The 2025 NAPIC Collaborative Programme Funding (CPF) opportunity is now open!
NAPIC will support a range of projects and activities from its Collaborative Programme Fund (CPF) of £4 million (ends August 2029). There are six streams of funding to meet the alternative protein communities’ requirements. Please visit – https://napic.ac.uk/funding/ for call guidance for each funding stream. Proof of Concept 1 & 2 (PoC1/2): supports early-to-mid stage commercialisation activities that validate the development of concepts that have arisen from research. PoC 1 funds larger research & innovation challenges, up to £200k total value, and up to 18 month duration. PoC 2 funds smaller, shorter projects of up to £100k total value, and 12 month duration. Demonstration Projects (Demo): supports activities aimed at demonstrating the viability of a new technology, innovation or process to support commercial adoption. This could include development of a prototype, or pilot to demonstrate real life or close to real life working conditions. Total project value of £50k and up to 6-month duration. Innovation Sprints (Sprint): supports projects focused on fast iteration and testing of ideas within a short timeline. These projects are innovation challenge-driven projects aiming to overcome key technical, regulatory, or market hurdles leading to commercialisation outcomes. Total project value of £20k and rapid duration with a maximum of 4 weeks. Networking Awards: Funding for inter-sector networking events and workshops which address scientific and innovation challenges at any stage from discovery to commercialisation. Up to £10K value to deliver events that bring together academia, industry and/or third sector to share knowledge, identify problems, hold training activities or create dialogue with regulators and policy makers. Mobility Awards: Up to £10k funding to support individuals, especially early career researchers, on International/ Industrial placements to pursue collaborative work (upskilling, broadening collaborations etc) on scientific and innovation challenges at any stage from discovery to commercialisation. |
NAPIC will support a range of projects and activities from its Collaborative Programme Fund (CPF) of £4 million (ends August 2029). There are six streams of funding to meet the alternative protein communities’ requirements. There is a maximum of £1.5m available in this round. Please visit https://napic.ac.uk/funding/ for call guidance for each funding stream.
Produce
This pillar focusses on enabling partners to produce alternative proteins ingredients of optimum functional and nutritional quality, delivering techno-functional, sensorial and nutritional performance in final products. This pillar will create new value chains using advanced (bio)technological and modern biological tools, circular bio-economy approaches, selection of new/underutilised plant/fungal/algal/insect proteins, and re-purposing strategies to create the next-generation of APs.
Process
This pillar uses boundary-pushing physical, bioengineering and cellular processes that minimise carbon footprints, to discover and manufacture alternative proteins and healthy products providing economies of scale. This pillar will employ precision fermentation, cell factories, new extraction/fractionation technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) model-guided scale-up to optimise AP processes.
Perform
This pillar focusses on the control of pre- and post-consumption product performance overcoming current bottlenecks in alternative proteins functionality. This pillar will employ multiscale approaches, from validated in vitro, in silico, in vivo (production, animal feed trials, human nutrition studies and consumer studies incorporating machine learning (ML)) tools, to predict, define, control and demonstrate ‘pre-production-to-biological’ performance of AP foods and feeds.
People
This pillar will guide consumer dietary behaviour towards more sustainable and healthy alternative proteins products. Using behaviour change techniques and consumer insight methods (e.g. choice experiments), this pillar will inform commercial and educational strategies to increase acceptance of APs and shape the types of products/ingredients most likely to be accepted by future consumers, providing new training and business opportunities for SMEs.
Projects will support the development of innovative solutions to address significant challenges in alternative proteins within the UK AgriFood sector.
All projects must relate to alternative proteins. This includes proteins from plants, microbes (fungi, bacteria), insects, food waste, aquaculture (aquatic plants, seaweeds, micro/macroalgae), cultivated meat and dairy, and proteins produced using precision fermentation.
Applications can address a range of areas, including food, feed, ingredients, services, equipment and systems development, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.
All projects must have a UK research organisation as the Lead Applicant. They will be the only direct recipient of NAPIC funding.
