The following article by Professor David Knowles, CEO of the Henry Royce Institute, outlines the emerging landscape of major European funding programmes, including FP10, the European Competitiveness Fund and the IAM-I/IAM4EU Partnership, and highlights an opportunity to convene a UK steering group to better coordinate national input, strengthen collaboration and position the UK as an influential partner in advanced materials innovation. Details on how to join an initial roundtable discussion for the steering group are provided at the end of the article.
Helping to Shape the Next Decade of UK-European Materials Innovation
Author: Professor David Knowles, FREng, CEO, Henry Royce Institute
The UK’s National Materials Innovation Strategy, sets a clear 10‑year vision to drive economic growth, strengthen national resilience, and accelerate the flow of advanced materials research into industrial deployment. The strategy emphasises transformative cross‑cutting technologies such as Materials 4.0, digital design, high‑throughput experimentation and sustainable materials innovation, each critical to shaping a more productive, secure and low‑carbon economy. It highlights the need to break down historic silos and mobilise coordinated action across industry, academia, and government to reduce development cycles, expand skilled employment, and reinforce national capability.
At the same time, Europe is preparing for a major new era of research and innovation investment through the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034, which introduces a streamlined, policy‑driven funding architecture supported by a €2 trillion budget. Central to this is the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), a proposed €275.5 billion instrument focused on scaling technologies, and Horizon Europe FP10, with an expected €140–175 billion for discovery and development. Together, these constitute a full innovation pipeline covering TRL1–9, from scientific discovery through scale‑up to deployment and establish a seamless investment journey through integrated work programmes steered by market goals.
Parallel to this, the IAM‑I / IAM4EU Partnership is taking shape: Europe’s major new platform for Innovative Advanced Materials. IAM‑I aims to build a continent‑wide, multidisciplinary ecosystem to accelerate the development and uptake of materials essential to the green and digital transitions. Its agenda spans safe‑and‑sustainable‑by‑design (SSbD) materials, digital materials design, critical raw materials, semiconductors, photonics, biomaterials, and more, strongly aligned with UK priorities and the National Strategy.
Context: Where UK Priorities Align with Europe’s 2028-2034 Policy Windows
The alignment between the EU strategy and UK activities is strong, with broad intent that closely reflects both the Modern Industrial Strategy and the National Materials Innovation Programme. This shared direction enables robust interfaces with IAM I and FP10. Notably, there are significant overlaps across key priority areas, including:
1. Resilience & Security, Defence Industry & Space
The MFF strongly emphasises sovereignty, with materials classed as foundational to secure supply chains, critical raw material processing, defence performance, and space‑ready systems.
Advanced materials opportunities include:
- Critical raw material processing and strategic value chains
- High‑performance defence materials (protection, energetics, stealth)
- Space‑grade materials for extreme environments
- Sensing and infrastructure‑protection materials
These priorities resonate with the UK strategy’s call for national resilience, robust supply chains and high‑performance technologies.
2. Clean Transition & Industrial Decarbonisation
Europe positions materials as “the physical layer of decarbonisation”, requiring focused mid‑TRL investment to scale.
Key opportunity areas:
- Batteries, hydrogen materials, thermal management
- High‑temperature alloys, catalysts and industrial decarbonisation materials
- Lightweight mobility materials
- Recyclable, circular and biobased materials
This maps directly onto UK themes such as sustainable materials, energy solutions, and circularity.
3. Digital Leadership
Europe’s digital autonomy agenda stresses that “no digital sovereignty exists without materials sovereignty.”
Advanced materials priorities include:
- Semiconductor substrates and wide‑bandgap materials
- Functional materials for photonics and quantum
- MEMS/NEMS, advanced sensors, electronics and connectivity materials
These align with Materials 4.0, data‑driven design and next‑generation electronics in the UK strategy.
4. Health, Biotech, Agriculture & Bioeconomy
Advanced materials underpin bio‑innovation, though often not made visible in policy frameworks.
Opportunities include:
- Biomaterials for implants, drug delivery and regenerative medicine
- Bio‑based polymers, fibres and chemicals
- Diagnostics, sensors and lab‑on‑chip materials
- Smart materials in food and agri‑systems
This links strongly to UK healthcare materials innovation and sustainable consumer products.
A Strategic Opportunity for UK-EU Collaboration
The alignment between the UK’s national strategy and Europe’s forthcoming 2028–2034 investment cycle is unusually strong. Both emphasise:
- Materials 4.0 and digital design as enablers of speed and competitiveness
- Critical materials security and resilient value chains
- Sustainable materials aligned with circular and net‑zero objectives
- Stronger research‑industry interfaces
- Acceleration of mid‑TRL scale‑up, where UK industry consistently seeks support
The opportunity to shape how UK activities associated with the Modern Industrial Strategy and the National Materials Innovation Programme interfaces with IAM I and FP10 are self-evident. The UK stands to benefit substantially by interfacing more intentionally with the IAM‑I/IAM4EU agenda and with Europe’s MFF frameworks, especially as the ECF and FP10 are designed to support precisely the kinds of materials innovation and scale‑up that the UK strategy identifies as national priorities.
A Call to Convene: UK Steering Group on European Alignment
To capture this opportunity and alignment with the UK materials strategy, we need a coordinated input to the ongoing EU activity. Much activity is already taking placed, but is it fragmented. Under the banner of the UK Materials Strategy, we are therefore considering rapid formation of a small UK steering/reference group bringing together representatives from:
- UK industry (large companies and SMEs)
- Academia and national research organisations
- Innovation and technology infrastructures
- Organisations already participating in IAM‑I, or seeking to strengthen their involvement
Its purpose will be to:
- Shape how the UK National Materials Innovation Programme interfaces with IAM‑I and FP10
- Identify UK strengths that could anchor or lead major European initiatives
- Coordinate national input into early IAM‑I structures, calls and working groups
- Map how UK research and industry can leverage the full TRL journey, from FP10 discovery to ECF scale‑up and deployment instruments
- Support national resilience, economic security and materials sovereignty through aligned action
If sufficient interest is confirmed, the Henry Royce Institute can help to convene this group, ensuring representation from across the UK materials research and innovation community.
Invitation to Participate
We would like to invite UK organisations, particularly those already engaged with IAM‑I or wishing to strengthen the UK’s collective input, to join an initial roundtable discussion informed by the National Materials Innovation Strategy.
Your participation will help position the UK as a coordinated, influential partner in the next decade of European advanced materials programmes—shaping investment priorities, accelerating innovation, and enhancing the UK’s economic resilience.
We welcome expressions of interest from those who would like to take part in this discussion. Please complete this Microsoft Form including a short note on:
- your current and/or previous involvement in Horizon-funded materials research and innovation
- your reasons for wishing to contribute to the roundtable discussion
