TSB Feasibility Studies

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) have announced 4 calls to open on 11 January 2011 for feasibility studies for micro and small businesses. The calls all close on 11 February 2011. The main call is for Feasibility Studies for Technology Inspired Innovation and there are three specific calls in digital, nanotechnology and space.

The TSB will be giving grants of 75% of project costs (maximum cost £33,000) up to a maximum grant of £25,000 for feasibility studies lasting up to 3 months, it is expected that each project will culminate in a short report and, where relevant, a demonstrator. Projects will also present their achievements at a public ‘Collaboration Nation’ event to be held in autumn 2011.

This call is open to micro and small businesses only, either individually or in collaboration. For information the definition of these is:
- micro business - fewer than 10 staff, and a turnover or balance sheet less than €2m (approx £1.7m)
- small business - fewer than 50 staff, and a turnover or balance sheet less than €10m (approx £8.4m)

For the main call applications are being accepted in the following areas:

Advanced Materials

Development and application of advanced materials for:

• Secure, clean and affordable energy supply, distribution and use – both fixed and mobile sources – in the energy, transport and construction industries
• Sustainability in relation to transport, construction and the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ agenda, including packaging and materials for carbon capture
• High value markets, including technologies for healthcare and the creative industries.

Biosciences

• Genomics – the use of genomics technologies by UK businesses and the development of novel tools and technologies to better access or gain value from genomic information
• Industrial biotechnology – development of renewable feedstocks (not resulting in the diversion of food away from the animal or human food chain) and biological processes for the production of materials, chemicals or energy.
• Agriculture and food – development of technologies which enable improvements in food quality, nutritional content, safety, authenticity or traceability or the production of novel or functional foods.

Electronics, Photonics and Electrical Systems

Preference will be given to proposals that have deliverables such as demonstrators, mock-ups or prototypes in the following key areas:

• Control systems and power engineering – reducing electricity consumption in the built environment, or addressing electricity consumption in industrial processes or transport
• Plastics and printed electronics – developing a sustainable base for wealth creation in the industry
• Data and image acquisition – developing systems based on sensing and imaging capabilities
• Communications – contributing to the cost-effective development and deployment of next-generation access, or the development of local high frequency wireless networks
• Systems design and integration – embedded systems, robotics and autonomous systems, specification, and verification and testing of computing system designs, including industrial lasers.

High Value Manufacturing

• Designing and developing innovative products or systems that offer improved performance, functionality, reliability, service life and reduced environmental impact
• Developing production technologies that can create high value through novel processes, advanced product manufacture, resource efficiency or greater product customisation, or that create greater environmental sustainability through efficient disposal, recycling or re-manufacture
• Developing service solutions that complement product offerings by adding value before, during or after manufacture
• Value systems associated with the provision of a lifetime service around the manufactured product or manufacturing process

Information and Communications Technology

Radically new software-based technologies or approaches to enable:

• reliable and continuous sensing in challenging physical environments
• intelligent, autonomous or autonomic machine reasoning and behaviour
• computers to take account of user requirements, preferences, values and processes
• complex ICT systems to be engineered rapidly, cost-effectively and reliably to be fit-for-purpose, ie, safe, secure and resilient.

Nanotechnology

Development and integration of the added functionality offered by nanoscale technologies for:

• Living with environmental change – technologies for water supply and use; monitoring of physical structures and waste streams; secure, clean and affordable energy supply, distribution and use; new technologies to address the reduce, re-use, recycle agenda
• Living with an ageing and growing population – applying nanoscale technologies to healthcare, including drug delivery and discovery; diagnostics and imaging; prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of disease and implants; surface cleanliness; food packaging and storage
• Living in an intelligent, connected, modern world – technologies for safety and security systems; intelligent transport systems; increased user interaction with products; and next generation computing and entertainment systems.

For the additional calls applications are being accepted in

Digital Services

Using data sources in the public domain, and in particular, public data:

• Complementing public sector provision of services to citizens
• Emergence of the ‘Internet of Things’ – a network of ‘things’ such as objects, environments, vehicles, and clothing that are embedded with sensors, processing or actuators and with the ability to communicate, network, and produce information
• Sectors and application areas presenting complex challenges to the adoption and use of cloud-based computing.

Space

• Satellite Telecommunications
• Sensing
• Position, Navigation and Timing
• Robotics and Exploration
• Access to Space

Responsible Development of Nanoscale technology

Development of innovative products or processes which can have applications for Environmental Health and Safety aspects of nanoscale technologies that also address EHS-specific lifecycle issues.

For more information see the TSB site.

We expect competition for these grants to be high, any businesses looking for help with applications should contact us directly