Innovate UK: Accelerating the Green Economy Centres

12/10/2023

12/12/2023

The Accelerating the Green Economy Centres programme will fund innovative Centres that underpin emerging green markets in the UK. The Centres will bring together research clusters with business, local stakeholders and partners to co-develop and co-deliver research focused on market informed grand challenges to accelerate the exploitation and commercialisation of green solutions in a way that brings benefits to geographies across the UK. The Centres should aim to drive the translation of fundamental research through to development and deployment of emerging green solutions by attracting private investment, creating business opportunities and driving economic activity. The Centres should be based in the most appropriate location in the UK for the challenge identified. Centres should demonstrate how they will establish and maintain world leading research, translation, and commercialisation activities, to grow and strengthen the flow of private capital investment, thereby accelerating the local and national green economy. Award amount max £5,000,000. (Internal deadline: 23 October 2023, 11am).

The funders are seeking to fund up to five pioneering, collaborative, challenge-led, co-designed Accelerating the Green Economy Centres to support the creation of green solutions to market-informed grand challenges. You must demonstrate meaningful engagement, collaboration and integration with key partners which could include businesses, investors, civic bodies, potential customers and other researchers. The partners will be appropriate to the challenge, target location and build a critical mass of capacity and capability within the emerging green market identified. The funders expect the leadership and governance of the Centre to reflect the partnership required to develop and deliver solutions to the challenge being addressed in the target location.

Eligibility Note Standard UKRI eligibility criteria apply. Applications should be led by researchers based at eligible UK-based organisations in accordance with standard UKRI practice. For this funding opportunity this includes: Higher Education providers eligible Research Institutes NHS bodies approved Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs) approved Independent Research Organisations (IROs) research technology organisations (including the catapults).