The latest funding call for the Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) launched today, Monday 17th March 2025.
ICP aims to match companies that have research, development, and innovation (RD&I) projects with UK experts in materials science and cutting-edge facilities to accelerate the transfer of new technologies.
Round 5 of the Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP5) will catalyse joint materials innovation projects between universities, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) and businesses of all sizes from across the UK.
Royce is offering ICP grant funding for research, development, and innovation sprint projects. Universities, research and technology organisations and companies can apply for funding of total project costs between £50,000 and £130,000 for exploring innovative ideas with a focus on technology translation.
Royce invites proposals for projects which explore innovative materials solutions across one of five key scope areas which are listed below:
Sustainable materials innovation
- Materials innovations to support sustainability across the foundation industries (cement, metal, glass, chemicals, polymers, paper and ceramics sectors), including design, production, use, and end-of-life considerations
- Resource efficiency and scarcity: Innovations in materials use and recycling to address the scarcity of critical minerals and reduce dependence on limited resources
Extending Life of Major Assets through Materials Science
- Performance enhancement and degradation mitigation: Development of surface treatments, coatings or repair strategies to enhance or extend lifespan of large infrastructure assets
- Smart infrastructure management: Solutions that enable structural material health modelling (prediction), measurement and monitoring
Advanced Materials for next generation Quantum and Semiconductor Devices
- High-frequency telecommunications, sensing and power electronics
- New functionalities, heterogeneous integration, and metamaterials
- Thin film development for low-power electronics
Energy Materials and Green Hydrogen Technologies
- Materials for production, storage, transport, and utilisation of hydrogen in gaseous and liquid form
- Advanced energy materials: Energy harvesting, storage and conversion technologies for efficient, scalable solutions
Healthcare Innovation
- Material innovations in healthcare: Materials for medical applications that interface effectively with biological systems to realise a healthier population
ICP’s impact so far, from the previous four funding rounds, can be measured from the following lenses and key statistics:
- Economic: 7 organisations recorded market growth in their current sector, 12 companies recorded expansion into new market sectors
- Innovation: 35 projects recorded an increased technology readiness level, with 2 projects recording an increased market readiness level
- Academic: 9 spin-out companies in various stages of establishment as a result of ICP projects
- Knowledge Transfer: 37 projects reported knowledge transfer generation including secondments, internships and the development of new skills, techniques or experimental methods
- Social Value: 28 projects expected their ICP project to have a positive impact on protecting people from climate change and decarbonisation
Read more here.
Prof David Knowles, Royce CEO, said:
“I’m delighted to see the launch of ICP5, and I particularly look forward to seeing the successful applicants’ ideas and outputs from the funding awarded this year. The track record we have seen with previous ICP rounds has been impressive; £15 million awarded so far across 162 diverse materials innovation projects across several aspects of materials science, not to mention the many fruitful collaborations we have facilitated across industry and academia to drive materials innovation.”
Find out more about ICP5
Detailed guidance, documents and an application portal for the funding call is now available on the Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme page.
An intro webinar for the funding call will be held between 12:00-12:30 on Wednesday 19 March 2025: https://zoom.us/j/95896404795. A recording will be available after the session.
Royce must receive applications by Monday 12th May 2025 at 17:00.
ICP projects are primarily funded long-term by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); ICP5 includes funding remaining from an additional £1 million contribution from Innovate UK – almost £500k of which was awarded during ICP4 in 2024, with the remainder to be awarded in this round.
