accelerating next generation veterinary vaccine platforms
- Low cost, real time water quality monitoring
- Predicting ecosystem health and resilience from eDNA using AI
- Rapid diagnostics for food standards and regulatory compliance
Your project must also:
- Devote at least 50% of the contract value to research and development services, covering solution exploration, design, prototyping and field testing
- Show a credible, practical route to market and a commercialisation plan
- Use engineering biology as its primary innovation and its competitive advantage
Innovate UK won't fund projects that:
- Are clinical trials or preclinical evaluation of therapeutics
- Are fundamental research
- Aren't aligned with one of the four challenges
- Aren't original in scope, or duplicate work that already exists
- Don't put engineering biology at the centre
- Involve clinical development of biologics, vaccines or engineering biology derived small molecules
If your work involves animals, it has to comply with UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research, and you will be asked for extra welfare and ethical information if you are selected.
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
This competition is a procurement rather than a grant, so what you can claim depends on what your project actually costs, not on your organisation's type or size.
Individual contracts are worth up to £200,000, inclusive of VAT.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract costs* | 100% | 100% | 100% |
*Contracts for Innovation is a procurement, so Innovate UK buys the research and development from you and covers 100% of your agreed contract costs. There is no match funding to find and no rate that changes with the size of your company.
Funding Example
If your project has total costs of £180,000 inclusive of VAT, you receive the full £180,000. Innovate UK pays monthly in arrears against invoices you submit within 30 days of completing each milestone, so you need enough working capital to carry your costs between milestones.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Because this is a contract rather than a grant, the usual research organisation funding rules don't apply. Full economic cost calculations aren't relevant here, and there is no 50% cap on research participation. Any UK organisation can hold the contract, and your costs are assessed on whether they represent fair market value. Non-commercial organisations more often come in as subcontracted specialists on someone else's bid.
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 14 October 2026.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section covers:
- Application team
- Project details
- Project summary
- Public description
- Scope
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 13 questions in total:
- Six unscored administrative questions
- Seven scored questions covering your proposed idea, your approach, your team, your project plan, your costs and the value for money of the work
You can include appendices (PDFs of up to two A4 pages) for the proposed idea, project plan and costs questions.
Finances
You set out your contract costs here, inclusive of VAT, and they are assessed on whether they represent fair market value.
Project Impact
You answer a short set of questions about the wider impact of your project, which Innovate UK uses for its own reporting.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 16 November 2026. Contracts are awarded on 16 December 2026 and projects start on 1 January 2027.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
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