UK–Switzerland Collaborative R&D Round 3 2026: Up to £450,000 for Semiconductors, Life Sciences and Engineering Biology

UK–Switzerland Collaborative R&D Round 3 2026: Up to £450,000 for Semiconductors, Life Sciences and Engineering Biology

The UK–Switzerland Collaborative R&D Round 3 is an open bilateral funding competition for businesses developing new technology with a partner in the other country. Innovate UK and Innosuisse are jointly supporting projects in semiconductors, life sciences and engineering biology. The UK side of a project can request up to £450,000 through Innovate UK, while the Swiss side applies separately for funding through Innosuisse.

The UK competition opened on 1 July 2026 and closes at 11:00am UK time on 3 September 2026. Successful projects are scheduled to start on 1 February 2027 and must run for between 18 and 36 months, ending no later than 31 January 2030. This is a real collaborative R&D route rather than a general business grant: the proposal must show a balanced technical contribution from both countries, a credible route to market, and a reason the partnership creates value that neither side would achieve as effectively alone.

Key details

The funding limit applies to the UK participation, not to a single worldwide project budget. Each country funds its eligible participants under its own national rules. A Swiss partner does not receive Innovate UK money; it must submit the Swiss component to Innosuisse.

What the competition is designed to fund

The competition supports business-led projects that turn an important technical opportunity into a product, process or service with commercial potential. The official guidance describes a broad objective: improve UK–Swiss collaboration and capabilities in emerging technology fields, then deliver new innovations and applications across sectors. The call is not restricted to one end market, but the technical core must fit one of three themes.

For semiconductors, the guidance highlights AI chips and accelerators, chip design, chiplets, heterogeneous integration, 3D packaging, neuromorphic computing, photonic approaches, photonic interconnects, memory and data movement. It also includes sensing technologies such as vision, radar, lidar, radio-frequency and photonic sensors, together with power and energy systems using advanced materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride. A proposal does not need to mention every example. It does need to explain precisely which semiconductor problem it addresses and why the proposed technical route is better than existing alternatives.

Engineering biology covers engineered biological systems, including biotechnology and genetic-engineering platforms, bio-based production and bioprocesses, food and agrifood applications, bio-engineered medical and diagnostic solutions, and ClimateTech or CleanTech applications. The engineering biology label should describe the central innovation, not merely a product that happens to be used in a biological market.

The third theme is life sciences. The call gives that theme its own category, so applicants should explain the relevant life-science problem, users, validation pathway and market rather than assuming that a general health or laboratory project is automatically in scope.

The competition will fund feasibility studies, industrial research and experimental development. That makes the call potentially useful at several points on a technology journey, but the proposal still needs a coherent project stage. A feasibility project should answer a defined uncertainty. Industrial research should establish the technical and commercial evidence needed for a more advanced innovation. Experimental development should show why the proposed work is nearer to a marketable result and how the team will handle the remaining technical and regulatory risks.

Who can apply and how the partnership must work

The UK lead applicant must be a business registered in the United Kingdom. It can be a business of any size, but the project must be or involve at least one grant-claiming UK micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. The lead starts the Innovate UK application on the Innovation Funding Service. A Swiss organisation may be the overall project lead in practice, but it cannot start the UK IFS application; it must be added as a partner by the UK lead because of how the system works.

The consortium must include at least one Swiss business that is a separate legal entity and is not linked to the UK partners. That Swiss implementation partner must apply under the equivalent Innosuisse programme. The partners should agree on a single project concept and use the same project title in the UK and Swiss submissions. A Swiss company cannot simply be a supplier or a name on an advisory board. The guidance requires genuine bilateral collaboration and a balanced technological contribution.

The consortium must also include at least one research institute from the UK or Switzerland. There is a narrow exception: the research-institute requirement is waived when the Swiss applicant is an individual start-up that is pre-market and has fewer than 50 full-time-equivalent employees. Applicants should treat that as a specific eligibility exception, not a general permission to omit research participation.

UK project partners can include businesses, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profit organisations, public-sector organisations and research and technology organisations. Swiss partners are funded by Innosuisse under the Swiss rules. Non-funded partners may also participate, including organisations from other countries, but the core funded work must remain a genuine UK–Swiss collaboration.

