Research proposals in response to this themed call should draw from the widest possible range of emerging ideas and applications to improve MOD’s understanding of the state of the art and future potential for defence and security applications. Topics of interest to MOD under this call include:

•   Agile, distributed manufacturing and upgrade (including through additive manufacturing). For example:

Additive manufacturing materials. Particular interest in near- and longer-term options in the areas of structural, multifunctional, nano- and meta-materials.

Zero-cost’ upgrades. How can defence most valuably exploit relevant developments in this field from the civil sector? Where are there important niche aspects that will likely only be developed for defence and security objectives?

•  Quantum computing. How can we design defence capability to maximise the impact of potential future quantum computing capability for UK defence?

•  Intelligent systems and embedded electronics. Including sensing, processing, communication and other functionality within components and structures.

•  Biological manufacturing. Use of biological principles in areas of design and manufacture. For example, using organic materials or enhancing defence-relevant design and manufacture using biological systems.

This competition will be launched at a seminar in Cambridge on Tuesday 12 June 2012. Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar, registration is necessary via http://www.science.mod.uk/events/event_detail.aspx?eventid=174.

Open date: 12 June 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

 Research proposals are sought which:

1.  Reduce, or ideally eliminate, the need for soldiers to be on foot and exposed to hostile action, when surveying terrain and making assessment for ground manoeuvre.

2.  Reduce the need for maintenance and in the field support for wheeled and tracked land platforms by improving their endurance and tolerance of the environment.

Although proposals are sought that would ultimately lead to exploitation in 2020 to 2035 (earlier maturation dates may also still find opportunities for exploitation), this call covers only the proof-of-concept stage research. Significant drivers across all potential proposals include low cost (throughout lifecycle), low burden, flexibility of deployment and use, and robustness.

A seminar to launch this call for proposals will be held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, on Tuesday 29 May 2012, at which more details of the call will be provided, along with scenarios to provide contextual information.  Registration for the seminar is necessary via http://www.science.mod.uk/events/event_detail.aspx?eventid=172

The call will close at 1700 noon on Wednesday 11th July 2012.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 29 May.

Open date: 29 May 2012
Close date: 11 July 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

This will assist in sustaining a strong supply chain and supplying the global oil and gas markets. The funding will be invested in feasibility studies that may lead to their future development and application in the oil and gas sector. We are seeking applications that are led by SMEs, preferably partnering with larger organisations already operating in the sector – or looking to do so – and who are able to take concepts to market quickly. The feasibility studies will focus on the following areas:

•increasing oil and gas recovery efficiencies
•improving asset integrity and extending the life of offshore installations. This may be achieved through:
•further development of existing technologies already in the sector
•transfer of existing technologies from other sectors, which may include, but are not limited to, ICT, power generation, sensors, advanced materials and manufacturing
•application of novel or completely new technologies within the sector.
We are looking for projects that will ultimately help retain, anchor and develop the oil and gas supply chain in the UK to deliver sustainable jobs and economic growth in the long term, against increasing competition from other regions. It is expected that projects will, through further development, be able to deliver cost reduction and efficiency improvements while contributing to environmental sustainability in the sector. This is a single stage competition and opens on 25 June 2012. The deadline for registration is noon 01 August 2012 and the deadline for applications is noon 08 August 2012.

Open date: 25 June 2012
Registration close date: 01 August 2012
Close date: 08 August 2012

Email: competitions@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 321 4357 

The agreement aims to help to reduce these risks for all workers in the hairdressing sector in the EU.  Hairdressing is the most high risk profession for occupational skin diseases.  In some countries up to 70% of hairdressers suffer from work-related skin damage such as dermatitis at some point during their career, which is least 10 times more than the average for workers of all sectors. 

Almost 40% of hairdressers report musculoskeletal complaints, five times more than the rate for workers of all sectors. It is hoped that when implemented, this agreement by the European social partners will help to dramatically improve this situation.

The signatory parties Coiffure EU and UNI Europa Hair & Beauty are now in the process of asking the Commission for their agreement to be made legally binding in the EU. Before presenting a legislative proposal to the Council of Ministers, the Commission will carry out an assessment of the representative status of the signatory parties, their mandate and the legality of each clause of the agreement in relation to existing Union law.

Europa

Increased transparency on abnormally low offers in order to combat unfair competition by non-EU suppliers on the European market. 

• The Commission may approve that EU contracting authorities, for contracts above €5 million, exclude tenders comprising a significant part of foreign goods and services where these contracts are not covered by existing international agreements
• In the event of repeated and serious discrimination against European suppliers in non-EU countries, the Commission will have at its disposal a mechanism allowing it to restrict access to the EU market, if the country outside the EU does not engage in negotiations to address market access imbalances.  Any restrictive measures will be targeted, for example, by excluding tenders originating in a non-EU country or imposing a price penalty

For further information http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/268

           Europa

• Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA)
• Agency for Research, Technology and Innovation
• Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Albania
•  Regional Development Agency Network

For general economic information on Albania please visit the Albania website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Information on the security related risks which companies face when operating overseas is available on the Overseas Business Risk webpage.

The Commission will continue monitoring Croatia’s accession preparations with all available means, including regular meetings under the Stabilisation Association Agreement.  The Commission is expected to present the next, more comprehensive Monitoring Report to the European Parliament and the Council in autumn 2012.

Croatia is the second largest consumer market in Central and Eastern Europe with a range of opportunities across a wide range of sectors.

Croatia is located at the heart of Central and Eastern Europe and borders with Slovenia, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. The country represents a promising market for UK companies with good regional air, road and rail linkages and a skilled workforce.

What are the opportunities for doing business in Croatia?

According to UKTI opportunities exist for UK companies in a wide range of sectors, although Croatia’s traditional trading partners are Italy (17% of total imports), Germany and Austria, UK exports continue to grow year on year.  

The goal of this network is to strengthen national bioenergy research programmes through enhancing cooperation and coordination between national agencies. Through collaboration, the individual national programmes will produce higher quality results, while through coordination, they will seek to complement each other, avoiding duplication.

To reach these goals the network is pursuing four lines of activity:
• Establishing structures for the systematic exchange of information
• Identifying common strategic issues to form a basis for integrated programmes and projects
• Undertaking joint activities such as common programme monitoring
• Implementing joint research activities

6th ERA-NET Bioenergy Joint Call
ERA-NET Bioenergy, a network of organisations from several countries, is to provide funding to support applied European research projects relating to biomass production or biogas. 
Public funding will be provided by national funding organisations from Germany, Ireland, Poland, Sweden and the UK.  Proposals must include partners from at least three of the countries involved in the call.

