Developing Semiconductor Hardware for Critical Technologies

Lead organisation

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size
• be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME)

If collaborative you can work with other UK registered organisations.

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Project team

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)

No one partner can account for more than 70% of the total eligible costs.

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

If an organisation is not leading any application, it can collaborate in up to three applications.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Note that the closing date for this competition is 29 May and Innovate UK’s offices will be closed 26 and 27 May.

Your project must:

• have a total grant funding request of between £75,000 and £300,000
• last up to six months
• carry out all its funded project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• start by 1 September 2025
• end by 28 February 2026

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

If your project’s total grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to support@iuk.ukri.org at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

The aim of this competition is to encourage exploration of feasibility for innovative ideas with the potential to advance semiconductor hardware that can contribute to the global competitiveness of the UK in the critical technologies.

Your project must comprehensively address the feasibility of an advancement in hardware design or fabrication that has the potential to significantly impact the effectiveness of UK businesses operating in one or more of the critical technology areas. Output should include technical and commercial feasibility and identify potential barriers to achieving traction in the market as well as the opportunities.

Portfolio approach

We aim to fund a variety of projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. We call this a portfolio approach.

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

• novel semiconductor materials or designs, or both
• semiconductor fabrication techniques
• manufacturing equipment innovation
• multi-technology integration or interfacing
• novel packaging materials and techniques
• advanced packaging
• thermal management
• front end of line processes
• back end of line processes
• in line and end of line test
• development of Process Design Kits (PDKs)

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

We are not funding projects that involve the design or fabrication of printed circuit boards (PCBs), or the assembly of end use systems. Projects must address a clear industrial need or improvement.

An online briefing event was held on Wednesday 16 April: watch the recording and download the briefing slides.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.