NAPIC’s collaborative programme funding (CPF) aims to address pent up demand from industry, leveraging the UK’s world-leading academic research and innovation strengths in alternative proteins.
CPF funding will be awarded to UKRI eligible research organisations (ROs) to work collaboratively with UK-based non-research partners to accelerate translation of research; overcome technical, regulatory and market hurdles; and solve innovation challenges in the alternative protein (AP) sector.
All projects must be collaborative.
Proof of Concept, Demonstration, Innovation Sprint and Networking Award project proposals must be a collaboration between one UK university/research institution and at least one of the following UK registered:
Mobility Award proposals must be a collaboration between one UK university/research institution and at least one of the following UK registered:
Or:
Funding is only payable to the Research Organisation. Projects must be delivered by UK research organisation eligible for UKRI/BBSRC funding. A full list of eligible organisations can be found here: Research organisations eligible for UKRI funding – UKRI
The non-research partner should either be registered in the UK or have a UK research and development or manufacturing site.
No. Studentships or student resource are ineligible costs and may not be requested or included in applications for NAPIC funding.
Yes, you can apply as a PI providing the following conditions are met
Eligible costs include investigator / researcher time, travel and subsistence appropriate to the delivery of the project and consumables. Subcontracting costs are allowed at a maximum of 20% of the total project cost. Subcontractors must be UK-based.
Studentships or student resource are ineligible costs and may not be requested or included in applications for NAPIC funding.
For further information on eligible costs visit:
Any individual can only be project lead on 1 application per funding stream, per round. A letter of support from your Head of School must be attached to each application.
Yes. If your application is considered not fundable but scores above 50%, you will be invited to re-submit in the next call.
All applications must be submitted via the online application portal. You must complete the online application by 11July 2025. Applications received after this time will not be considered. Please do not send us your application via email/mail.
For Proof of concept, Demonstration projects and Innovations sprints the questions focus on; Team, NAPIC alignment, Project Management, Aims and objectives, Innovation Challenge, Sustainable research, Responsible Research and Innovation, Impact, Risks and Value for money.
For both Networking events and Mobility Awards the questions focus on Activity, Outcomes and NAPIC alignment.
All eligible applications submitted will be subjected to internal or external review (please see Call guidance for more information) followed by consideration for funding by NAPIC’s Funding Evaluation Panel comprising representatives from NAPIC’s Advisory Boards. NAPIC’s Non-Executive Board (NEB) will make the final decision on projects to be funded.
Notifications of the outcome of applications will be sent to Lead Applicants. Feedback will be provided.
NAPIC will make use of three reviewer pools for CPF;
Conflict of interest is managed and reviewers must agree to a Confidentiality Agreement before reviewing any applications.
Following review, the Funding Evaluation Panel will make a recommendation to the NAPIC Non-Executive Board of projects for approval.
NAPIC reserves the right to apply a ‘portfolio’ approach. The portfolio can be spread across a range of NAPIC:
The ‘portfolio approach’ is used to make sure that funds are allocated across the strategic areas identified in the scope of the funding call. This may mean that a proposal that scores less than yours is successful.
If you are successful, you will be sent a Conditional Award Letter and asked to sign a Sub-Award letter. In addition, the Research Organisation and Industry partner(s) will also have to create and sign a Collaboration Agreement.
Once the Sub-Award letter has been signed a letter will be sent confirming approval to start the project.
Notifications of the outcome of applications will be sent to Lead Applicants. This will include feedback and an invitation for re-submission if scoring above 50%. Applications deemed not fundable, and scoring below 50% will include feedback without an invitation to reapply. Applicants are free to apply in future with a substantially different project into subsequent rounds of the CPF call.
Visit our website for the latest information about future funding rounds as part of the CPF call.
For PoC projects, the research organisation will be paid quarterly in arrears on receipt of invoices and attendance at an Update meeting.
For all other funding streams (Demonstration, Innovation Sprint, Networking and Mobility Awards), invoices are paid at the end of the project after the final report has been received.