Further information, and a full list of the sub-topics, can be found at www.eranetbioenergy.net.
The competition is now open and pre-proposals must be submitted by 11 May 2012. 
Full proposals must then be submitted by 20 August 2012.

Funding is available for projects covering one or more of the following topics:
• Innovative biogas production.  Focal points include e.g. pre-treatment technologies, unexploited substrates, measurement/control, upgrading, management of digestate;
• Sustainable biomass for energy purposes.  Focal points include e.g. optimisation of existing and new crops by way of plant breeding or cultivation techniques, breeding and cultivation for cascading uses, harvesting/storage technologies.

UK Participation
Industrial Participants
• Must have been trading for at least 12 months before the closing date for applications. VAT registered and registered at Companies House
• Claims under the UK grant must be for project costs incurred in the UK, including subcontracting.
• UK Subcontracting is capped at a maximum of 20% of the UK budget.
• Project management must be undertaken by a project participant and cannot be subcontracted.
• Maximum grant funding of €300,000 per company
• Industry partners are eligible for 50% funding of project costs.

Eligible UK Industrial Partner costs

Mr Graham M Mobbs
European Operations Manager
Technology Strategy Board
Email: graham.mobbs@tsb.gov.uk

Dr Merlin Goldman
Lead Technologist - Biosciences
Technology Strategy Board
E-mail: merlin.goldman@tsb.gov.uk

Any academics interested in participating should contact: Dr Vicky Jackson, Biotechnology and Biological  Sciences Research Council, 01793 413341; vicky.jackson@bbsrc.ac.uk.

Open date: 26 April 2012
Close date: 20 August 2012

Website: www.eranetbioenergy.net.

Email: graham.mobbs@tsb.gov.uk  

Three types of grant are available:

- Proof of market grant

- Proof of concept grant

- Development of prototype grant

Pre start-ups, start-ups, and small and medium-sized businesses from all sectors across the UK may apply for the Smart programme.

Further information, including full guidance for applicants, is available on the right hand side of this page.  Please note that the Guidance for Applicants have been updated and a new rule has been introduced from the open of Round 5. An individual business may only submit one project application per category (eg proof of concept) per round. If more than one application per category is submitted in a round only the first application submitted will be considered for funding.

 Batch assessment dates

Smart scheme batch assessment dates in FY2012/13, view details here

The new batch assessment dates for Smart scheme applications during the next financial year, which starts on 2nd April, are:

2012    31 May, 19 July, 27 September, 29 November

2013    24 January, 21 March

View more details here

Smart responsive mode is "always open". However to assist the Technology Strategy Board in the processing of these applications, we assign them into batches for final assessment and funding.

Once an application is submitted, it is forwarded to the appointed assessors to begin the assessment process. At the batch assessment date indicated below, any remaining applications are sent to assessors. Any applications submitted after 12.00 noon on the batch assessment date will be reviewed with the following batch of assessments.

Following the batch assessment date, the Technology Strategy Board collates all of the assessment feedback and scores from the assessors and then ranks all submissions in batches and assigns the available funding. Therefore an applicant should expect to hear from the Technology Strategy Board approximately one month after the batch assessment date with respect to its funding decision.

Open date: 04 April 2011

Website: www.innovateuk.org/deliveringinnovation/smart.ashx

Email: support@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 3214357  

Tech All Stars will select 10 of the best Euro startups that ‘graduated’ from business incubators, accelerators and Web camps, and another two ‘wildcards’ (that would be startups that haven’t necessarily completed an accelerator program or similar).

Startups can apply now and need to fit three criteria: they have to be registered within the European Union, be less than 3 years old and raised raised less than 1 million euros in outside capital.

Twelve startups will be invited to London. Each startup will receive one complementary ticket to LeWeb London. The twelve startups are free to network at LeWeb on June 19th. On June 20th, the action begins with the Tech All Stars event!

Tech All Stars has its own workshop room at LeWeb. It'll be a setting where you can fire away questions and pick the brains of mentors, entrepreneurs, and investors at the top of their game. At the end of the first day, you'll pitch and receive feedback. The judges will narrow the twelve startups down to three.

The top three startups will win an exclusive invite to Founders Forum to pitch at the talent track. Founders Forum gives startups a chance to hobnob with successful entrepreneurs and investors like Reid Hoffman. Past Founders Forum participants include Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson. The Founders Forum event is so exclusive that invitations for startups are impossible to get. But we've gotten your startup through the front door - if you can prove your startup is the best!

The application process will close on May 15th, and the twelve startups will be selected in early June 2012.

http://techallstars.eu/

The £180 million Biomedical Catalyst, announced by David Cameron in December 2011, will see the Medical Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board working together to provide responsive and effective support for the best life science opportunities arising in the UK.

Support through the Biomedical Catalyst is available to UK businesses (SMEs) and academics looking to develop innovative solutions to healthcare challenges either individually or in collaboration.

This joint programme between the MRC and TSB will offer three categories of grant:

Feasibility Award Early Stage Award Late Stage Award

The categories are designed to support the maturation of an idea from concept to commercialisation. This will create a pipeline of projects encompassing the early stage exploration of commercial and technical potential through to proving utility in the field (which may involve human clinical trials) and development prior to commercialisation. Applicants may apply for the award category most appropriate for their work without having received a prior award.

Support will be available for projects arising from any sector or discipline that are aimed at addressing healthcare challenges. Example solutions may include (but are not limited to): stratified therapy development (both drug and device), regenerative medicine, diagnostics, eHealth and mHealth solutions, enabling medical technologies and devices. The Biomedical Catalyst will seek to support those opportunities which demonstrate the highest scientific and commercial potential irrespective of medical area.

Please see the Technology Strategy Board healthcare page for more information about work in this area.

The Biomedical Catalyst will operate in response mode and will in essence be "always open". However to assist the processing of applications there will be key submission and assessment dates which will differ depending on the category of award and applicant type, please see the links/dates below for further details. The assessment of Early and Late Stage awards will culminate in a panel assessment for both academic and business led applications enabling funding decisions to be made three times a year.

All applications will be subject to assessment by independent expert reviewers with short-listed applicants for Late Stage Awards being interviewed by a committee. Applicants for Late Stage Awards are advised to note that should they be successful in being invited to interview they should hold the dates of the next committee meetings as these are fixed and non-negotiable. Dates will be confirmed when applicants are sent their invitation to submit a full stage proposal (and will be posted on this page in due course).

Please note: If your application is led by an academic, you will need to apply on the Medical Research Council website.

If your application is led by a business, you should make your application on this website.

Further information on award categories and application process will be available soon.

 Click here for the MRC website  http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Ourresearch/ResearchInitiatives/Translationalresearch/index.htm#P24_1233 
 
Further information and registration will be available there soon.