The project must be balanced. No country or single partner can represent more than 70% of total project cost. The guidance also says one country must contribute at least 30% of total person-months, and neither country can exceed 70%. These requirements matter early: a Swiss partner added after the technical plan is complete may not be able to demonstrate a substantive contribution.

Funding rates, project size and eligible costs

The maximum UK grant request is £450,000. The overall Innovate UK competition allocation is up to £3 million, and Innosuisse has allocated at least CHF 3 million for the Swiss side, subject to enough high-quality applications. The two agencies make independent funding decisions, so a project must be selected by both national funders to receive bilateral support.

For UK commercial or economic activity, Innovate UK can fund up to 70% of eligible costs for a micro or small organisation, 60% for a medium-sized organisation and 50% for a large organisation when the work is a feasibility study or industrial research project. For experimental development nearer to market, the corresponding limits are 45%, 35% and 25%. The applicant must finance the remainder and show how each partner will support its share.

UK research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can share up to 30% of total eligible project costs. Within that portion, a research and technology organisation, charity, not-for-profit, public-sector organisation or research organisation can receive up to 100% of eligible costs. An academic institution can receive 80% of full economic cost, using the Transparent Approach to Costing method and entering the 80% being claimed in IFS.

Subcontractors are allowed, but UK subcontractor costs are limited to 20% of the UK participation’s total eligible costs. A third-country subcontractor requires a reasoned case, evidence of contractors considered, and an explanation of why a UK or Swiss provider could not do the work. A cheaper foreign quote alone is not sufficient justification.

Innosuisse applies separate Swiss funding rates. The official competition guidance states that Swiss research institutions can receive 100%, Swiss start-ups and SMEs up to 50%, and large enterprises up to 25%, with a maximum of 70% of total Swiss project costs covered by Innosuisse. Swiss applicants should confirm the current national rules and required documents in the Innosuisse portal rather than copying UK assumptions into their budget.

Application process and required material

The UK lead submits through the Innovation Funding Service and invites UK partners to complete their own organisation and cost sections. The Swiss partner submits the corresponding Swiss application separately. The two submissions must describe the same joint project, use the same title, and present compatible work packages, costs, dates and responsibilities.

The IFS application has four sections: project details, application questions, finances and project impact. The project details include the team, title, start date, duration, research category, a project summary, a public description and a scope explanation. The summary, public description and scope responses can each be up to 400 words. The public description should not contain commercially sensitive information because it may be published if the project receives an award.

The scored questions ask for a need or challenge, approach and innovation, team and resources, market awareness, outcomes and route to market, wider impacts, project management, risks, added value and costs and value for money. Each answer can be up to 400 words. The application also includes unscored questions about the selected theme, applicant locations, animal testing, permits and licences, international collaboration, export licences and trusted research and innovation.

Applicants can attach a limited number of short appendices. The official guidance permits a two-page PDF for the approach and innovation response, a two-page team summary, a two-page project plan or Gantt chart, and a two-page risk register. Each must be no larger than 10MB and legible at 100% zoom. These limits reward disciplined evidence. A crowded appendix cannot repair an unclear core answer.

The lead should also prepare the Swiss consortium agreement draft, common call document and financial documents required by Innosuisse. Because each agency handles its own national process, the team should maintain one controlled project data sheet containing the shared title, dates, partner names, work packages, milestones, total costs and requested support.

What assessors will want to understand

Three independent assessors review the submitted application, using expertise relevant to the project. The competition guidance says the proposal must present a clear game-changing or disruptive idea, a deliverable business proposal, practical finances and timelines, good value for money, economic impact and a route to market within two to three years after the project ends.

The collaboration itself is part of the case. Explain what the UK partner contributes, what the Swiss partner contributes, and why the technical combination is stronger than two national projects running in parallel. Identify the facilities, datasets, clinical or industrial access, manufacturing capability, biological platform, specialist workforce or market channel that each side brings. If the same capability could be purchased from a contractor, explain why a bilateral partnership is still necessary.

Market evidence should be concrete. The application asks for target markets, size, growth, customer segments, supply chains, business models and barriers to entry. Use defensible sources and separate measured evidence from forecasts. A claim that an innovation will be commercially important is weaker than a clear description of the first customer, the buying problem, the validation step, the price or savings logic, and the route from project output to adoption.