Economic impacts refer to the effects on the financial well-being of individuals, businesses, and the overall economy. These can include changes in income, employment, prices, productivity, and economic growth.
Societal impacts encompass the effects on people’s lives, communities, and social structures. These can include changes in health, education, social equity, and overall quality of life.
All NAPIC CPF projects have a total project value (TPV) which is defined by as the combined equal contributions of the research organisation and industry contributions to the maximum value stated in each funding stream.
In addition, all CPF projects have a grant value which is the amount calculated at 100% full economic cost (FEC) to the research organisation. The FEC model is defined here. The FEC calculated grant value does not include any industry partner contributions and is equal to half the total project value.
NAPIC will award the grant value directly to the RO at 80% FEC. The RO will fund the remaining 20% FEC directly.
Worked example for PoC 1:
Total project value (TPV): £200k
Grant Value (GV): £100K
NAPIC contribution (paid at 80% FEC): £80k
RO contribution (paid at 20% FEC): £20k
Industry contribution (cash/in kind): £100k
Non-research partner contributions must be equal to, or exceed, the 100% FEC grant value of the research organisation, and can be provided in the form of direct cash or in-kind contribution, depending on the CPF stream. All contributions must be defined and declared at the application stage.
Cash contribution is mandatory for PoC I, equal to, or exceeding, the grant value. A mix of cash and in-kind contribution is required for all other streams.
An in-kind contribution can include Time, Materials, Product, Process, Equipment, Training, Data. Realistic values for in-kind contributions must be declared at application.
Please be aware that whilst NAPIC will not require signed timesheets or evidence, BBSRC / Innovate UK reserve the right to audit awardees at any time. Evidence to support time / material / use of equipment will need to be retained and made available upon request for up to 7 years after completion of the CPF project.
To help us to monitor equality and diversity in who we fund, the Lead Applicant will be required to complete a short EDI questionnaire to capture basic demographic information, including age, gender, ethnicity and disability status. Whilst all PI’s will be required to complete this at application stage there will be a ‘Prefer not to say’ option for all questions.
No, you do not have to submit a collaboration agreement at application stage however it is mandatory to include a clear IP plan which will later be used to form a collaboration agreement.
You can use the Lambert Toolkit as a basis for your Collaboration Agreement, available here: University and business collaboration agreements: Lambert Toolkit – GOV.UK
The lead research organisation will establish a collaboration agreement between all parties in the project. This must include the IP plan drawn from that provided in the application. The agreement must also clearly ratify the cash and in-kind contributions of the industry partner.
There is no requirement for NAPIC to receive the signed collaboration agreement. However, by signing the NAPIC Sub-Award Letter, the research organisation provides assurance that such an agreement is, or will be in place, and agrees that BBSRC/Innovate UK may request to see evidence of it as part of an audit at any point within 7 years of the funding award.
No, there is no set template. We suggest you include information covering how you will manage pre-existing intellectual property (IP) or ‘background IP’ being brought to the project, and consideration of how you will generate and manage new ‘foreground IP’.
The Lambert Toolkit provides a framework for managing university and business collaboration, available here: University and business collaboration agreements: Lambert Toolkit – GOV.UK
All CPF projects are required to report progress, outputs, outcomes and impacts to NAPIC as a condition of the funding. The frequency of reporting required is commensurate with the scale of the funding stream.
Mobility, Network, Demonstration, Innovation Sprint and PoC 2 are all required to deliver a final report upon completion of the project.
PoC 1 are required to deliver an interim report halfway through the project, in addition to the final project report.
Demonstration, Innovation Sprint, PoC 1 & 2 projects must agree to follow up meetings with NAPICs Technology & Innovation Managers post completion of the project to monitor impact that has arisen from the funding.
NAPIC will be set up as a funder on ResearchFish, with all CPF projects created as projects therein. All lead-RO will be responsible to report outputs, outcomes and impacts attributed to the CPF funding through this portal for a period of up to 2 years following the project completion.