Open date: 30 April 2012
Email: competitions@innovateuk.org  

Background and challenge

38% of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions in the UK are attributed to buildings, with 18% attributed to Non Domestic Buildings (DECC 2009).  If the UK is to meet its stringent emission reduction targets a focus on reducing building emissions is required.

The challenge is a lack of product and systems innovation in the energy efficient refurbishment of non domestic buildings.  This is due to a limited number of products in or entering the market, a lack of faith in the benefits of such an investment and a lack of collaboration between suppliers, designers, building owners and tenants.

 Scope

This programme aims to demonstrate a greater range of options and the value proposition of undertaking energy efficient refurbishments.

Building owners or occupiers working with suppliers and specifiers will be challenged with introducing a product or a holistic group of products and system improvements.  This can be delivered either as a major stand alone trial, or as part of a refurbishment project/ programme.

The project will build on building performance tuning as a pre-requisite, in combination with the trial of new products and approaches.  The performance will be benchmarked against other buildings.

The project can include research and product development but must include a building trial, with the end goal being Green Deal certification.

This competition will run in two tranches of £5m each. Tranche 1 opens on 30 April 2012 and the deadline for registration is noon 6 June 2012. The deadline for applications is noon 13 June 2012. Tranche 2 opens on 15 October 2012 and the deadline for registration is noon 21 November 2012. The deadline for applications is noon 28 November 2012. The dates for tranche 2 are indicative at this time. Each tranche consists of two phases. The first is the design phase, from which projects will be selected for the second delivery phase. Contracts in the first design phase will be up to £20k and in the second delivery phase £100k-£1m.

Open date: 30 April 2012
Registration close date: 06 June 2012
Close date: 13 June 2012

Email: competitions@innovateuk.org  

Projects must be business-led and are open to small and micro companies working either singly or in collaboration with one another. Academics can apply, but only as part of a consortium.

Projects should last up to 12 months and are eligible for grants of up to £56,250 or 75% of total costs. Total project costs must not exceed £75,000. Challenge 1 opens on 23 April 2012.  The registration deadline is noon 16 May 2012 and the deadline for receiving applications is noon 23 May 2012. Successful challenge 1 projects must begin no later than 1 August 2012. Challenge 1 will also include mandatory workshops held in collaboration with the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) on 11 July 2012, 6 December 2012 and 9 May 2013. Challenge 2 opens on 16 July 2012 and the deadline for applications is noon 22 August 2012. Successful challenge 2 projects must begin no later than 1 November 2012. Challenge 3 opens on 15 October 2012 and the deadline for applications is noon 21 November 2012. Successful challenge 3 projects must begin no later than 1 February 2013.

An optional briefing event for the three-part programme will be held in London on 2 May 2012.

Open date: 23 April 2012
Registration close date: 16 May 2012
Close date: 23 May 2012

Email: support@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 321 4357  

The Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) is the Ministry of Defence’s gateway for UK science and technology for industry, academia and other innovators to ensure that UK Armed Forces have access to the best equipment, science and technology, now and in the future.

This call will seek innovative approaches that strengthen the ability of decision makers to:

• increase the medical operational independence of front line units to operate remotely in the most challenging circumstances; and,
• deliver the greatest levels of support in the rehabilitation of severely injured personnel.

The competition will launch at an event at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham on Monday 23rd April.  Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar, registration is necessary via http://www.science.mod.uk/events/event_detail.aspx?eventid=167.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 23 April.

Open date: 23 April 2012
Close date: 31 May 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

One of the key lessons learned from recent operational experience is that the threat from a determined and inventive enemy is constantly evolving and changing. The Armour and Protection needed for the safe operation of UK Armed Forces must keep ahead of the threat with both short term developments to reflect current experience but also long term research to provide the knowledge and technology that will underpin effectiveness of systems into the future.

This Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) SBRI competition will launch at an event to be held on Tuesday 15th May 2012 (location to be confirmed). Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar; registration to attend the event will open shortly.

For more information about the Armour and Protection STC please see their webpages or contact them on aandpstcenquiries@dstl.gov.uk.

Open date: 15 May 2012
Close date: 04 June 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise.mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

The competition is open to the full range of design and construction organisations, trades and professions, but is particularly targeted at construction contractors, developers and other major procurers of buildings, collaborating with their supply chain. We aim to encourage a fundamental rethink of current procurement and construction processes. The funding requires these new integrated ways of working to be trialled on a new-build construction project, or series of buildings.

We are looking for radically innovative ideas resulting in significant transformations; not the fine-tuning of existing tools, or the roll-out and training of existing processes or skills.

Projects must be collaborative and business-led and can involve science-tobusiness and/or business-to-business interactions. Academics can apply only as a collaboration partner in a consortium. Successful consortiums will attract up to 50% public funding. We expect to invest between £150k and £1m per project, and projects can last between one and four years.

This is a two-stage competition that opens on 8 May 2012. The deadline for registration is noon on 6 June 2012 and the deadline for expressions of interest is noon on 13 June 2012. The deadline for invited full-stage applications is noon on 22 August 2012. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 15 May 2012.

A further industry related event will be organised by the Modern Built Environment Knowledge Transfer Network to support this competition.

Open date: 08 May 2012
Registration close date: 06 June 2012
Close date: 13 June 2012

Email: competitions@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 321 4357  

Demonstration trial fleets will be run for two years, during which time usage data will be gathered and analysed by DfT. This competition is open to businesses of any size and we are actively seeking to engage with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the large operators. Every application must be a collaboration and be led by a vehicle operator. The maximum grant received by a single applicon is not expected to exceed £750k.

The competition opens on 24 April 2012 and the registration deadline is at noon on 13 June 2012. The deadline for applications is at noon on 20 June 2012.  A briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 9 May 2012.

Open date: 24 April 2012

Registration close date: 13 June 2012

Close date: 20 June 2012

Email: competitions@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 321 4357 

The scope of the call is likely to include Platform Mobility, Mobility Support and Counter Mobility of both mounted and dismounted forces.

This Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) SBRI competition will launch at an event to be held on Tuesday 29th May  2012 (location to be confirmed). Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar; registration to attend the event will open shortly.

The call will close at 12:00 noon on Thursday 12 July 2012.

Further details will be provided shortly.

Open date: 29 May 2012
Close date: 12 July 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

Hazard mitigation systems deal with the consequences that result from the release of chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) materials by locating, monitoring, containing, removing, neutralising and verifying the absence residual hazards.

These activities could be conducted on small items of equipment (some of which may be fragile), vehicles (land, sea and air) and buildings and infrastructure.

This CDE SBRI call for research proposals seeks to identify innovative approaches which could significantly reduce the level of materials and manpower required to deploy Hazard Mitigation systems. It is assumed that the detection of an event and donning of protective equipment will have occurred.

