UK small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply from 15 September for the latest round of A4I, a programme designed to help businesses overcome challenging measurement and analysis problems that are holding back innovation, productivity and growth.
A4I connects SMEs with leading measurement scientists, specialist facilities and technical expertise from across the UK’s national measurement and innovation infrastructure. Through collaborative research projects, participating businesses can access support that would otherwise be difficult to obtain, helping them address complex technical challenges and accelerate commercial innovation.
The programme provides access to world-class expertise and facilities to help businesses improve products, services and processes, reduce costs, demonstrate compliance and reach new markets. Possible partners include:
- Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
- The National Gear Metrology Laboratory (NGML) at Newcastle University (NCL)
- The National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC
- TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory
Projects are designed to help SMEs improve productivity and competitiveness while creating clear opportunities for growth and development within the UK.
At Stage 1, you are not required to propose any solutions to the problem, nor to propose any project plans or budgets. If successful, these details will be worked on with an A4I programme partner and submitted at Stage 2. Successful stage 2 projects will start in April 2027 and can cost up to £100,000.
Supporting UK innovation through measurement expertise
Analysis for Innovators helps companies to:
- improve reliability of products, services and processes
- improve performance of existing products
- improve manufacturing output
- reduce rejection rates and associated costs
- demonstrate compliance with standards and specifications
- access new markets
Through the programme, SMEs gain access to cutting-edge facilities, expert scientific knowledge and specialist research capability that can help unlock innovation and tackle technical challenges that cannot easily be solved using off-the-shelf approaches.
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A4I is open to UK-registered SMEs only. For company size category definitions please click here.
A business may make only one application to this competition round.
Your funding from this competition will be subject to Minimal Financial Assistance limits. You will be made ineligible if you exceed this limit. You must submit a completed declaration as part of your application in Stage 2.
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Successful applicants will undertake a collaborative research project involving expert measurement scientists and cutting-edge facilities provided by the UK National Measurement Institutes. Projects must be between 3 and 9 months in duration, and between £15,000 and £100,000 in value. SMEs will be required to provide 30 % of the project costs via an in-kind contribution and the remainder will be funded by A4I programme support for the programme partners.
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Together, the programme partners run some of the most advanced facilities, techniques and technologies available in the world. A4I matches the best UK measurement scientists and facilities with companies that have analysis or measurement problems. The A4I partners are:
- The National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
- The National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC
- The National Gear Metrology Laboratory (NGML) at Newcastle University (NCL)
- TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory (NEL)
- The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
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Stage 1 is an initial expression of interest and asks companies to explain their measurement challenge in simple terms. Applications are reviewed by scientific experts from the programme partners, to assess whether the partner could have the right expertise to help with the challenge, and to ensure that the problem cannot be solved by routine measurements that are commercially available.
All eligible applications deemed in scope at Stage 1 move forward to Brokerage meetings which are confidential discussions between the applicant and at least one of the partners, providing an opportunity to explain the challenge in more detail and focus on potential approaches to solving your problem. Each applicant may meet more than one partner during Brokerage, if more than one partner has been identified as having relevant expertise to support the application. These meetings will take place 4-18 November 2026.
After Brokerage, both the company and the partners are asked whether, having spoken in depth, they believe there is a viable project opportunity and they would like to proceed. A match-making process then determines which companies’ applications will be taken forward to Stage 2, and with which partner.
Stage 2 asks for full project proposals to be submitted, including budgets and plans for the work activities and a route for exploitation of the outputs. These are developed collaboratively between the company and project partner. Stage 2 proposals are assessed by independent external reviewers and scored according to strict criteria to produce a ranked list of proposals, from which the funding line can be drawn.
Please note that this is a competitive process and the programme has a funding limit, so it is possible that some of the proposed projects that apply at Stage 2 will not be successful, even if the proposal scores highly. The highest-ranked proposals above the funding line will be accepted and should start by 1 April 2027, once project contracts are in place.
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NPL (National Physical Laboratory) will hold a webinar for potential applicants on Tuesday 22 September at 2.30pm: click here to register for a place.
Download the guide for applicants.
If you experience any technical difficulties whilst using the application form, or have any questions regarding the programme or this Stage 1 Call, please contact CompetitionsOffice@npl.co.uk.