If you have any questions regarding this funding, please contact us via funding@napic.ac.uk
Yes, networking events can take place outside of the UK, however the eligibility criteria must be met. Please see guidance documents to read the eligibility criteria for each funding stream.
Non-UK research organisations can take part in mobility awards only.
No, the collaboration can include one UKRI-eligible research organisation only. Collaborations can include more than one non-research partner. It is possible for other research organisations to take part as a subcontractor.
No, projects must meet the eligibility criteria. Applications outside of these will not be considered for funding.
Yes, however the other funding streams, e.g. innovation sprint, may also be applicable for this type of research.
Yes, we welcome future applications that follow on from projects funded through previous CPF rounds.
No, projects can focus on food, feed, ingredients or pet food.
The difference between these two streams are the size and duration of the project. Also, PoC1 projects match funding must be in the form of cash. Match funding for PoC2 projects can be cash and/or in-kind.
Yes, as long as the work can be carried out within the budget and time eligibility criteria.
Yes, depending on the funding stream. Information on the review process can be found in the guidance document for each funding stream.
Contact the team via funding@napic.ac.uk and we will endeavour to help.
No, subcontractors must be UK-based.
You’ll be asked at application date your intended start date. If you’re going to not meet this, please contact us to discuss possibilities. When selecting your start date consider time needed to obtain any ethics approval and to develop your collaboration agreement.
The funding is looking to help overcome innovation challenges facing the alternative protein sector. Management of IP is between the partners involved in the project, and this will vary from project to project. As part of the application process, you must upload a draft IP plan outlining how IP will be managed. We will collect information on IP generated in the project as part of our reporting and measurement of impact.
Subcontracting costs are allowed at a maximum of 20% of the total project value. Subcontracting costs will be awarded at 80% of Full Economic Cost (FEC). As an example, if the total project value is £100k, the maximum that can be subcontracted is £20k. The lead partner (UKRI-eligible research organisation) will be able to claim back 80% of this cost (£16k). The remaining 20% must be covered by the research organisation (£4k).
NAPIC will support a range of projects and activities from its Collaborative Programme Fund (CPF) of £4 million (ends August 2029). There are six streams of funding to meet the alternative protein communities’ requirements. Please visit – https://napic.ac.uk/funding/ for call guidance for each funding stream. Proof of Concept 1 & 2 (PoC1/2): supports early-to-mid stage commercialisation activities that validate the development of concepts that have arisen from research. PoC 1 funds larger research & innovation challenges, up to £200k total value, and up to 18 month duration. PoC 2 funds smaller, shorter projects of up to £100k total value, and 12 month duration. Demonstration Projects (Demo): supports activities aimed at demonstrating the viability of a new technology, innovation or process to support commercial adoption. This could include development of a prototype, or pilot to demonstrate real life or close to real life working conditions. Total project value of £50k and up to 6-month duration. Innovation Sprints (Sprint): supports projects focused on fast iteration and testing of ideas within a short timeline. These projects are innovation challenge-driven projects aiming to overcome key technical, regulatory, or market hurdles leading to commercialisation outcomes. Total project value of £20k and rapid duration with a maximum of 4 weeks. Networking Awards: Funding for inter-sector networking events and workshops which address scientific and innovation challenges at any stage from discovery to commercialisation. Up to £10K value to deliver events that bring together academia, industry and/or third sector to share knowledge, identify problems, hold training activities or create dialogue with regulators and policy makers. Mobility Awards: Up to £10k funding to support individuals, especially early career researchers, on International/ Industrial placements to pursue collaborative work (upskilling, broadening collaborations etc) on scientific and innovation challenges at any stage from discovery to commercialisation. |
NAPIC will support a range of projects and activities from its Collaborative Programme Fund (CPF) of £4 million (ends August 2029). There are six streams of funding to meet the alternative protein communities’ requirements. There is a maximum of £1.5m available in this round. Please visit https://napic.ac.uk/funding/ for call guidance for each funding stream.