This call seeks research proposals for proof-of-concept and/or demonstration-of-benefit that have the potential to lead to generation-after-next CBRN Hazard Mitigation systems. This includes:

• an approach that would allow partial demonstration of a new technology; and,
• a theoretical experimental or instrumental that allows a better understanding of the phenomena that control Hazard Mitigation  (an example being the use of MRI imaging) to locate and possibly quantify liquid contamination entrained in absorbed materials).
Studies to look at existing technology or equipment are unlikely to be acceptable.

The competition will launch at an event on Tuesday 24th July 2012.  Registration for this event will open approximately 6-8 weeks in advance of the date of the launch event.

The call will close at 1200 noon on Friday 7 September 2012.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 24 July

Open date: 24 July 2012
Close date: 07 September 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445  

The precise focus of this Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) call for research proposals will be announced soon.

Proposals are expected to be for exploratory work to demonstrate the relevance of new and emerging areas of science and technology to defence and security.

It is envisaged that effective proposals will be 'proof of concept' of about 3-5 months duration. However, proposals can be scoped for longer durations, but should be partitioned to have an initial 'proof of concept' stage with a break point at 6 months (or sooner) within the proposed programme.

The competition will launch at an event on Tuesday 12th June.  Registration for this event will open shortly.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 12 June.

Open date: 12 June 2012
Close date: 18 July 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445 

The Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Scottish Government are to invest up to £15m in collaborative research and development to encourage an increase in efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness in the food processing and manufacturing sector.

Rising costs and increased regulation around greenhouse gas emissions and waste pose a significant challenge to the industry. This competition aims to encourage more efficient food processing, packaging and distribution in retail and food service sectors and the efficient recycling of manufacturing by-products and waste.

Proposals must be collaborative and business-led. Successful projects will generally attract up to 50% public funding. We are likely to award grants of between £100k and £2.5m, although projects larger than this are eligible to apply.

This is a two-stage competition that opens on 11 June 2012. The deadline for registration is noon on 11 July 2012 and the deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 18 July 2012. The deadline for invited applications is at noon on 19 September 2012.

A briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 19 June 2012.

Open date: 11 June 2012
Registration close date: 11 July 2012
Close date: 18 July 2012 

Innovation in maritime technology, which can be exploited into future systems, will make it possible for the UK Armed Forces to continue to use the sea, to carry out maritime operations, and to counter, and protect, against threats, including missile defence, with security and persistence.

The availability of some civil technology, such as unmanned systems, can be used to accelerate the application of new solutions and technology that could offer greater adaptability and affordability. The utilisation of unmanned systems, for any maritime activity, has been relatively limited so far but could have far-reaching application to how a range of operations are carried out, if some of the limitations can be addressed, and the utility of unmanned systems can be demonstrated.

This Centre for Defence Enterprise SBRI competition is seeking innovation in maritime technology:

• developing new solutions and technology that address the challenges in future missile defence systems; and,
• demonstrating the utility of unmanned systems, and developing solutions that address the challenges that are limiting the exploitation of unmanned systems, developed for other applications, for a wide range of maritime operations including niche anti submarine warfare (ASW) and mine countermeasures (MCM) activity.

This call is seeking proposals for low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) proof-of-concept demonstration and also exploitation/application of civil technology up to TRL6.

This call will lead to a series of tests, for selected unmanned systems, to demonstrate their utility to a wide stakeholder group including, for example, performance in hostile conditions.

The competition will open at an event on Tuesday 26th June 2012. Registration for this event will open shortly.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 26th June.

Open date: 26 June 2012
Close date: 10 August 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445  

The Technology Strategy Board, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are to invest up to £15m in feasibility projects, collaborative research and development and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) to stimulate innovation in the civil nuclear power sector and to strengthen its UK supply chain.

The civil nuclear power sector in the UK is undergoing a resurgence and we need to develop a strong, innovative and sustainable supply chain that can take maximum advantage of the opportunities offered by both the national and global markets. This competition will support the development of innovative technologies that can be used in the assessment, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, waste management and decommissioning of nuclear plant in a safe, economic and sustainable manner. Up to £2m is available for feasibility studies lasting between six and 12 months. Projects must led by an SME and be collaborative. They can attract up to 75% public funding and the total grants will not exceed £75k. We expect the total project size to be £100k-125k.

Up to £12m is available for collaborative R&D projects, which must be businessled. Successful projects will generally attract up to 50% public funding and last two-to-three years. We expect to invest between £250k and £1m per project, with total project sizes between £500k and £2m, although projects outside this range will be considered. Further funding of up to £1m is available in a separate complementary targeted call for KTPs to support transfer of knowledge and skills into industry from academia. NB: This document provides information on the competition for feasibility and collaborative R&D funding only.  We welcome complementary applications to this competition and to the targeted call for KTPs, but organisations entering both should ensure that their proposals can stand alone and are not dependent on both applications being successful.

 This competition opens on 2 July 2012. The deadline for registration is noon 29 August 2012. The deadline for applications for the single-stage feasibility funding is noon 5 September, 2012. There is a two-stage process for collaborative R&D funding. The deadline for expressions of interest (EOI) is noon 5 September 2012. The second stage for invited applicants opens on 1 October 2012 and the deadline for final applications is at noon 14 November 2012. A briefing event will be held on 10 July 2012.

Open date: 02 July 2012
Registration close date: 29 August 2012
Close date: 05 September 2012

Email: support@innovateuk.org

Phone number: 0300 321 4357 

The Technology Strategy Board and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are to invest up to £1m to establish new Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) in the field of nuclear technologies for civil power generation, decommissioning and waste management. This targeted call for KTPs is focused specifically on the exchange of knowledge and skills into the nuclear supply chain.

This targeted call is part of a £15m programme and is running in parallel with a £14m investment in nuclear technologies by the Technology Strategy Board, NDA, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Department of Energy and Climate Change through which up to £2m will be invested in feasibility studies to develop new and innovative early-stage technologies and up to £12m in collaborative research and development.

There is an opportunity for feasibility study and collaborative R&D applicants to link their projects to KTP projects where appropriate, although it is not a requirement to do so. We welcome complementary applications, but organisations applying both to this targeted call and for feasibility and collaborative R&D funding should ensure that their proposals can stand alone and are not dependent on both applications being successful. NB: This document provides information on the targeted call for KTPs only.

