Call out to Gloucestershire organisations: Promoting Research and Innovation

Innovation is frequently identified as one of the key drivers of business growth and productivity, and is a significant part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Operational Programme for England 2014 to 2020.

On behalf of the national Growth Programme Board, the Department for Communities and Local Government is inviting Gloucestershire organisations to apply for the ERDF call - ‘Promoting Research and Innovation’, with a value of up to £1,400,000.

This fund will give the successful business in Gloucestershire an exciting opportunity to be personally involved in growing the local economy. By developing links between enterprises and research and development centres, the focus is on investment to support local economic growth and job creation. The Operational Programme aims to improve how SMEs commercialise research and how they collaborate with research institutions.

The fund will capitalise on the county’s current innovation assets to greatly enhance the innovation capacity within Gloucestershire’s businesses. This will improve productivity and accelerate economic growth, to build an innovative and sustainable economy. The call is seeking support in the following area:

Call Specification – Deadline 27^th May 2016

Promoting business investment in research and innovation;

-          Developing links and synergies between enterprises, research and development centres and the Higher Education sector, in particular promoting investment in product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation, ecoinnovation, public service applications, demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation.

-          Supporting technological and applied research, pilot lines, early product validation actions, advanced manufacturing capabilities and first production, in particular in key enabling technologies and diffusion of general purpose technologies.

The call is specifically divided between two distinctive strands:

Strand 1: £850,000 is allocated to activity focused on innovation within high-growth potential small and medium sized enterprises in line with the area’s smart specialisation approach.

Strand 2: £550,000 is allocated to activity specifically focused on agri-technology related smart specialisation.

The ERDF required outputs that must be delivered, full details and how to apply can be found here. 

If you have any questions, or would like any further information on the call please contact GFirst LEP on info@gfirstlep.com.