The funding can be used to carry-out in-depth market research, helping the business to identify the demand for new products and allowing them to hone their ideas to conquer those markets. Projects must be completed by March 2011.

Paul May, executive director of innovation at EEDA, said:

“As the economy continues to recover, businesses are looking to stay that one step ahead of their competitors by bringing new products to market. EEDA’s grants are designed to give local businesses a head-start, by helping them to identify and target lucrative gaps in the market.”

Since EEDA introduced Proof of Market (formerly Proof of Concept) funding back in 2006, 250 projects have shared a total of nearly £5 million. Everything from waterproof socks, next generation wind turbine technology and superconducting magnets have received funding to take them to the next stage of development.

“EEDA’s funding for innovative businesses has a real track record of delivering significant bang for the taxpayers’ buck,” Paul May added. “Independent reports show that for every £1 we invest in a company, over £12 is generated for the region’s economy – whether that’s business growth through increased turnover or creating new jobs.”

Businesses looking to apply for a Proof of Market grant can visit www.eeda.org.uk/finance for more information and to download the application form.
 

The presentations from the UK Information Day on the Calls can be found at http://energiehelpline.co.uk/fp76/fp7-calls-for-proposals

This competition is open to wave and tidal sream device manufacturers, and also to collaborations that will develop the UK supply chain and the skilles needed to deploy these technologies.

It complements the March 2010 competition 'Wave and tidal stream energy technologies: reducing costs and improving performance'.

Both competitions complement the MRPF, and together they aim to advance wave and tidal technologies along the innovation chain to grow business opportunities and achieve the Government's renewable energy targets.

Timetable:

Competition opens 13 September 2010

Briefing day 22 September 2010

Registration of intent to submit (compulsory) 14 October 2010

Deadline for receipt of applications 21 October 2010 (noon)

Inform applicants of decision 19 November 2010

Anglia Ruskin University's consultancy vouchers are funded by the Government's Higher Education Funding Council for England's Economic Challenge Investment fund, to help businesses in the recession.

To qualify for funding, companies:

• must be located in the East of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk) and
• an expression of interest form must be submitted no later than Monday 16th August 2010, and
• the work must be complete by 31st December 2010

If you are interested in applying for a voucher, download the expression of interest form which can be found at http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/microsites/surviveandthrive/for_businesses/consultancy_vouchers.html and submit no later than Monday 16th August 2010.

To find out more please contact a Business Development Manager:

Jemma Little - Business Development Manager for Technology and Sustainability

T: 0845 1962983

Zlatka Stoeva - Business Development Manager for Business and Management

t: 0845 1965989

Programme – marketing high tech products and services

The programme comprises a suite of tailored e-learning modules, 5 one-day courses and one-to-one coaching sessions. It has been designed to be flexible and efficient in order to fit into your working life and deliver the maximum benefit.

Course Programme

• Analysing your customer buying behaviour in a complex environment.
• Understanding the customer's needs.
• Marketing an innovative high-tech product.
• Presenting the solution.
• Business negotiation and concluding the deal.

 To learn more about this porgramme visit the Exemplas website: http://www.exemplas.com/TRANSMIT/ or call 0845 60 20 101

The Economic and Business Modelling theme of the competition aims to provide improved evidence to underpin industry and social enterprise, to encourage investment in (and implementation of) assisted living services and technology. The Social and Behavioural Studies theme aims to better understand the interactions between Assisted Living Technologies and services and individuals, families and communities.

New technologies can play a vital role in enhancing the health and well-being of older people and those with long-term conditions. However, while assisted living technologies are becoming increasingly available, affordable, functional and usable their adoption - by clinicians, health and social care professionals, informal carers and end users is far from extensive or sustained.

The competition opens on 21st June 2010 and compulsory expressions of interest must be submitted by 29th July 2010. There will be a briefing and networking event on 10th June 2010, and other events planned, which organisations interested in the competition are recommended to attend. The competition closes on 14th October 2010.

