Robotics Adoption Programme skills development

To lead a project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, research organisation, research and technology organisation (RTO), academic institution, charity, not for profit, or public sector organisation.

Businesses can work alone, but if the lead organisation is not a business it must collaborate with at least 1 business of any size.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not for profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

An organisation can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications. If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £500,000
• start by 1 August 2026
• end by 31 January 2027
• last between three and six months

Any funded organisation needs to carry out their project work in the UK and must intend to exploit the project results from or in the UK.

You can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
• up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation
• up to 25% if you are a large organisation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 70% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 70% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-S registered institution such as an academic

The aim of this competition is to create and deliver course content and materials that will support skills, talent and training in robotics. This will bridge the skills gap to address the lack of skilled workers able to specify, procure, integrate, operate and maintain robotics.

For this competition, robotics is defined broadly. It includes drones operating on land, sea and air; autonomous plant and service robots; and industrial robots or automated machinery that use sensors, actuators and control software. Robotics does not include systems that are only software based.

Opportunities could include but are not limited to:

• apprenticeships and internships
• upskilling and reskilling of existing workforce
• technical courses and vocational training
• undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development (CPD)
• schools engagement

Your project must demonstrate:

• strong industrial links and a well defined industry focus
• an understanding and awareness of robotics industrial skills that are currently lacking and any future requirements to enable the workforce
• an innovative, ambitious, and realistic idea to meet a significant robotics skills or talent requirement
• planning for, and commitment to, creating and maintaining the resource on an ongoing basis for a minimum period of 3 years after the funded project completion
• that you will provide new training opportunities or skill resources not already available in the UK, a region or for a group of underrepresented people
• that it has the capacity and capability to be delivered successfully and on time
• value for money and evidence a return on investment, in terms of trained, upskilled and reskilled people

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

• defining and filling key skills gaps in the UK’s robotics workforce
• producing industry compatible training programs
• increasing interaction between academia or training establishments and industry to ensure skills streams for the future, including, apprenticeships, internships or sandwich courses
• outreach and engagement material focusing on robotics for all ages and levels in academia and industry
• supporting and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion within robotics
• providing training or incentives for training to specific underrepresented groups of people or in specific training subjects

This list is not exhaustive.

Innovate UK will hold an online briefing at 2pm on Friday 6 Feb: click here to register for a place. A recording and slides will be available afterwards.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Robotics & AI team.