This UK-wide targeted call for KTPs will help businesses to improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance in the nuclear sector through the better use of the knowledge, technology and skills that are available within the UK knowledge base. It will support the development of innovative technologies that can be used in the assessment, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, waste management and decommissioning of civil nuclear plant in a safe, economic and sustainable manner. This targeted call also aims to increase awareness of this tecnology and to ensure that UK industry maintains a world-class innovation capability. Through this investment we aim to:

• stimulate, improve and promote the adoption of nuclear technologies, developed in the UK knowledge base by businesses across a range of sectors K
• raise the profile of key UK capabilities in nuclear R&D K
• encourage greater and more sustainable knowledge exchange across the supply chain through a partnership approach.

We aim to establish a group of KTPs through this thematic call that will run together as a cohort, supported by a programme of networking between the partners. The cohort approach will encourage knowledge sharing across projects, potentially giving the businesses involved access to knowledge and expertise held by a range of academic groups with different perspectives on the high-level challenges facing the sector. We are part-funding the KTPs.

The targeted call opens on 2 July 2012 and the deadline for applications is noon 4 October 2012

Website: www.ktponline.org.uk

Email: KTP_Help@tsb.gov.uk 

This is a CDE SBRI Call for research proposals on behalf of the MoD’s Cyber and Influence Science and Technology Centre (CI STC) to find ways of quickly and accurately enabling decision makers to understand what is happening in cyber-space (or in the real world if that has a direct bearing on operations in cyber-space), the relevance of these events to their mission and to aid them in making decisions and understanding the impact of those decisions.

Proposals are sought that attempt to grasp the scale and breadth of this problem from the data to the enterprise level and will seek to fund scoping studies, proof-of-concept technology developments, etc where these demonstrate the highest quality and align with the stated needs.

Proposals for this call are not sought in areas; to detect cyber threats; or that merely ask for data so that it can be visualised without a clear reason of how the proposed visualisation is expected to add value; or that restrict their scope to situational awareness within a small part of cyber-space, such as Intrusion Detection Systems or data mining.

For more information on the Cyber and Influence Science & Technology Centre please visit http://www.dstl.gov.uk/pages/176

Queries relating to the technical aspects of the call should be addressed Cyber and Influence Science and Technology Centre at candienquiries@dstl.gov.uk

The competition will launch at an event on Tuesday 25th September.  Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar. Registration for this event will open approximately 6-8 weeks in advance of the date of the launch event.

The call will close at 1200 noon on Tuesday 30 October 2012.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 25th September.

Open date: 25 September 2012
Close date: 30 October 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445  

This is a national initiative with a fund of up to £125m to create more competitive supply chains, sustain or create new employment opportunities, and create better synergies and sustained collaborative relationships throughout supply chains that participate in this initiative.

The competition seeks to provide a flexible approach in the type of support that can be provided to address the key barriers to supply chain development. This initiative can provide grants and loans to successful projects demonstrating real ambition to create globally competitive supply chains. The funding can also support a combination of investment in capital equipment, research and development, and training and skills in recognition of the flexibility needed to overcome the barriers that suppliers and supply chains can face.

Birmingham City Council will oversee the competition to award funds for this national scheme. The Technology Strategy Board will support Birmingham City Council in running the competition process.

The competition opened on 29 March 2012.

There are two different funding Streams:

•Stream 1 - £100m is available in all manufacturing sectors to support applications from organisations in England which are seeking to make a sectoral-level impact. Projects must be collaborative with an expected minimum of £2m of support per project, although exceptions will be considered where there is strong evidence that the initiative's aims can still be met;
•Stream 2 - £25m is available for projects in aerospace or automotive supply chains, based within the 4 Local Enterprise Partnership areas that were part of the existing successful RGF bid (Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull and Liverpool City Region) and which require a minimum of £200,000 of support per project.

Applicants will need to consider the eligibility criteria for each and which would be most appropriate to support the aims of the application.

 Stream 1 has two rounds of funding with the deadline for applications of 13 June 2012 or 12 September 2012 (both deadlines are at 12 noon). Applicants for Stream 1 must choose which round they wish to enter. The deadline for applications for Stream 2 is 13 June 2012 at 12 noon.

Please see Guidance for more information

A briefing day for potential applicants for both Streams of funding is on 27 April 2012. 

Open date: 29 March 2012
Close date: 13 June 2012
Email: competitions@innovateuk.org  

For more details: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/advanced-manufacturing-supply-chain-initiative.ashx 

Also see FAQ:  http://www.innovateuk.org/_assets/advanced%20manufacturing%20supply%20chain%20initiative%20qa%20final2.pdf 

In 2010, MOD spent £628M (1.6% of the total defence budget) on equipment energy. The volatility in the energy market means that Defence is significantly exposed to energy cost increases. For every 1p per litre rise in the price of fuel, the annual equipment energy bill increases by £13M. If no action is taken it is currently predicted that by 2015, at least 3.9% of the Defence budget (assuming FY11/12 levels) will be spent on energy, rising to 7% in 2020. This is unacceptable, so mandatory energy efficiency targets will be introduced in 2012 that requires Defence to significantly reduce its equipment fossil fuel consumption by 2020.

Meeting these energy targets whilst maintaining the ability to deliver operational effect is a significant challenge, not least as the majority of existing equipment will still be in service in 2020. Optimising the use of existing equipment to be more efficient, or introducing efficiency through technology insertion, represents the most cost effective and rapidly exploitable options to enable MOD meet its equipment energy reduction targets whilst continuing to deliver operational effect.

Responses to this SBRI themed call should address either optimisation (using what we have more effectively) or improved energy efficiency.

For optimisation: scoping studies and analysis to understand and demonstrate how and where existing military equipment can be operated more efficiently whilst still being able to deliver the required operational effect, or understand where the limitations of optimisation occur.For efficiency: low cost proof of concept technologies [low - mid technology readiness levels, TRL 2-4] that will provide credible evidence of the performance and possible utility in military systems. These should be capable of easy integrated with existing military systems to improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption of fossil fuel. Technology that has the potential exploitability across a wide range of equipments and environments is desired.

For both challenges, there is a particular focus to be placed on vehicle platforms rather than deployed infrastructure.

This call does not seek to, and is unlikely to, fund high technology readiness level (TRL 5+) Technology Demonstrators, nor any proposal that requires a major engineering undertaking to install. Integration into existing systems is key and therefore significant divergence from existing system architecture is unlikely to be acceptable.

The competition will launch at an event on Wednesday 11th July.  Registration for this event will open approximately 6-8 weeks in advance of the date of the launch event.

The call will close at 1200 noon on Wednesday 29 August 2012.

The brief will be available after the seminar on 11th July.

Open date: 11 July 2012
Close date: 29 August 2012

Website: www.science.mod.uk

Email: science-enterprise@mod.uk

Phone number: 01235 438 445  

What is the SIINN Eranet?

The SIINN ERA-NET promotes the safe and rapid transfer of European research results in nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) into industrial applications. National and regional resources will be virtually pooled to create a transnational programme of research. SIINN will bring together today’s fragmented research activities on the potential risks of engineered nanomaterials for environment, human health, and safety.