Produce
This pillar focusses on enabling partners to produce alternative proteins ingredients of optimum functional and nutritional quality, delivering techno-functional, sensorial and nutritional performance in final products. This pillar will create new value chains using advanced (bio)technological and modern biological tools, circular bio-economy approaches, selection of new/underutilised plant/fungal/algal/insect proteins, and re-purposing strategies to create the next-generation of APs.
Process
This pillar uses boundary-pushing physical, bioengineering and cellular processes that minimise carbon footprints, to discover and manufacture alternative proteins and healthy products providing economies of scale. This pillar will employ precision fermentation, cell factories, new extraction/fractionation technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) model-guided scale-up to optimise AP processes.
Perform
This pillar focusses on the control of pre- and post-consumption product performance overcoming current bottlenecks in alternative proteins functionality. This pillar will employ multiscale approaches, from validated in vitro, in silico, in vivo (production, animal feed trials, human nutrition studies and consumer studies incorporating machine learning (ML)) tools, to predict, define, control and demonstrate ‘pre-production-to-biological’ performance of AP foods and feeds.
People
This pillar will guide consumer dietary behaviour towards more sustainable and healthy alternative proteins products. Using behaviour change techniques and consumer insight methods (e.g. choice experiments), this pillar will inform commercial and educational strategies to increase acceptance of APs and shape the types of products/ingredients most likely to be accepted by future consumers, providing new training and business opportunities for SMEs.
Projects will support the development of innovative solutions to address significant challenges in alternative proteins within the UK AgriFood sector.
All projects must relate to alternative proteins. This includes proteins from plants, microbes (fungi, bacteria), insects, food waste, aquaculture (aquatic plants, seaweeds, micro/macroalgae), cultivated meat and dairy, and proteins produced using precision fermentation.
Applications can address a range of areas, including food, feed, ingredients, services, equipment and systems development, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.
All projects must have a UK research organisation as the Lead Applicant. They will be the only direct recipient of NAPIC funding.
NAPIC’s collaborative programme funding (CPF) aims to address pent up demand from industry, leveraging the UK’s world-leading academic research and innovation strengths in alternative proteins.
CPF funding will be awarded to UKRI eligible research organisations (ROs) to work collaboratively with UK-based non-research partners to accelerate translation of research; overcome technical, regulatory and market hurdles; and solve innovation challenges in the alternative protein (AP) sector.
All projects must be collaborative.
Proof of Concept, Demonstration, Innovation Sprint and Networking Award project proposals must be a collaboration between one UK university/research institution and at least one of the following UK registered:
Mobility Award proposals must be a collaboration between one UK university/research institution and at least one of the following UK registered:
Or:
Funding is only payable to the Research Organisation. Projects must be delivered by UK research organisation eligible for UKRI/BBSRC funding. A full list of eligible organisations can be found here: Research organisations eligible for UKRI funding – UKRI
The non-research partner should either be registered in the UK or have a UK research and development or manufacturing site.
No. Studentships or student resource are ineligible costs and may not be requested or included in applications for NAPIC funding.
Yes, you can apply as a PI providing the following conditions are met
Eligible costs include investigator / researcher time, travel and subsistence appropriate to the delivery of the project and consumables. Subcontracting costs are allowed at a maximum of 20% of the total project cost. Subcontractors must be UK-based.
Studentships or student resource are ineligible costs and may not be requested or included in applications for NAPIC funding.
For further information on eligible costs visit:
Any individual can only be project lead on 1 application per funding stream, per round. A letter of support from your Head of School must be attached to each application.
Yes. If your application is considered not fundable but scores above 50%, you will be invited to re-submit in the next call.
All applications must be submitted via the online application portal. You must complete the online application by 11July 2025. Applications received after this time will not be considered. Please do not send us your application via email/mail.
For Proof of concept, Demonstration projects and Innovations sprints the questions focus on; Team, NAPIC alignment, Project Management, Aims and objectives, Innovation Challenge, Sustainable research, Responsible Research and Innovation, Impact, Risks and Value for money.
