National Materials Innovation Programme: Feasibility Studies
Funds UK registered businesses conducting feasibility studies in advanced materials innovation through Innovate UK grants under the National Materials Innovation Programme.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), offers Feasibility Studies grants under the National Materials Innovation Programme (NMIP) — a programme announced in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan. This competition is the second round of NMIP feasibility funding. It distributes a total fund of £2,000,000 across awards of £50,000 to £100,000 per project. Projects must last between 6 and 9 months, start by 1 November 2026, and end by 31 July 2027. Innovate UK funds up to 70% of eligible project costs for micro and small organisations, up to 60% for medium-sized organisations, and up to 50% for large organisations — meaning the applicant covers the remaining share from their own resources.
The programme covers four prioritised materials themes: future healthcare solutions (biocompatible and bioelectronic materials), sustainable structural systems (circularity, surface engineering, extreme environments), power electronics and connectivity (wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, advanced connectivity), and metamaterials and metasurfaces (telecommunications, electronic-photonic convergence, energy security, healthcare). Research organisations can participate as collaborators and recover up to 30% of total eligible project costs, but cannot lead.
To apply as the lead organisation or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. Academic institutions, research and technology organisations (RTOs), charities, not-for-profit organisations, and public sector organisations cannot lead a project or work alone — they can only join as collaborators. Subcontractors are capped at 30% of total eligible costs, and no single partner may account for more than 70% of total eligible costs.
Applications are submitted through Innovate UK's online portal. The competition opened on 4 May 2026 and closes on 24 June 2026 at 11:00am UK time. Applicants are notified of outcomes by 29 July 2026. Based on similar past competitions, Innovate UK estimates approximately a 20% success rate. Scoring criteria details are in assessor guidance available as a PDF download; weights per question are not published on the competition overview page.
Key practical points: projects must be carried out in the UK; the lead must be a UK registered business; funding rate depends on your company size (small gets the most); and you must be able to finance your own cost-share contribution without relying on the grant funds for the full project cost.
Advanced materials across four themes: (1) Future healthcare solutions — biocompatible and bioelectronic materials; (2) Sustainable structural systems — circularity, surface engineering, design and deployment, extreme environments; (3) Power electronics and connectivity — wide and ultra-wide bandgap materials, advanced connectivity; (4) Metamaterials and metasurfaces — telecommunications, convergent electronic-photonic technologies, thermal or mechanical metamaterials, energy security and net zero, healthcare.
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