There are a number of funding opportunities designed to support translational research, to advance knowledge from the lab into business. Three important schemes designed to help research on the path to commercialisation are listed below, and you can also find a constantly updated list of funding opportunities on the Plant Sciences intranet.
BioScience Impact Team
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BBSRC Impact Acceleration Account: Funding to support BBSRC-funded research to move towards impactful outcomes, available until March 2021. This funding is offered as pump-prime grants, enabling short projects to move BBSRC-funded research along its pathway to impact, usually with the involvement of an external partner. For open calls, please see their Internal Funding page.
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BBSRC Flexible Talent Mobility Account: Targeted at talented early-career (postdoctoral or equivalent) researchers, and intended to support the exchange of personnel, perspectives and knowledge, skills and expertise between the academic and industrial sectors. For open calls, please see their Internal Funding page.
Please do get in touch if you want to hear more about these funding sources, or intend to apply. Keep an eye out for Impact@Tea events with the BioScience Impact Team in the lead up to calls opening and closing, where you can get more advice and support.
BBSRC IPA and LINK: Industry Co-Funding
There are two funding calls from the BBSRC which are designed to bridge the ‘valley of death’ and facilitate academic-industry partnerships to develop research toward commercialisation. The primary aim of these schemes is to benefit the UK research base and the UK economy, so collaborating companies should have a research and developemnt or manufacturing site in the UK.
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Stand Alone LINK: At least 50% of the full project cost must come from industry, either in cash or in kind.
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Industrial Partnership Awards: Industry partners must make a cash contribution of at least 10% of the balance of the project costs minus the industry contribution.
Ceres Agri-Tech Knowledge Exchange Partnership
The Ceres Agri-Tech Knowledge Exchange Partnership links the universities of Cambridge, East Anglia, Hertfordshire, Lincoln and Reading, along with the John Innes Centre, NIAB and Rothamsted Research, to help drive the commercialisation of agri-tech research and innovation in England.
Ceres is looking to work with both university researchers and business partners to identify, partner, build, invest in and run the most commercially viable development projects focused on the innovation needs of the agri-tech sector. Funding for commercially relevant research is available in the form of grants – get in touch with Geoff Elliott at Cambridge Enterprise to find out more.