Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) – Round 6

Overview

The Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) Round 6 is delivered by the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials and provides grant funding for short, high-impact research, development and innovation sprint projects. The programme is designed to support collaborative projects that address key national materials challenges, with a strong focus on technology translation rather than fundamental research.

Projects must be delivered through collaboration between industry and research organisations and should demonstrate clear potential for real-world application and exploitation within the UK.

Scope

ICP Round 6 supports projects aligned with Royce’s National Materials Innovation Strategy. Projects must explain how their proposed activities fit within the scope of the programme and contribute to national materials priorities.

Key themes and topics

Energy solutions

Rising to the net zero challenge

• Materials for battery energy storage
• Materials for large-scale electrochemical energy generation and conversion (including hydrogen)
• Materials for hydrogen transport, storage and use
• Materials for heat exchange, heat storage and waste heat recovery
• Materials for energy harvesting
• Materials for advanced nuclear fuels and nuclear test capability

Future healthcare

Delivering beyond biocompatibility for active medical solutions

• Biocompatible materials
• Materials for bioelectronics

Structural innovations

Strengthening our infrastructure, built environment and transport

• Low-Carbon Concrete
• Composites
• Metallics
• Ceramics

Advanced surface technologies  materials durability

Enhancing product safety, performance and lifetime

• Materials and modelling for surface engineering and tribology
• Surface treatments and materials for demanding environments

Next generation electronics, telecommunications & sensors

Driving the future of high-performance connectivity and computing

• Materials for power electronics
• Materials for quantum technologies
• Materials for connectivity & telecommunications

Consumer products, packaging & specialist polymers

Paving the way for a greener tomorrow

• Materials for sustainable packaging
• Speciality polymers: sustainable elastomers

Proposals in the above areas which incorporate or lead with the following cross-cutting themes are encouraged:

• Sustainability and sustainable by design principles into materials innovations:
  • Design, production, use, and end-of-life considerations – including the foundation industries
  • Innovations in materials use and recycling to address the scarcity of critical minerals and reduce dependence on limited resources
• Materials 4.0 which embraces the digital revolution in materials discovery and scale-up.

Project duration

Project duration

Up to five months

Must start by 01 July 2026

End by 30 November 2026

Award value

• Total eligible project costs: £50,000 – £130,000
• Total funding available in Round 6: up to £4 million

The grant awarded will cover a proportion of total eligible project costs, depending on the type and size of the participating organisations and the classification of the project activity.

Funding rates

Funding rates vary by organisation type:

• Universities (HEIs): Up to 80% of total project costs when using Full Economic Costing (FEC)
• Research & Technology Organisations, charities and not-for-profits: Up to 100% of eligible costs for non-economic activity
• Companies: Funding levels depend on company size and project classification (research, development or innovation) as follows
• Between 45-70% if you are a micro or small organisation
• Between 35 -60% if you are a medium sized organisation
• Between 25-50% if you are a micro or small organisation

Royce will determine the final project classification and associated funding rate in line with its guidance and the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, projects must:

• Include at least one UK-registered company
• Include at least one HEI, RTO, charity or not-for-profit organisation
• Involve no more than three partners in total
• Be delivered entirely in the UK, with results intended for exploitation in or from the UK
• Be a new project that has not already started
• Fall clearly within the scope of ICP Round 6

International companies may participate but cannot claim grant funding. Projects must be led by an eligible senior industry representative or an appropriately qualified academic or technical lead.

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