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 Partnering Opportunities

The network publishes around 50 new 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. However if you want a feed of new Partnering Opportunities you'll first need to register on our website and then contact us so that we can can set it up for you. We will then email you the RSS URL (like a website address). Click here to register, but note that if you're interested in getting a tailored RSS feed, but not the email alerts you don't need to select any sector areas during the registration, but you'll need to give us a call to set up your feed:

Contact Andrew Goldsbrough 01707 398716 (a.goldsbrough@eeneast.org.uk) 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.  For example you can view the feeds throuhg your internet browser or through a feed reader, or you can view the feed through you emai system (depending on which emai system you use).

The EU executive is expecting public bodies and civil society organisations to submit proposals for projects which will identify and test suitable networks an good practices in three specific areas - doping, social inclusion and volunteering.

Support under the heading 'fighting against doping' (€1 million) is dedicated to preventive anti-doping measures in amateur sport and fitness.

The EU executive said it expects proposals from consortia bringing together transnational anti-doping networks, law enforcement agencies and the pharmaceutical industry across at least five EU countries.

Measures under the heading 'promoting social inclusion in and through sport' (€1 million) should focus on the social inclusion of migrants and persons of foreign origin. Project should foster networking and best-practice exchange between different sports and sports organisations, schools, migrant organisations and national and local authorities.

Projects under the heading 'promoting volunteering in sport' (€0.5 million) should foster the exchange of best practice regarding legal, fiscal and funding-related issues related to voluntary activity faced by actors involved in the management and running of sports associations and local sport structures.

The deadline for submission is 31st August 2010. Grant agreements are set to be signed in November to allow the projects to start between 1st December 2010 and 31st March 2011. The project should be finalised by 30th June 2012.

The Commission expects to fund up to five projects in the fields of doping and social inclusion, and up to three in volunteering.

• FP7-ENERGY-2011-1: general call focussing on research with a long-term horizon
• FP7-ENERGY-2011-2: general call focussing on research with a short-term horizon and on demonstration
• FP7-ENERGY-2011-JAPAN: coordinated call with Japan on photovoltaics
• FP7-OCEAN-2011: call on ocean research organised together with Theme 2 - Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology (KBBE), 6 - Environment, and 7 - Transport
• FP7-ENERGY-2011-EXCHANGE: call for International Research Staff Exchange in the field of energy research (USE and Japan)
• FP7-2011-NMP-ENV-ENERGY-ICT-EeB: cross thematic call on energy efficiency in buildings in the context of the European Economic Recovery Plan
• FP7-NMP-ENERGY-2011: joint call together with Theme 4 - NMP Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Material and new Production Technologies on innovative photovoltaic cell processes and architectures
• FP7-ERANET-2011-RTD: joint call on ERA-NETs together with other FP7 themes

In addition, the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) plans to publish its 3rd Call on 15th June 2010.

The European Information Day on these Calls will be held in Brussels on 8th July 2010. More information and the registration page can be accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2010/energy_infoday/infoday_energy_en.htm

Plans for a UK Information Day are currently being prepared and will be published in due course.

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 building less than two years old (Phase 2 studies). Similarly, non-domestic building studies will be either for buildings under construction and nearing completion (Under Construction) or those in use and no more than three years old (In-Use). All studies will be required to use specified protocols, tools and techniques to capture data in a comparable form.

The Technology Strategy Board aim to assemble a substantial body of data for many building types to draw generic conclusions on the perofmrance obtained through various design strategies, building fabric, target performances, construction methods and occupancy patterns, handover and operational pratices. 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, dlivery and operation.

Funding will be allocated in tranches over two years, with the Initial Project proposal deadline for the first tranche being 10th June 2010.