The route-to-market response should connect technical milestones to business decisions. For example, a prototype demonstration, performance threshold, pilot, regulatory activity or manufacturing test should have a named user and a consequence for the commercial plan. The proposal also needs a credible approach to intellectual property: state what may be protected, what can be shared, and how the partners will decide where the outputs can be used.

Preparation strategy for the September deadline

Start with eligibility, not prose. Confirm that the UK lead is registered, that the UK SME will claim grant funding, that the Swiss partner is separate and eligible for Innosuisse, and that the research-institute requirement is met or that the narrow exception clearly applies. Then reconcile the 70% cost and person-month limits before building the work plan.

Next, write a one-page bilateral project logic. It should show the unmet need, the technical hypothesis, the work packages, the contribution of each country, the evidence produced at each stage, and the decision that follows each milestone. This will make the 400-word answers shorter and more consistent.

Build the budget from deliverables rather than from available grant. Test the funding rate for every UK partner, identify the private contribution, cap subcontracting, and make sure research participation stays within the stated 30% share. For the Swiss side, model the Innosuisse budget separately. A project that reaches the UK ceiling without a credible financing plan may look inflated rather than ambitious.

Finally, run a joint submission check. Compare titles, dates, partner names, work packages, milestones, requested amounts and intellectual-property language between IFS and Innosuisse. Ask someone who is not immersed in the technology to read the public description and identify the first customer and the first measurable project outcome. Leave enough time for every UK partner to complete its assigned sections and accept the terms and conditions. The IFS application can be reopened before the deadline, but it must be resubmitted before 11:00am on 3 September.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most serious mistake is treating the Swiss partner as an informal collaborator. Without a qualifying Swiss implementation partner applying through Innosuisse, the project is outside the competition. The same applies to a missing research institute where the exception does not apply.

Another mistake is describing a national project with a foreign work package attached. The proposal must demonstrate balanced technical contributions, a meaningful reason for the partnership, and a cost and person-month split within the bilateral limits. Avoid assigning nearly all of the hard work, cost or commercial value to one country.

Applicants should also avoid a theme mismatch. A product sold into healthcare is not automatically a life-sciences innovation, and a biological application is not necessarily engineering biology. Name the technical core, tie it to the selected theme, and show why the project belongs in this call.

Budget errors are equally avoidable. Do not assume that the UK can fund the entire project, use an unsupported percentage for a company of the wrong size, or put excessive work into subcontracting. Do not include URLs in the IFS application answers: the official guidance says URLs will not be viewed or opened. Keep evidence in the allowed appendices or in the answer itself.

Frequently asked questions

Can a UK company apply alone?

No. The competition requires a separate Swiss implementation partner applying to the equivalent Innosuisse programme. A UK lead may submit the UK application, but it cannot turn the competition into a UK-only grant.

Does the Swiss partner receive Innovate UK funding?

No. Swiss partners apply to and are funded by Innosuisse for their Swiss project component. UK partners apply to Innovate UK. The project must be selected independently by both agencies.

Is £450,000 the amount each UK partner can receive?

No. It is the maximum total UK grant funding request for the project. The partners must divide eligible UK costs and grant requests within the relevant funding rates.

Can a large UK company lead?

Yes, a UK business of any size can lead, but the project must be or involve at least one grant-claiming UK SME. Large companies also face lower maximum grant rates for commercial work.

When do funded projects begin?

The scheduled start date is 1 February 2027. Projects must last between 18 and 36 months and finish by 31 January 2030.

Where should applicants ask questions?

Innovate UK lists [email protected] and 0300 321 4357 for application support. The phone line is open during the published UK weekday hours. Swiss organisations should also use the Innosuisse guidance and portal for the Swiss submission.

Official links and next steps

Read the UKRI opportunity page for the official status, deadline and eligibility summary. Then review the Innovation Funding Service competition overview, which contains the full scope, funding rates, application questions, assessment process and supporting-information requirements. Swiss partners should follow the Innosuisse application process and confirm their national submission requirements.

The immediate decision is whether the team can assemble a compliant bilateral consortium before the deadline. If the technical idea fits one of the three themes, the Swiss partner is ready to submit, and the project can show a balanced route from R&D to market, this call is relevant for a 2027 project start. If any of those conditions is missing, resolve it before investing time in a full application.