Innovate UK Launches ISCF Future Food Production Systems Competition

With funding from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK (IUK) is providing funding to transform food production systems, improve productivity and sustainability, and help the industry move towards net zero emissions by 2040.

Support is available for projects that disrupt the traditional land-based models of food production and aim to determine the transformation of future food production systems. Projects must be ambitious, multidisciplinary and systems-focused rather than dedicated to developing a single technology.

Projects should address one of the following:

The development of new, resource efficient, low emission food production systems.

The technological and other bottlenecks that prevent existing state-of-the-art systems from supplying mainstream consumer markets.

Applicants must also demonstrate how their proposal will meet points one to three of the specific objectives of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Transforming Food Production challenge:

Create integrated data-driven solutions to drive primary agricultural productivity whilst driving towards net zero emissions.

Embed adoption of precision approaches to bridge the productivity gap, strengthening connections between researchers, businesses and practitioners.

Stimulate the establishment of novel high value production systems to position UK technologies at the forefront of new industries.

To lead a project, the organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. Projects must be collaborative, and involve at least one SME. UK registered businesses, academic institutions, charities, public sector organisations or research and technology organisations (RTO) can collaborate on the project.

Up to £20 million has been allocated to this competition. A project’s total eligible costs must be greater than £1 million but less than £10 million. Projects must be carried out in the UK.

Projects must start by 1 July 2020 and end by 31 March 2023. They can last between 24 and 33 months.

Applications should be submitted by the 22 January 2020 deadline.

More information about this funding opportunity and the application process is available on the GRANTfinder funding information platform. GRANTfinder provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on funding news and policy. To find out more about how GRANTfinder can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.