DATES:
Competition closes: 29th May 2025, 11:00 am.
Applicants notified: 30th June 2025.
Project start date & duration: Last up to 6 months. Starting by 1st Sep 2025, ending by 28th Feb 2026.
SCOPE – proposals must
- Comprehensively address the feasibility of an advancement of hardware design or fabrication with the potential to significantly impact UK businesses.
- Output technical and commercial feasibility.
- Identify potential barriers to achieving traction in the market.
- Carry out all funded project work in, and exploit the results from or in, the UK.
SPECIFIC THEMES
Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
- Novel semiconductor materials or designs semiconductor fabrication; manufacturing equipment; multi-technology integration or interfacing; novel packing materials and techniques; advanced packing; thermal management; front and/or back end of line processes; in line and end of line test; and development of Process Design Kits (PDKs). This list is not intended to be exhaustive.
OUT-OF-SCOPE – funding won’t be given for projects involving
- Design or fabrication of printed circuit boards.
- Assembly of end-use systems.
ELIGIBILITY
- To lead a project you must be a UK registered business of any size, or be/involve in the project at least one grant claiming micro, small, or medium enterprise (SME).
- To collaborate with the lead you must be a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation, or research and technology organisation.
- Non-UK partners can join the application, but cannot claim grant funding. Non-funded partners costs still count towards the total eligible project costs.
- Subcontractors are allowed, no more than 20% eligible UK costs and preferably from the UK. You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.
FUNDING RATES
- The total grant funding request must be between £75,000-£300,000.
- No one project partner can represent more than 70% of the total project costs.
| Organisation size | Feasibility Studies (TRL 1-3) |
| Micro/small business | <70% |
| Medium sized business | <60% |
| Large business | <50% |
Up to 100% of eligible costs for RTOs, charity, not for profit, public sector, or research organisation. 80% of full economic costs (FEC) covered for Je-S registered institutions (such as an academic).
How PNO can support you
The UK team has a strong track record in securing some of the most competitive national and European grants on behalf of its clients, with a full understanding of how a project should be presented to stand the highest chance of success. Each year in the UK alone, we are responsible for the submission of more than 100 funding applications across all sectors and priority areas. Based on this extensive experience, through careful project selection and using key insight into how a project should be best positioned, we consistently achieve success rates that are more than 5 times the typical success rates for UK national schemes and EU programmes.
For further information or to discuss a project idea please contact PNO Consultants
0161 488 3488 | info.uk@pnoconsultants.com