For both Networking events and Mobility Awards the questions focus on Activity, Outcomes and NAPIC alignment.
All eligible applications submitted will be subjected to internal or external review (please see Call guidance for more information) followed by consideration for funding by NAPIC’s Funding Evaluation Panel comprising representatives from NAPIC’s Advisory Boards. NAPIC’s Non-Executive Board (NEB) will make the final decision on projects to be funded.
Notifications of the outcome of applications will be sent to Lead Applicants. Feedback will be provided.
NAPIC will make use of three reviewer pools for CPF;
Conflict of interest is managed and reviewers must agree to a Confidentiality Agreement before reviewing any applications.
Following review, the Funding Evaluation Panel will make a recommendation to the NAPIC Non-Executive Board of projects for approval.
NAPIC reserves the right to apply a ‘portfolio’ approach. The portfolio can be spread across a range of NAPIC:
The ‘portfolio approach’ is used to make sure that funds are allocated across the strategic areas identified in the scope of the funding call. This may mean that a proposal that scores less than yours is successful.
If you are successful, you will be sent a Conditional Award Letter and asked to sign a Sub-Award letter. In addition, the Research Organisation and Industry partner(s) will also have to create and sign a Collaboration Agreement.
Once the Sub-Award letter has been signed a letter will be sent confirming approval to start the project.
Notifications of the outcome of applications will be sent to Lead Applicants. This will include feedback and an invitation for re-submission if scoring above 50%. Applications deemed not fundable, and scoring below 50% will include feedback without an invitation to reapply. Applicants are free to apply in future with a substantially different project into subsequent rounds of the CPF call.
Visit our website for the latest information about future funding rounds as part of the CPF call.
For PoC projects, the research organisation will be paid quarterly in arrears on receipt of invoices and attendance at an Update meeting.
For all other funding streams (Demonstration, Innovation Sprint, Networking and Mobility Awards), invoices are paid at the end of the project after the final report has been received.
Economic impacts refer to the effects on the financial well-being of individuals, businesses, and the overall economy. These can include changes in income, employment, prices, productivity, and economic growth.
Societal impacts encompass the effects on people’s lives, communities, and social structures. These can include changes in health, education, social equity, and overall quality of life.
All NAPIC CPF projects have a total project value (TPV) which is defined by as the combined equal contributions of the research organisation and industry contributions to the maximum value stated in each funding stream.
In addition, all CPF projects have a grant value which is the amount calculated at 100% full economic cost (FEC) to the research organisation. The FEC model is defined here. The FEC calculated grant value does not include any industry partner contributions and is equal to half the total project value.
NAPIC will award the grant value directly to the RO at 80% FEC. The RO will fund the remaining 20% FEC directly.
Worked example for PoC 1:
Total project value (TPV): £200k
Grant Value (GV): £100K
NAPIC contribution (paid at 80% FEC): £80k
RO contribution (paid at 20% FEC): £20k
Industry contribution (cash/in kind): £100k
Non-research partner contributions must be equal to, or exceed, the 100% FEC grant value of the research organisation, and can be provided in the form of direct cash or in-kind contribution, depending on the CPF stream. All contributions must be defined and declared at the application stage.
Cash contribution is mandatory for PoC I, equal to, or exceeding, the grant value. A mix of cash and in-kind contribution is required for all other streams.
An in-kind contribution can include Time, Materials, Product, Process, Equipment, Training, Data. Realistic values for in-kind contributions must be declared at application.
Please be aware that whilst NAPIC will not require signed timesheets or evidence, BBSRC / Innovate UK reserve the right to audit awardees at any time. Evidence to support time / material / use of equipment will need to be retained and made available upon request for up to 7 years after completion of the CPF project.
To help us to monitor equality and diversity in who we fund, the Lead Applicant will be required to complete a short EDI questionnaire to capture basic demographic information, including age, gender, ethnicity and disability status. Whilst all PI’s will be required to complete this at application stage there will be a ‘Prefer not to say’ option for all questions.
