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Working with business:

Industrial partnership awards

Changes to this scheme have been implemented following an independant evaluation report from a specialist review panel, available at: Industrial Partnership Award and ‘stand-alone’ LINK schemes evaluation . Our Grants guide  has also been revised to reflect this update.

Application deadline: as per next responsive mode

Science-led, responsive mode grants where an industrial partner contributes in cash at least 10% of the full economic cost of the project. Additional in-kind contributions from industry are welcome but they neither count against the industry contribution nor the total cost of the project. (See FAQs for example calculations.)

Applications are assessed by our Research Committees, alongside standard applications, using the same criteria. IPA projects are normally funded in preference to standard grants of equivalent scientific merit.

Before applying

The company partner should be registered in the UK or have a UK R&D or manufacturing site. Where a suitable company cannot be found in the UK, an overseas company may be used. However, such collaborations are judged on a case by case basis, and clear justification must be provided. We strongly encourage you to contact us (contact details below) prior to submission if you wish an overseas company to be an industrial partner under this scheme.

Applicants should describe the value of the partnership and its mutual benefits. Applicants should include a letter from their university's Technology Transfer office stating that should the IPA be funded, a collaborative agreement will be put in place with the industrial partner before commencement of the project. The letter should:

• describe the expected IP management and distribution strategy of this collaboration
• be signed off by the industrial partner budget holder (or equivalent) as well as colleagues in the institutions Technology Transfer Office (or equivalent).

Please consult the FAQs in the downloads section for calculating grant costs and contributions.

How to apply

Visit our 'Apply for funding' section to submit your application through our electronic submission system.

For more specific guidance about applying to this scheme, please consult the FAQs (see downloads).

The schemes are dictated when selecting classification as follows:

• Select Council: 'BBSRC'
• Select Document Type: 'Standard Proposal'
• Select Scheme: 'Responsive Mode'
• Select Call/Type Mode: 'Responsive Mode [deadline]'
• In the Document Menu select 'Classifications' and then 'Grant Type'
• Select the appropriate classification (Industrial Partnership Award, LINK etc)

Applications are processed alongside other responsive mode applications. Application deadlines are therefore the same as responsive mode applications. Responsive mode deadlines can be found on our application deadlines page (see related links).

Case studies

University of Glasgow and Pfizer Global R&D

Researchers at the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow and Pfizer Global R&D are investigating the role of natural chemicals in the body that have been implicated in thickening of the walls of blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) - with the aim of identifying targets for novel approaches to prevention.

Image: raised transporter levels in mice lead to an increased expression of the calcium binding protein mts-1 in a small pulmonary artery.

University of Sheffield and Syngenta

Scientists at the University of Sheffield and the agrochemical company Syngenta are combining the academics’ structural biology expertise with the company’s development of new chemicals that have potential as new generation herbicides. The partnership advances understanding of how molecular structure determines the activity of herbicides, and offers the industry the opportunity of novel targeted compounds capable of killing weeds that have become resistant to conventional herbicides.

Image: the active site of a novel herbicide target (imidazoleglycerol phosphate dehydratase), which binds its substrate between two manganese ions. Courtesy of University of Sheffield.

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