Why is there a call for proposals?

The commercial application of manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) products is increasing rapidly, but one important aspect, the safety of MNMs, still represents a barrier to their wide innovative use. Available data on the toxicological behaviour of MNMs is often scant, unreliable or contradictory. Therefore, the development of a consolidated framework to address nano-related risks and the management of these risks for humans and the environment, by investigating the toxicological behaviour of MNMs, is needed. R&D activities in the Member and Associated States of the EU in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N) remain largely uncoordinated and fragmented, resulting in the sub-optimal use of available resources, such as human resources, research equipment and funding. Thus, international funding initiatives enabling researchers to pool know-how, data and resources are called for.

Call Opening – March 20th 2012.

Call Closing – June 5th 2012 – 12.00 C.E.T

Call Information - www.siinn.eu/en/news-events/the-sinn-first-call-is-open,3,9 

In the SIIN 2012 Call for proposals the Technology Strategy Board will only directly fund industrial partners from the UK.  Higher Educational Institutes [HEI‘s] are not excluded from participating in a proposal, but the Technology Strategy Board is unable to fund. If HEI’s wish to participate they must provide their own funding or the industrial partner can use the subcontracting budget [25% of the UK grant] to fund any work the industry partner needs completing for the project.

The UK is looking to fund around 4-6 applications with UK partners.

UK Partner Eligibility - At the time of application.

·  Companies must have been registered at Companies House and trading for at least 12 months.

·  Companies must be VAT registered

·  Specific accountancy and eligibility rules apply for micro companies [under 10 employees].

·  Companies must have the funds to be able to fund their part in the project at the time of application, such as,

 - Revenue generation from commercial operations

 - Investment income

· Companies must have the funds and resources to support all the applications they submit, if not, they will be made  ineligible for all projects.

· The TSB will fund a maximum of 50% of the UK participants eligible costs in a project.

·  The maximum amount of funding a single company can receive in a project is €300,000.  If 2 UK companies in a proposal then each can receive €300,000.  As long as separate legal entities.

·  Limit on subcontracting – 25% [for example if a company is requesting a grant of €200,000 they can use €50,000 of the grant on subcontracting].

 All work must be carried out in the UK and only costs incurred by the  UK partner are eligible for grant.  Any subcontracting for the project must also be carried out in the UK by a seperate legal entity to the UK partner receiving the grant inless previously agreed by the Technology Strategy Board.  Subcontracting is not permittable amongst project partners.

For further information:

Mr Graham M Mobbs
European Operations Manager
Technology Strategy Board
E-mail: graham.mobbs@tsb.gov.uk

Tel : 07824 599585  

The aim of this competition is to establish if stratified medicine can be used to improve the current clinical care pathway in the UK by addressing the risks of adverse reactions to drugs and / or by identifying those unlikely to respond. While the total opportunity is significant, it is not clear whether this is the sum of a large number of highly fragmented markets or of a few high-value target areas.

Phase 1 of this competition will fund feasibility studies to provide both an assessment of economic viability of the approach and some preliminary assessment of the suitability of the biomarkers and their ability to distinguish between different cohorts.  

For more details and for access to the application system please visit: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sbri/stratified-medicine-determining-patient-response.ashx

An information session with the TSB will take place in Belfast on 20th April 2012. See the Events calendar for further details.  http://www.enterpriseeuropeni.com/inx/events/register.asp?eventid=318

Open date: 26 March 2012
Registration close date: 06 June 2012

The new European Galileo Satellite Navigation system includes a Public Regulated Service (PRS) that provides a robust and encrypted alternative navigation signal, only available to approved government users, such as the emergency services or operators of critical national infrastructure.

The UK Space Agency intends to support the use of this new Galileo service by establishing a secure PRS platform in the UK.  This SBRI competition is intended to identify and develop the capabilities needed to enable the UK to effectively manage PRS access, specifically digital encryption keys, with the end user organisations in a manner that meets user application requirements.

Proposals are sought which demonstrate innovative ideas to test end to end, add value and increase user uptake of the PRS throughout the user chain. The chain includes the administrative infrastructure within the Competent PRS Authority (CPA) through to operationally deployed end user applications.

Open date: 28 March 2012
Registration close date: 30 May 2012

More detail on the challenge is listed on the Technology Strategy Board website http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sbri/galileo-public-regulated-service-prs-uk-prs-demons.ashx

Specifically they are looking for technological solutions that can help change behaviour in order to reduce the impact of

1. obesity related diseases
2. alcohol related diseases.

They are looking for ideas that will enable behaviour change in everyday life. The technology must be easy to use and whilst it may at first seem novel, it will be designed with the aim of merging seamlessly into everyday life. All applications will also need to demonstrate how the technology would fit into the lives of busy Londoners - or other urban dwellers across England.

For more details and for access to the application system please visit: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sbri/changing-behaviour-to-reduce-the-impact-of-obesity.ashx

Open date: 28 March 2012
Close date: 01 June 2012 

The CDE is launching a call for research proposals which will maintain the effectiveness of deployed forces in extreme environments, and provide rehabilitative support to injured personnel.

Key challenges for defence medical capability arise from the unique threats and hazards faced by troops themselves, the often unpredictable nature of the operating environment that medical staff are required to provide care within, and the nature of severe injuries which we must support personnel to overcome. This call will seek innovative approaches that strengthen the ability of decision makers to:
• increase the medical operational independence of front line units to operate remotely in the most challenging
  circumstances, and,
• deliver the greatest levels of support in the rehabilitation of severely injured personnel.

Details of the problem area and the desired outcomes will be presented at a seminar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham on Monday, 23rd April.  The call for new ideas and technologies will open on this date.  Companies are strongly advised to attend the seminar to hear firsthand the military challenges.

More detail on the challenge is listed on the Technology Strategy Board website http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/sbri/the-extremes-of-defence-medical-capability.ashx

Please could you communicate this opportunity out to business and encourage them to consider if they have any technology that could be applied to this area.

The SBRI Team.

Technology Strategy Board
A1, North Star House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1UE

Switchboard: +44 1793 442700
www.innovateuk.org

• how digital media and content are distributed and used - in order to find sustainable ways to help businesses co-operate to create profitable value chains and services,
• the pervasiveness of digital services - addressing the impact of new technologies and systems such as cloud computing and identity management, as businesses and industries become more digital and interconnected, and
• the blending of digital and physical worlds - looking at how objects such as cars, clothes, and consumer goods can become better connected, enhance our lives and create new business opportunities.