No, you do not have to submit a collaboration agreement at application stage however it is mandatory to include a clear IP plan which will later be used to form a collaboration agreement.
You can use the Lambert Toolkit as a basis for your Collaboration Agreement, available here: University and business collaboration agreements: Lambert Toolkit – GOV.UK
The lead research organisation will establish a collaboration agreement between all parties in the project. This must include the IP plan drawn from that provided in the application. The agreement must also clearly ratify the cash and in-kind contributions of the industry partner.
There is no requirement for NAPIC to receive the signed collaboration agreement. However, by signing the NAPIC Sub-Award Letter, the research organisation provides assurance that such an agreement is, or will be in place, and agrees that BBSRC/Innovate UK may request to see evidence of it as part of an audit at any point within 7 years of the funding award.
No, there is no set template. We suggest you include information covering how you will manage pre-existing intellectual property (IP) or ‘background IP’ being brought to the project, and consideration of how you will generate and manage new ‘foreground IP’.
The Lambert Toolkit provides a framework for managing university and business collaboration, available here: University and business collaboration agreements: Lambert Toolkit – GOV.UK
All CPF projects are required to report progress, outputs, outcomes and impacts to NAPIC as a condition of the funding. The frequency of reporting required is commensurate with the scale of the funding stream.
Mobility, Network, Demonstration, Innovation Sprint and PoC 2 are all required to deliver a final report upon completion of the project.
PoC 1 are required to deliver an interim report halfway through the project, in addition to the final project report.
Demonstration, Innovation Sprint, PoC 1 & 2 projects must agree to follow up meetings with NAPICs Technology & Innovation Managers post completion of the project to monitor impact that has arisen from the funding.
NAPIC will be set up as a funder on ResearchFish, with all CPF projects created as projects therein. All lead-RO will be responsible to report outputs, outcomes and impacts attributed to the CPF funding through this portal for a period of up to 2 years following the project completion.
If you have any questions regarding this funding, please contact us via funding@napic.ac.uk
Yes, networking events can take place outside of the UK, however the eligibility criteria must be met. Please see guidance documents to read the eligibility criteria for each funding stream.
Non-UK research organisations can take part in mobility awards only.
No, the collaboration can include one UKRI-eligible research organisation only. Collaborations can include more than one non-research partner. It is possible for other research organisations to take part as a subcontractor.
No, projects must meet the eligibility criteria. Applications outside of these will not be considered for funding.
Yes, however the other funding streams, e.g. innovation sprint, may also be applicable for this type of research.
Yes, we welcome future applications that follow on from projects funded through previous CPF rounds.
No, projects can focus on food, feed, ingredients or pet food.
The difference between these two streams are the size and duration of the project. Also, PoC1 projects match funding must be in the form of cash. Match funding for PoC2 projects can be cash and/or in-kind.
Yes, as long as the work can be carried out within the budget and time eligibility criteria.
Yes, depending on the funding stream. Information on the review process can be found in the guidance document for each funding stream.
Contact the team via funding@napic.ac.uk and we will endeavour to help.
No, subcontractors must be UK-based.
You’ll be asked at application date your intended start date. If you’re going to not meet this, please contact us to discuss possibilities. When selecting your start date consider time needed to obtain any ethics approval and to develop your collaboration agreement.
The funding is looking to help overcome innovation challenges facing the alternative protein sector. Management of IP is between the partners involved in the project, and this will vary from project to project. As part of the application process, you must upload a draft IP plan outlining how IP will be managed. We will collect information on IP generated in the project as part of our reporting and measurement of impact.
Subcontracting costs are allowed at a maximum of 20% of the total project value. Subcontracting costs will be awarded at 80% of Full Economic Cost (FEC). As an example, if the total project value is £100k, the maximum that can be subcontracted is £20k. The lead partner (UKRI-eligible research organisation) will be able to claim back 80% of this cost (£16k). The remaining 20% must be covered by the research organisation (£4k).
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