Innovate UK is offering up to £19 million for innovative projects taking place within the life sciences space.

The funding is being offered to UK organisations that are working towards innovative projects for health and life sciences as well as new emerging technologies.

Companies working on health and life sciences projects must display significant advancement in one of six areas, including:

1. Increasing agricultural productivity
2. Improving food quality and sustainability
3. Advanced therapies (cell and gene therapies)
4. Precision medicine
5. Medicinesdiscovery
6. Advanced biosciences

Those working on emerging technologies on the other hand must show innovation in one of four areas, including:

1. Emerging technologies (biofilms, energy harvesting, graphene, new imaging technologies)
2. Digital
3. Enabling capabilities, including electronics, sensors and photonics (ESP), robotics and autonomous systems(RAS), creative economyand design
4. Space applications

Innovate UK is also offering a further £12 million to fund Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).

Innovate UK hopes that the competition will help UK businesses broaden their innovation activities, disrupt existing markets and find new revenue sources.

Projects must involve at least one SME and those that cost over £100,000 must be collaborative and include a funded partner.

For those interested, the application period ends 28^th March.

Innovate UK is hosting briefing events to offer more details about the competition.

The next briefing event takes place 2 February at Ulster University.