The Connected Digital Economy Catapult will also help businesses that traditionally are less active in the digital market place by transferring knowledge and experience from industries which are leading, such as the creative sectors.  This will help a broad spectrum of UK business take advantage of digital technology and quickly exploit profitable new business models. The Catapult will also enable small and medium enterprises to collaborate with the wider digital value chain and showcase their products using state-of-the-art demonstrators that will be found at the Catapult.

The vision for this Catapult would not have been possible without the support and contribution from the Creative and Digital Industries and Future Internet communities. During our consultation process we engaged with over 400 organizations through 80 in-depth interviews, over 300 responses to online questionnaires from SMEs and universities, a workshop with 25 participants from multinationals with nearly $1t of combined revenue, 7 focussed roundtables, an oversubscribed open workshop with 90 participants, as well as countless 1:1 discussions and inputs.  We would like to thank all of those who have contributed in one way or another, and look forward to continue the engagement on this exciting project.

Next steps

Over the next few months the Technology Strategy Board will be working with interested individuals, companies, research groups and key stakeholders to plan the establishment a Connected Digital Economy Catapult.  We expect to publish a document in February detailing the vision, scope, ways to engage and the next steps for establishing the Catapult.

Get involved

You are strongly encouraged to join the new _connect  group for the Digital Connected Economy at https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/connected-digital-economy.  This will be the main forum for engagement and discussions with businesses and academics and other stakeholders interested in the establishment of this Catapult.

Stay informed!

Make sure you stay informed by following @Catapult_TSB or the public list we created for the Digital Connected Economy Catapult: https://twitter.com/#!/Catapult_TSB/connected-digital-economy.  Subscribers to the _connect  group for the Digital Connected Economy will also be able to receive the Catapult newsletter.

OLAE + is a transnational call for collaborative research and development proposals under the European Commission’s (EC’s) ERA-NET Plus scheme. We are seeking proposals to develop and stimulate the technology and business relationships within the European organic large-area electronics (OLAE) community, building the supply chain and removing barriers to industrialisation.

OLAE + is a joint initiative by:

•Technology Strategy Board, UK
•Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
•VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, Germany
•Israel-Europe R&D Directorate for the EU Framework Program (ISERD), Israel
•Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT), Flanders
•VINNOVA – Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Sweden National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR), Poland
•Agency for the Support of Businesses in Catalonia (ACC1Ó), Catalonia
•Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)/Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT), Austria.
It is co-funded by the EC’s Directorate- General Information Society and Media (DG INFSO). The rules and procedures of this call have been developed and agreed by the participating national funding bodies (OLAE+ agencies) in strict consideration of the ERA-NET Plus scheme as defined by the EC. The call is organised as a competition for funding and will be implemented jointly by the national funding bodies.

The competition is open to participants from Austria, Catalonia, Flanders, Germany, Israel, Poland, Sweden and the UK (the participating countries and regions). We expect to fund a mixture of small and large projects, with total costs typically in the range €0.5m to €3m. Projects must be bi or multinational, collaborative, application-orientated and pre-competitive.

Applications will need to satisfy general and national criteria to be eligible for funding. The participants in a project to be funded through this competition will need to confirm that a consortium agreement is in place before the project starts.

Each national funding body will issue funding contracts (grant agreements) to individual project participants in accordance with its national law. Grants will be paid to the project participants solely by the national funding bodies.

The reporting duties of individual project participants will be determined by the relevant national regulations.  Each project must attend an annual co-ordination meeting of all the OLAE + projects to share progress and best practice as the projects develop. The project co-ordinator, on behalf of the consortium, must also submit an annual short standard report in English on the project’s progress. For the final report, the project co-ordinator must summarise the results, accomplishments and impact of the project. The final reports must be suitable to be published by the participating countries and the EC.

This is a two-stage competition. It opens on 24 October 2011; the deadline for submitting stage-1 pre-proposals is 31 January 2012 (13:00 CET); and the deadline for submitting stage-2 full proposals is 31 May 2012 (13:00 CET).

All proposals must be submitted online by one of the partners, acting as the project coordinator on behalf of the consortium. Application forms (including nationalannexes) are available for download from the OLAE+ website at www.olaeplus.eu

We will be funding individual companies and other organisations responsible for buildings for the total cost of evaluating the performance of case study buildings they design, build, own and/or operate. This will help builders and developers to deliver more efficient, better performing buildings.

Studies on domestic buildings will cover either the period immediately post construction and into early occupation (Phase 1 studies), or a period of two years in-use for buildings less than 2 years old (Phase 2 studies). Similarly, non-domestic building studies will be either for buildings under construction and nearing completion (Under Construction) to cover the period spanning completion and early occupation, or those in use and no more than 3 years old (In-Use). All studies will be required to use specified protocols, tools and techniques to capture data in a comparable form.

We aim to assemble a substantial body of data for many building types to draw generic conclusions on the performance obtained through various design strategies, building fabric, target performances, construction methods and occupancy patterns, handover and operational practices. These will be shared across the industry with a view to providing reliable information to enable improvements in the performance of new and refurbished buildings through specification, design, delivery and operation. To this end we may prioritise buildings from certain industry sectors or with particular characteristics in order to satisfy overall programme requirements.

In this latest tranche, in the non-domestic stream, we are particularly keen to receive initial applications focused on retail, hospitality and industrial buildings and buildings in any sector that are of small (<1000m2) or medium (<5000m2) in treated floor area or are refurbishments.  Additionally, in accordance with the programme’s objective of encouraging the development of skills and practice in building performance evaluation across the construction and property sectors, submissions from first time applicants are particularly welcome.

Funding will be allocated in tranches over two years – see below for the next closing date.

Important Notice - Building Performance Evaluation

Please note that current and future tranches of this Competition are open to new applicants. Unsuccessful applicants from the previous tranches may reapply if their projects fall within the eligible scope and timing for the current tranche.

Close dates:  14th September 2011; 18th January 2012, and for Domestic projects only 23rd May 2012

Please note that registration for all Technology Strategy Board administered competitions will close one week before the competition application deadline. Registration is required to receive application forms and access the applications area.

With the unveiling of multiple calls for proposals for all FP7 programmes on 20 July 2011, CORDIS users will notice some changes to the Community Research and Development Information Service.

The 'Find a call' section on CORDIS now redirects to the relevant pages of the 'FP7 calls' section of the Participant Portal, which is also available via the short and easy URL of http://ec.europa.eu/fp7calls

Users and webmasters are encouraged to update their links and bookmarks using the deep linking options described on the Participant Portal's FAQ page (http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/faq).

In order to receive email alerts about future calls, subscribers to CORDIS email notifications need to register with the Participant Portal. RSS feeds for recently published calls and the latest call information are also available to replace the CORDIS calls feed. Both email notifications and RSS feeds can be accessed through the 'Stay tuned' section of the Participant Portal.

