National Space Strategy Residential

This particular funding opportunity is no longer available.

Full applications for attendance are due for submission by 12 Noon on Monday 4th April 2022 

The national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) business support programme has been awarded additional funding from the UK Space Agency to extend its reach to all UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This funding from UKSA, alongside SPRINT Research England funding, will be used to deliver a range of activities and funding for projects.

SPRINT is holding a 2 day residential National Space Strategy Sandpit to be held at College Court, Leicester on the Wednesday 27^th and Thursday 28^th April 2022.

This Sandpit will provide the opportunity for UK SMEs, UK HEI researchers and key stakeholders to come together to develop some project ideas around the following National Space Strategy themes:

• Fighting Climate Change with space technology
• Improving Public Services with space technology
• Satellite-enabled global communications for civil and defence applications
• In-Orbit Servicing and Manufacture
• UK Launch Capability

A pre-residential online workshop is being held on Tuesday 12th April 2022, 13:00-16:30 (was originally Monday 11^th April 2022).  Attendees must be available to attend both this event and the 2 day residential.

An optional pre-event dinner will be held on Tuesday 26^th April 2022 in Leicester.

What is a Sandpit?

Sandpits bring together researchers and companies to discuss a specific topic or problem. They are intensive forums where free thinking is encouraged to delve into the problems on the agenda to uncover innovative solutions.

To preserve group dynamics and enable the process of continual evaluation to happen across the sandpit, participants stay for the whole of the event.

During the course of this event, Sandpit participants develop ideas for collaborative projects in response to these themes, and pitch their proposals to a panel.

The winning projects for each theme are decided and will receive funding to deliver their projects. A maximum of £10k will be allocated per project from a total budget of £30k.

These short projects will need to deliver commercial applications of research which could include: a market assessment, commercialisation plan for a proposed technology, or the acceleration of route to market of existing intellectual property brought by SMEs or UK HEIs.

Full applications for attendance are due for submission by 12 Noon on Monday 4th April 2022 

Eligibility

Attendees will be

• From any UK-registered SME with active R&D activities based in the UK. SPRINT has been designed to support growth in SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises). We use the Companies House definition for determining company size and you must be a micro-entity, small company or medium-sized company to be eligible.
• From any UK HEI – academics & researchers, including early career researchers
• From any UK research and technology organisations e.g. Catapults, national facilities holders, research institutes

Any questions you may have on your eligibility to attend should be directed to [email protected].

Accommodation & Subsistence

Accommodation for all attendees will be provided by SPRINT at College Court (www.collegecourt.co.uk). All food and drink will be provided on 27^th and 28^th April. The optional dinner on the 26^th April will also be provided free of charge. Please ensure you notify us of any special requirements you may have.

Travel

All travel costs will be retrospectively reimbursed for all attendees upon receipt of evidence, following attendance at the event.  Forms will be provided to those who have attended.

Note: In the event that we receive multiple applicants from one organisation, we may be required to prioritise one application over others in order to allocate funding for accommodation, subsistence and travel..

Application Documents

The following documents form the application pack:

• SPRINT National Space Strategy Sandpit_Application Form_Final. Full applications for attendance are due for submission by 12 Noon on Monday 4th April 2022
• SPRINT_3Way UKSA funded Collaboration template_final draft  *
• SPRINT_3Way RE funded Collaboration template_final draft  *

*Should an award be made, the applicants will be required to enter into a Project Collaboration Agreement with the University of Leicester (who will contractually administer this competition on behalf of SPRINT). This will be one of the two collaboration templates above, which are the same apart from the origin of the funds allocated. Devolved Nations HEIs will be awarded funds using the UKSA template.  

• A copy of the Project Collaboration Agreement is included for reference in the application pack
• The terms and conditions of the Project Collaboration Agreement are not subject to negotiation (apart from Clause relating to Intellectual Property)
• In submitting an application, applicants agree that they are accepting the terms and conditions of the Project Collaboration Agreement on behalf of their organisation. Please ensure that authorisation is obtained from your organisation. This will facilitate smooth delivery of the Award.

Here are the main dates:

Tuesday 8^th March 2022: Call opens

Noon on Monday 4^th April 2022: Deadline for submission of applications

Wednesday 6^th April 2022: Notification of successful applications

Tuesday 12th April 2022 13:00-16:00 (was originally Monday 11th April): Online Briefing Event

Wednesday 27^th and Thursday 28^th April: 2 Day Residential National Space Strategy Sandpit

Friday 29^th April 2022 via email: Successful projects will be announced

Thursday 30th June 2022: Projects must be completed

All queries can be emailed to [email protected]