UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is an organisation working in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities and government to foster and develop research and development. Innovate UK, the innovation arm of UKRI has announced their plans to invest £20 million in coronavirus R&D “resilience” projects.

Innovate UK is calling for businesses in the UK to develop innovative solutions to meet the country’s urgent needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses interested in working alongside UKRI are encouraged to submit a competitive pitch to Innovate UK, and successful entrants will be awarded up to £50,000 to further develop their ideas.

Innovate UK has recognised the need to improve the resilience of the country to deal with the long-term ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we are all adapting to life in lockdown, many organisations are having to adapt their business models to cope and survive this change.

In particular, Innovate UK is seeking to fund “a portfolio of projects, across a variety of technologies, markets and applications” that particularly focus on society or hard-hit industries. Dr Ian Campbell, Executive chair at Innovate UK noted, “these could be proposals to help the distribution of goods, educate children remotely, keep families digitally connected and even new ideas to stream music and entertainment”.

To find out more on how to apply for funding, visit the competition website.