A competition briefing is being held in London on the 19th May. To register for the event please click on the following link http://buildingperformanceevaluation.eventbrite.com/

The Technology Strategy Board as the UK funding body will fund a maximum of 50% of the UK eligible costs of an AAL project in the 2010 call. The eligibility criteria for the 2010 call is as follows:

UK Participant Eligibility:

• All participants must be seperate legal entities.
• All UK companies must have been trading for at least 12 months.
• There are specific accountancy rules for Sole Traders & Micro Companies (companies with less than 10 employees).
• Maximum grant limit €400,000 per UK partner in any single project (except for charities and foundation

Industry (SME & Large Companies) - up to 50% of eligible costs

Local Authorities - up to 100% (must have UK industry partner in project)

NHS Trusts - up to 100% (must have UK industry partner in project)

Charities and Foundations - 100% (max grant limit of €75,000)

AAL Project Eligibility:

• At least 3 independent eligible organisations (legal entities), from at least 3 different AAL Partner States participating in the Call for Proposals
• One eligible business partner
• One eligible SME partner which can be the business partner
• One eligible end-user organisation
• Size of the consortium: 3-10 partner
• Duration of the project: 12-36 months

The main website for the competition can be found at - http://www.aal-europe.eu/calls/aal-call-3-2010

• Pre-proposal check service - The European Commission pre-proposal check service is open until 21st May. This service allows you to submit a summary of your proposal to check that your proposal idea is in principle eligible for IEE funding. Information on how to access this service can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/call_for_proposals/doc/call_2010_check_your_project_idea.pdf. The Helpline team encourage you to submit your proposal ideas to them directly for initial review so that they can be refined as much as possible to make the most of the service provided by the Commission. 
• Online Support - Online support session will take place as and when required before the deadline. The sessions will provide you with a comprehensive and interactive presentation on key aspects of the proposal preparation and submission process. The feedback from those that have taken part in thesession previously has been very positive. The team will refer to material from these sessions when they undertake the proposal review process so they recommence that you take part in the session in order to understand the message fully. Dates and times for the session will be announced in due course.
• Proposal Review - The Helpline team will be offering a proposal review service between Monday 7th June and the proposal deadline. Please send energie@enviros.com to notify the team if you would like to utilise this service.

The Energie Helpline team will also be hosting proposal clinics (on-to-one meeting of 1 hour with a member of the team to discuss your proposal) on the following dates:

• Tuesday 11th May - Manchester
• Thursday 13th May - London
• Tuesday 25th May - Manchester
• Thursday 27th May - London

To register your interest in attending a proposal clinic please send you proposal summary to energie@enviros.com and indicate which date would be most suitable for you to attend. Please let the team know if you are unable to attend these dates and locations as they will try and accommodate you on alternative dates or at other locations if it can be arranged.

Open Competitions:

• Eurostars September 2010 Call - A Eurostars Project is a European research and development project. It can address any technological area, but must have a civilian purpose and be aimed at the development of a new product, process or service. Closes 30th September 2010
• PIANO+ - PIANO+ is a transnational competition calling for proposals to develop photonic technology and systems to enable widespread broadband access of at least 1Gbit/s by 2015-2020. Closes 29th April 2010
• Regenerative Medicine Programme: Developing Therapeutics - as part of a £21.5m programme in Regenerative Medicine, the Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £4m in fast-track collaborative research and development projects in the area of regenerative medicine therapeutics. Closes 29th April 2010
• Regenerative Medicine Programme: Tools and Technologies Feasibility Studies - to explore the feasibility of developing platform tools and technologies to overcome key development challenges in safety and efficacy testing, and the manufacturing of regenerative medicine therapeutics.Closes 29th April 2010
• Wave and tidal stream energy technologies: reducing costs and improving performance - this competition will support applied research and experimental development of wave energy and tidal stream devices, addressing the high-level challenges of driving down the cost of energy and improving the reliability and performance of wave and tidal stream energy generating devices. Closes 29th April 2010
• Influence through Cyberspace - research investigating how behaviour and attitudes are revealed and can be shaped by online activity. Closes 7th June 2010

Forthcoming Competitions:

