One of the largest ever funding rounds worth a total of €250m (£224m) has been made available to UK organisations undertaking research in the areas of micro and nanotechnology.
The co-funded grants have been made available through the European Commission, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
With support from the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN), the funding will be awarded within the next 12 months covering a broad range of activities from basic research through to industrial implementation.
Peter Dirken, KTN programme manager at the TSB, said: ‘The UK has a huge base of academics and expertise that if brought together have the potential to create a huge growth in business for the nano and microtechnology markets.
'We are confident that these competitions will generate exciting proposals for new research and development projects and we look forward to seeing what they bring.’
The TSB’s next round of funding will be made on 19 January in the areas of high value manufacturing, energy generation and supply, photonics and low impact buildings.
The final phase opens in March and covers creative industries, energy generation and supply and network security.
Alongside this, the European Commission is running its third Nanoscience, Nanotechnology, Materials and Production (NMP) Theme Call within the cooperation programme with a delegated budget of £3.5bn over the next seven years.
The funding will be divided into research topics including micro and manufacturing, sensor development, and outreach and networking.
The EPSRC is also offering grants via its Nanoscience through Engineering Application programme in order to improve the UK’s global impact in the field.
A budget of £19m has been set aside for research and £30m has been earmarked for training.
John Wand, head of programme at EPSRC, said: ‘Nanotechnology that is responsibly developed and meets society’s needs in areas like medicine and sustainable energy are of critical importance to everyone in the supply chain.
‘We are excited about the funding opportunities and hope that the money that has become available will ensure the UK is kept at the forefront of the global competition to develop new applications in nanotechnology.’
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