Industrial Collaboration Programme
Round 6

The Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials is offering grant funding for research, development, and innovation sprint projects through Round 6 of its Industrial Collaboration Programme.

Projects which explore innovative ideas with a focus on technology translation can apply for a proportion of their total project costs. Universities, research and technology organisations and companies can apply and a maximum of 3 organisations may collaborate on each project. These awards are not offered to support fundamental research projects.

Royce will award up to £4 million under this round of its Industrial Collaboration Programme.

Applications to ICP6 will close at 5pm on 16 February 2026.

Projects must start on 01 July 2026 and finish on 30 November 2026.

Further details can be found in the guidance document.

The Royce Research and Business Engagement team is available to discuss potential project ideas, particularly from businesses unfamiliar with expertise and capabilities across Royce. Please contact them via grants@royce.ac.uk   

Start Your Application

ENERGY SOLUTIONS:
Rising to the net zero challenge

• Materials for battery energy storage
• Materials for large-scale electrochemical energy generation and conversion (including hydrogen)
• Materials for hydrogen transport, storage and use
• Materials for heat exchange, heat storage and waste heat recovery
• Materials for energy harvesting
• Materials for advanced nuclear fuels and nuclear test capability

FUTURE HEALTHCARE:
Delivering beyond biocompatibility for active medical solutions

• Biocompatible materials
• Materials for bioelectronics

STRUCTURAL INNOVATIONS:
Strengthening our infrastructure, built environment and transport

• Low-Carbon Concrete
• Composites
• Metallics
• Ceramics

ADVANCED SURFACE TECHNOLOGIES & MATERIALS DURABILITY:
Enhancing product safety, performance and lifetime

• Materials and modelling for surface engineering and tribology
• Surface treatments and materials for demanding environments

NEXT-GENERATION ELECTRONICS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS & SENSORS:
Driving the future of high-performance connectivity and computing

• Materials for power electronics
• Materials for quantum technologies
• Materials for connectivity & telecommunications

CONSUMER PRODUCTS, PACKAGING & SPECIALIST POLYMERS:
Paving the way for a greener tomorrow

• Materials for sustainable packaging
• Speciality polymers: sustainable elastomers

Please refer to Appendix 2 of Royce’s National Materials Innovation Strategy for additional detail on these scope areas.

We encourage proposals in the above areas which incorporate or lead with the following cross-cutting themes:

• Sustainability and sustainable by design principles into materials innovations:
  • Design, production, use, and end-of-life considerations – including the foundation industries
  • Innovations in materials use and recycling to address the scarcity of critical minerals and reduce dependence on limited resources
• Materials 4.0 which embraces the digital revolution in materials discovery and scale-up.

It is the responsibility of applicants to explain how their application aligns with the scope of this programme.

Total project costs must be between £50,000 and £130,000.

To be eligible, your project must:

• Include at least one company
• Include at least one HEI, RTO, not-for-profit organisation or charity
• Comprise no more than 3 partners in total (including the lead organisation)
• Start on 01 July 2026 and finish by 30 November 2026 (5 months)
• Carry out its project work in the UK
• Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• Incur all Royce-funded costs within the project’s duration
• Be a new project or activity that has not already started – please note that a previously submitted unsuccessful application can be used to re-apply.
• Be within the scope of ICP6 (see section 1.2 of the guidance document)

UK-registered companies may participate and claim funding. International companies may participate but cannot claim funding.

To be eligible, your project must be led by one of the following project leads:

• An appropriate senior manager from industry (e.g. R&D Manager, Chief Technology Officer or equivalent)
• A researcher holding a permanent academic position (e.g. lecturer or equivalent)
• Holders of early career fellowships who are granted the same stature as a permanent academic staff member
• HEI or RTO technical professional services staff (e.g. technical facility experimental leads and technical specialists or equivalent)

Project leads can lead on one proposal and collaborate on one additional proposal. Collaborator leads can participate in a maximum of two proposals. There is no limit on the number of applications per organisation. However, companies should consider that Royce is unlikely to fund multiple projects from the same company.

Senior research staff (e.g. holders of postdoctoral fellowships), who cannot typically lead a research grant application can be indicated as co-investigators. Senior application scientists are eligible to be co-investigators on proposals and application scientists are eligible to be research co-investigators if either has significant input to the research. Co-investigators will be expected to undertake grant management responsibilities in addition to their research roles.

Royce Application Scientists are available to support ICP projects, and are on hand to conduct experimental and analysis work to facilitate project delivery, which may include project scoping, management, experimental work, data analysis, and reporting. Application Scientists may be included in project costs between 20% and 50% of their time to complement other direct staffing costs (e.g. researchers, experimental officers, technical specialists, and investigators). More information is available in the Guidance Document.

PRE-APPLICATION DISCUSSION

Applicants are encouraged to start exploratory discussions on proposed projects, identifying collaborators, specifying the scope of a proposed project and identifying resources required for delivery.

We would also advise applicants who are interested in using Royce facilities as part of their project to contact the Research and Business Engagement Team to check costs and availability grants@royce.ac.uk.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

Applications must be made by using Flexigrant Portal. The application form has five parts.

Part 1: Overview – Provide a clear description of your project and how it fits the scheme’s scope.

Part 2: Collaborators – List all project collaborators and upload Letters of Support for any partners not requesting funding.

Part 3: The Proposal –

• Q1: The idea – Explain the problem you wish to solve, your innovative solution, how it improves on alternatives, potential adoption barriers, and why it is novel and timely.
• Q2: Workplan – Outline key work packages, leads, deliverables, risks and mitigations, IP considerations, and project classification. Upload a Gantt chart showing delivery across the 5-month period and any planned use of Royce resources.
• Q3: Resources & capability – Describe available facilities, partner roles, track records, and ability to deliver on time.
• Q4: Impact – Set out the expected academic, economic, environmental or societal impact, why public funding is needed, and how outcomes will continue beyond the project.

Part 4: Costs – Provide detailed cost breakdowns for collaborators, including requested Royce or subcontracted services.

Part 5: Declaration – Confirm eligibility and submission of all required documents.

DEADLINE

Royce must receive applications by  5pm on 16 February 2026. You will not be able to apply after this time.

HOW WE WILL ASSESS YOUR APPLICATION

Your application will be confidentially assessed for both eligibility and quality by an independent panel made up of experts in the field from industry and academia, and moderated by an internal Royce panel.

Eligible proposals will be reviewed against the following criteria:

• The idea/concept
• Clarity of workplan
• Project resources and capabilities
• Impact and added value

Royce will provide all eligible applicants with feedback. Detailed scoring/ranking will not be provided.

The grant awarded to successful projects covers a proportion of the total eligible project costs and the amount awarded to each partner is determined as follows:

• Type of recipient (i.e. HEI, RTO, company)
• Size of recipient (only for companies)
• Project’s research, development and innovation classification

FUNDING MODEL FOR COMPANIES

Companies undertaking non-economic activity can obtain a grant equal to the relevant percentage below of their total project costs:

Definitions for company sizes and project classifications are found in Appendices A and B of the Guidance Document.

At its discretion, Henry Royce Institute will determine and change the classification of the research project.

FUNDING MODEL FOR UNIVERSITIES, RTOs AND NON-PROFITS

Not-for-profit organisations, RTOs and charities undertaking non-economic activity can obtain a grant equal to 100% of their total project costs.

FUNDING MODEL FOR HEIs

HEIs undertaking non-economic activity can obtain a grant equal to 80% of their total project costs, if using Full Economic Costs (FEC).