• Trusted Services Competition - £8m competition to fund projects that aim to speed up the deployment of secure and trustworthy information systems, within Digital Britain and the wider global economy. Opens 5th May 2010
• Next Generation IED Search and Defeat Capability - Research and Development whicvh enhances the capability to locate and defeat Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), whilst minimising the burden on military personnel. Opens 13th May 2010
• Nuclear R&D feasibility studies - This competition is funding feasbility studies so that companies, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, can strengthen the supply chain and explore opportunities in the civil nuclear industry. Opens 14th June 2010
• Digital Testbed: Network services demonstrators - As part of the Technology Strategy Board's Digital Testbed Programme they have allocated up to £2m to invest in a small number of projects that will establish network services demonstrators. Opens 10th May 2010
• Assisted Living: Economic and Business Models and Social Behavioural Studies - The aim of this call is to address need identified in the areas of Economic and Business Models and Social and Behavioural Studies.

CIP Eco-Innovation will support projects concerned with the first application or market replication of eco-innovative techniques, products, processes or practices, which have already been demonstrated, but due to remaining risks need incentives to penetrate the market.

CIP Eco-Innovation will also support market oriented activities related to the uptake of environmental technologies and eco-innovative activities by enterprises and the implementation of new or integrated approaches to eco-innovation, such as environmental management, design and environmentally friendly products, processes and services.

In general, this Call support projects which address the types of action mentioned above with a clear priority to SMEs. However, some areas are considered a priority for this call, because of their importance for environmental protection and because of the expected added-value of projects in these areas, taking into consideration other Community actions in connected fields.

•  Materials recycling
•  Buildings
•  Food and drink sector
•  Greening business/smart purchasing

More emphasis on resource efficiency and small adaptations in buildings and greening businesses

MAIN AWARD CRITERIA:
1) Relevance of the action;
2) Quality of the proposed actions;
3) Impact on target audience;
4) Budget and cost-effectiveness;
5) European added value

This call is open to all legal persons that are based in eligible countries but the priority will be given to SMEs. Clusters of applicants and projects which demonstrate a European added value and have a high potential for market replication are strongly encouraged. The co-financing funding rate for this call is 50% of project eligible costs.

For further information about this call please contact the Enterprise Europe Network.
 

Following an extensive analysis of likely future UK requirements for CCS new build and retrofit power generation, the ETI has identified a specific opportunity to develop capture technology for new-build, pre-combustion capture coal based on physical seperation of CO2 from synthesis gas. As part of its wider portfolio of CCS developments, the ETI is seeking detailed and specific proposals for a validation and demonstration project to accelerate development of this technology.

The proposed project would see the development of the technology to a stage where it is ready for full scale demonstration by 2015 and adoption into full scale commercial power applications by 2020.

The ETI is prepared to commit of the order of £25M to support such a project. The participants will be expected to provide significant and proportionate funding from their own resources. 

A two-stage bidding and selection process will be used, with a deadline of 23rd June 2010 for Stage 1 proposals. Full details of the project and what the ETI expects from potential bidders can be found using the link below:

http://www.energytechnologies.co.uk/Home/Technology-Programmes/Requests_for_Proposals_copy1.aspx 

The competitions, scheduled to open in May and June, are all designed to accelerate the development of innovative new technologies in a wide range of technology areas and include aims to: reduce the carbon emissions produced by buildings, encourage the uptake of new technologies that will help an ageing population remain independent for longer and increase the speed at which new innovations along the energy supply chain are able to enter the market, through smart metering and the development of smart grids.

The six new competitions are listed below:

Building Performance Evaluation: £8m investment , spread across two years, in the costs of Building Performance Evaluation, data aggregation, analysis, interpretation and dissemination across a range of building types, both domestic and non-domestic. Successful applicants will secure funding to cover the cost of evaluating the performance of case study buildings they design, build, own and/or operate, thus providing them with improved insight into what works and what doesn’t. The aim is to establish the best way to deliver predictably lower impact buildings. The competition opens on 10 May 2010.

