Innovate UK: Driving the electric revolution – building talent for the future 2

17/03/2022

27/04/2022

Innovate UK invites expressions of interest for its driving the electric revolution – building talent for the future call. This supports innovative skills, talent and training projects. The aim of this competition is to fund ideas that quickly fill immediate gaps in skills, talent and training for the power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) industry. The proposal must deliver a clear game-changing intervention, which would realistically and significantly meet a UK PEMD industry talent requirement. The total budget is £4.5 million to fund innovation projects with total eligible costs worth up to £50,000. Projects may last for between six and 12 months.

The project must focus on one or more of the following: •defining and filling key gaps in the UK’s PEMD workforce and training capability; •producing industry compatible training programmes in PEMD; •promoting skills in design for manufacture and design for assembly; •increasing interaction between academia or training establishments and industry to ensure skills streams for the future, including apprenticeships, internships and sandwich courses; •delivering academic courses or practical training areas, such as schools’ engagement, upskilling and reskilling of existing workforce, technical courses and vocational training, undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development; •improving the quality and capacity of existing training delivery; •outreach and engagement material focussing on PEMD for all ages and levels in academia and industry; •supporting and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion within PEMD technology training, manufacturing, or research; •providing training or incentives for training to specific underrepresented groups of people or in specific training subjects.

To lead a project, work alone or collaborate with a lead partner, the organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, research organisation, research and technology organisation, academic institution, charity, non-profit organisation or public sector organisation, and carry out project work in the UK. Projects must demonstrate strong industrial links and a well-defined industry focus.