In addition to publishing FP7 calls, the Participant Portal aims to become the single entry point for interaction with the research programmes of the European Commission. The Portal started with the registration of organisations through the Unique Registration Facility (URF) which provides the Participant Identification Code (PIC) that is used for proposal submissions. It now offers a variety of tools to support the project lifecycle, from simulating financial viability and eligibility to grant agreement negotiations and project reporting.

Call-related content on CORDIS, such as references in news articles, will link to official information on the Participant Portal. In this way, CORDIS will support the Portal in its new mission as the official information point for FP7 calls.

Further details about the calls funded by the FP7 2012 work programmes are available at http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/521&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Research Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn commented in a statement that this name symbolised a fresh departure for the future EU funding programme proposal, which brings together the existing Framework Programme, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology.
 

This call is seeking novel and innovative solutions to enable MOD to maintain logistic distribution capacity whilst reducing the number of personnel involved in a re-supply operation. The challenges faced include:

•  Distributing different types of supply materiel (e.g. liquid, palletised)
•  Achieving mobility and manoeuvrability across difficult terrain (e.g. mountainous, desert, urban), extremes of climate and in all environmental conditions
•  Travelling over distances of up to 750km
 

The competition will launch at a seminar event on 19th January. The focus of the seminar is to consider technologies that reduce the manning requirement of distribution platforms and therefore reduce the likelihood of casualties. Information on the challenges and opportunities faced by UK Armed Forces when conducting supply distribution operations around the world will be presented by military and MOD experts for discussion at the seminar. This will be of interest to a range of subject matter experts from academia and industry.

 Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar, registration is necessary via http://www.science.mod.uk.

This competition is run by the Centre of Defence Enterprise.

For more information and the application process please register at:

https://innovative.ideas.mod.uk/(Q(4))/Welcome.aspx?QTVShellInfo=.1

David Hewitt of Waringstown based DHA Consulting commented “I’ve used the business information service many times in the past and today’s session updates me on the latest FREE services available such as sourcing opportunities for collaborations across the EU and accessing information and local contacts across the globe.”

David went on to say, “I recommend my business adviser colleagues to attend the November 23rd event with ICAGNI at InvestNI’s HQ in Belfast. They’ll be better business advisers as a result.”

Thanking Mr Andrew Millar, the Enterprise Europe Network Northern Ireland Coordinator, for hosting the seminar and the tour of the business information centre, ICAGNI chair Bill MacNeill added, “Invest Northern Ireland provides a top class service to local business. ICAGNI, as part of the Institute of Business Consulting, is committed to ensuring our participants are better informed, better integrated into the institute and better connected with each other and the valuable services Invest NI provides.”

The key websites to be bookmarked are:

http://www.enterpriseeuropeni.com/inx/ - EENNI Website

http://www.enterprise-europe.net/ - UK Portal

http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/info/network_en.htm - EEN European Website

PLEASE NOTE:

ICAGNI has organised a repeat run of this week’s information sessions at Invest Northern Ireland for November 23rd 2010. 10.45 am arrival for 11.00am start. To book please email your request to chair@icagni.co.uk or skype: billmacneill.

The other events in ICAGNI’s winter calendar continue through to March 2011. Each month there will be at least one event under the theme of ‘advising the adviser’. Further details in next week’s newsletter and on www.icagni.co.uk

ICAGNI information events are open to all IBC, CMI and IMCA members and depending on venues, all should be FREE of charge.

Anyone interested in becoming a member of IBC is welcome to come along too if places are available.

 Nokia Users

Is your inbox overloaded? Like to browse through the many commercial, technical and R&D partnership opportunities on your Nokia mobile phone?

Well now you can!. We have created a free application which is available from the Ovi store.

Simply click on the banner to the left and you will be browsing offers on your phone in minutes.

Android or iPhone?

We plan to also develop apps for Android and Apple phones - so watch out for more news soon.

Blackberry

 A simple way to get our profiles on your Blackberry is as follows.

• Download (free) Blackberry App World. http://www.blackberry.com/appworld/download
• Go to the Blackberry App Store http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/
• There are several RSS readers you can download for a small fee (usually less than $5). For example http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/email/7518
• Once you have installed the reader you can then pick an RSS feed from this site, or contact us to set up your own personal RSS feed using a free text filetr to ensure you get only the orfiles that interest you!

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is way to get an extract of the latest items from a website you want to follow. It saves you having to go back to the website and search for new items.

Enterprise Europe Collaboration Opportunities

The network publishes around 50 new Collaboraton Opportunities each week.  They cover a wide range of sectors and they can be commercial, technical or R&D opportunities.

Up to now it’s been possible to subscribe to our website and create a keyword based profile. If you do this you get email alerts according to the sectoral keywords you have ticked. This is good, but the sectors are fairly broad and you may prefer not to get alerts by email. Everyone’s inbox is increasingly overloaded.

As an alternative we can set up a tailored RSS feed for you, based around a free text filter rather than sectoral keywords. So for example if you were interested in developing a new type of wind turbine, we can create a feed that sends you only opportunities with the words “wind turbine” in it, rather than everything from the Renewable Energy sector.

First  you need to identify the feed you want. On our website, wherever you see the RSS logo  it means you can use that feed in the reader of your choice (more below). However if you want a feed of New Collaboration Opportunities you need to contact us so that we can can set it up for you. We will then email you the RSS URL (like a website address).

Contact Andrew Millar 028 9069 8824 andrew.millar@investni.com to set this up

Once you have the URL of the feed, you can do a lot of different things with it. That’s the beauty of RSS – it gives you the flexibility to read it when and where you want.

Here’s some of the different ways to use it.

• Some RSS feeds can be read by pasting the link in your browser, but it depends on what version of what browser you have. A better way is to use an RSS reader
• RSS readers – there’s lots of these about to use or download for free. One of the easiest to access is Google’s web based www.google.com/reader. If you want it to run on your desktop you can download one like Feed Demon
• If you prefer to stick to email you can use a service like Google Alerts to send you an email when something new is there to read. Alternatively some email clients scan read RSS Feeds. For example  Outlook 2007: for instructions check here
• You can download free software to get a desktop alert when some something new appears in your feed. Just google "RSS Desktop Alert" to see a selection.
• If you want to get the feed on your mobile phone you can get RSS Readers for iPhone, Symbian or Android phones. Here is a good review of RSS readers for the iphone
  If you’re lucky enough you have a new iPad, again you can download apps to read or alert you based on our feed. Read this review

If you need help with your RSS feeds, just let us know.

If you want to read RSS feeds on your Blackberry Mobile see our news item here http://www.enterpriseeuropeni.com/inx/news/index.asp?newsid=155