Design for Future Climate: The £4.9m investment will assist design teams in developing adaptation strategies to improve resistance to climate change of specific buildings they are already working on. The focus will be on improving building resilience and adaptation to climate change, thus extending the commercial viability of buildings. Projects must be on a specific building / refurbishment project with a client and design team both applying together for the funding. The funding covers all buildings except domestic retrofit. The competition will be run in two parts. The first part will open in June and funding of up to £2.5m will be available. The second part will open in 2011 and will have a value of £2.4m.

Nuclear Power Technology: £2m will be invested in feasibility studies to stimulate innovation and strengthen the supply chain in the area of nuclear R&D and its applications. The studies to be supported will cover areas such as the development of innovative technologies, their applications and technology transfer that could lead to their future development & application in civil nuclear plants and develop business opportunities in this growing area. With a global market valued at around £600bn for new nuclear build and £250bn for decommissioning, waste treatment and disposal, the predicted resurgence in the nuclear market over the next 20 years could lead to significant opportunities for UK businesses in the area of nuclear engineering and its associated technologies. The competition particularly targets SMEs who have technologies which they believe can provide innovation and added value to the civil nuclear sector and are considering entry into this market, but require technical feasibility studies to support their business case. The fast-track application process opens on 14 June 2010.

Economic and Business Modelling; Social and Behavioural Studies: Funding of up to £10 million in total is to be made available through the Assisted Living Innovation Platform, which supports UK businesses and the health & care sector to develop innovative, cost-effective, user-centred technology and services for independent living. The aim of this competition to address needs identified in the areas of Economic and Business Models and Social and Behavioural Studies. The Economic and Business Modelling theme will aim to provide improved evidence to underpin industry and social enterprise, to encourage investment in and implementation of assisted living services and technology. The Social and Behavioural Studies theme will aim to better understand the interactions between Assisted Living technologies and services and individuals, families and communities. The competitions, which will be run jointly, open on 14 May 2010.

Smart Meters and Smart Grids: Up to £5m in innovative collaborative research, development and demonstration in the area of energy Smart Grids and Smart Meters. This is a small part of a considerable amount of public funding which is being made available to support the delivery of Smart Meters across the country, and the integration and development of an interconnected Grid. The Technology Strategy Board programme on Smart Meters and Smart Grids is committed to facilitating business growth and technology-based innovation. It complements other programmes being run by the Technology Strategy Board, in particular those being run as part of the Digital Britain and the Low Impact Buildings programmes.
This competition aims to accelerate the speed at which new innovations along the energy supply chain are able to enter the market. It will develop and trial new business propositions for how a smart meter can be integrated with communications into a system within the home in a way which can impact on the management, supply and reduction in usage of energy. The competition opens on 10 May 2010.

• A Eurostars project is collaborative, meaning it must involve at least two participants from two different Eurostars member countries.
• The lead partner must be an R&D performing SME (10% of turnover or 10% of staff time dedicated to R&D activities).
• The consortium should be well balanced, which means that no participant or country will be required to invest more than 75% of the total project costs.
• R&D performing SMEs have to undertake at least 50% of the total R&D project costs.
• Project duration 36 months or less.
• Market introduction is foreseen within 2 years after the project has ended, with the exception being biomedical or medical projects, where clinical trials must be started within two years of project completion. 

UK-specific criteria:

• Academics/universities and large companies are welcome to participate in a Eurostars project, but must fund their own participation or use funds from other sources.
• UK participants are eligible for up to 50% funding on eligible costs, with a maximum grant level per UK participant of 350,000 EUR.
• Companies must have been trading for over 12 months. 

Eurostars is open for funding applications on a continuous basis, with an average of two application submission deadlines each year. The next application submission deadline is 30th September 2010.

Please visit the TSB's web-pages for Eurostars where you can find (and download) further information on the programme, eligibility criteria and guidelines for applicants.