Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis

Your project

Your project must:

• have total project costs of between £1.5 million and £4 million

• last between 24 and 36 months

• start by 1 April 2027

• end by 31 March 2030

Any organisation receiving funding must carry out its project work in the UK, intend to exploit the results in the UK, and spend most of the funding within the UK.

Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day. You must not start your project until your Grant Offer Letter has been approved by Innovate UK. Any delays within Project Setup may mean we need to delay your project start date.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs.

Lead organisation

To lead a collaborative project your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, an academic institution or an NHS organisation.

The consortium must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application.

The consortium must also include a practising clinician, or clinical academic, or involve a clinical delivery team as a minimum.

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Academic institutions cannot work alone.

Community Interest Companies (CICs) and charities are not allowed to lead in this competition.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:

• business of any size

• academic institution

• public sector organisation

• charity

• not for profit

• research and technology organisation (RTO)

Note: Public sector organisations include NHS or National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) organisations. For example, a Health Innovation Network (HIN) or HealthTech Research Centres or equivalent in the devolved administrations.

For this competition, the collaboration must include a practising clinician or clinical academic or involve a clinical delivery team as a minimum.

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs and completing their Project Impact questions in the application.

To be an eligible collaboration: 

• the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding

• you must explain why you’re collaborating and how the collaboration will work 

• no single organisation can claim more than 70% of the total project costs 

Non-funded partners

Your project can include organisations who do not claim any funding for their work on the project. Their costs will be covered from their own resources. These can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out project work from within their home countries and exploit the results outside the UK.

Where non-funded partners have been invited to the application on IFS, their costs will count towards the total eligible project costs.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use subcontractors from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total eligible project costs.

Number of applications

An eligible organisation can only lead on one application. Any further applications by the same organisation as lead will be made ineligible.

An eligible organisation that is leading an application can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

Businesses, academic institutions and public sector organisations who are not leading an application can collaborate on any number of applications.

Charities and not for profit organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

We will not award you funding if you have:

• failed to exploit a previously funded project

• an overdue independent accountant’s report

• failed to comply with grant terms and conditions

Innovate UK may withhold a grant payment at any time if you have any outstanding sums due to us in relation to other projects.

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding to enterprises using the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.

The Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme can be viewed on the subsidy database here: SC10780.

This is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. See the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

In the ‘Project details’ section of your application you will be asked questions to indicate if State Aid or Subsidy applies to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must not do anything which could cause a breach of  Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or de minimis allowance.

Funding

Up to £25.4 million has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions. 

Under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Route rules, no more than £3 million per enterprise, per project can be awarded in the form of a grant.

If your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically but for the purpose of this project will be undertaking commercial or economic activity.

For industrial research and experimental development, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

Category 2: Industrial research projects

Funding available for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

Category 2: Experimental development projects which are nearer to market

Funding available for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 25% if you are a large organisation

For more information on company sizes, refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Research participation

The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them. Of that 50% you can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

• 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not for profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

• 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are an academic institution 

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

1. Research organisations must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method as the Je-S form has now been decommissioned.

2. We pay 100% of the 80% Full Economic Cost (FEC). On IFS only enter the 80% being claimed.

To find out more see our: Cost Guidance for Academics.

The aim of this competition is to accelerate the development of diagnostic innovations that enable the earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer, particularly less common cancers.

Your project must focus on developing, validating or evaluating diagnostic technologies or approaches that demonstrate clear potential for clinical and health economic impact. Projects can generate robust evidence to support regulatory approval and future NHS adoption.

Your project can include clinical validation and evaluation studies, early phase clinical trials, safety and efficacy testing, technology demonstration in relevant and operational environments, regulatory planning and product development activities.

Projects focusing on less common cancers are particularly encouraged for this competition, which includes any cancer that is not breast, prostate, lung or bowel cancer. Less common cancers can include rare forms of these four cancer types.

Portfolio approach

We want to fund a variety of projects across a range of different cancer types, geographies, and technological maturities. We call this a portfolio approach.

Specific themes

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

Next generation diagnostic technologies and devices: to drive earlier diagnosis of cancer, including less common cancers

Novel technologies and devices which can improve patient access to diagnostic services, either by:

• empowering patients and primary care teams to identify more people with early symptoms

• enabling patients to receive an earlier diagnosis

• reducing strain on services including but not limited to self-assessment tools, pharmacy led triage and direct to test pathways

Harnessing multi-modal approaches: to assess an individual’s cancer risk by considering multiple factors including genomic, demographic, imaging and biomarkers, as well as multianalyte combinations.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

Research categories

We will fund industrial research projects and experimental development projects as defined in the guidance on categories of research.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that are:

• companion diagnostics

• therapeutics or treatment development

• discovery research

• routine deployment of late stage technologies into frontline services

• technologies focusing on pure service redesign

• technologies focusing on cancer recurrence detection, monitoring or treatment response prediction

We cannot fund projects that are:

• dependent on export performance: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of its products to another country

• dependent on domestic inputs usage: giving a subsidy to an organisation on the condition that it uses a set percentage of UK components in their product

3 September 2026

Online briefing event: watch the recording

Briefing slides are available to download from Supporting Information

7 December 2026

Invite to interview 

11 January 2027

Interview panel starts 

15 January 2027

Interview panel ends 

21 January 2027

Applicants notified 

1 April 2027

Project start from

Text update 15 September 2026: additional bullet added regarding the spend profile in the Interview guidance section.

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

• that all the information provided in the application is correct

• your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria

• all sections of the application are marked as complete

• that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

What we ask you

The application is split into four sections:

1.    Project details.

2.    Application questions.

3.    Finances.

4.    Project Impact.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Application team

Decide which organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Research category

Select the type of research you will undertake.

Project summary

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1 to 6. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long.

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation, all partners and any subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

• In the process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 4. International collaboration (not scored)

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement?

You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement.

You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in.

You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers.

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored)

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance.

You must select one option:

• Yes

• No

Question 6. Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored)

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including:

• a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research

• a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act

• whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications

• a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List

If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Question 7. Clinical problem

What is the clinical problem your idea looks to address?

Discuss the potential scale of the problem:

• what is the clinical need

• how widespread is the issue

• what are the consequences if it remains unaddressed

You must detail any research or evidence that supports your response.

Your responses to this section must not consider the detail of your innovation but instead focus on the problem it addresses. This will be covered in more detail in another section of the application.

Question 8. Clinical idea

You must provide a detailed description of your idea. This must refer to the problem you have identified, and how this idea intends to address it. You must demonstrate how your idea addresses the identified clinical need.

Do not consider market sizing, project management or risks. These will be covered in more detail in another section of the application.

Question 9. Benefits

You must outline the benefits you expect to result from your innovation in more detail.

In your explanation, include specific metrics or indicators that you intend to use to measure these benefits.

Question 10. Design

How will you ensure that your innovation is designed with care and attention to its use, and is developed inclusively?

You could consider:

• user needs, experience, and what they value

• what testing you will do and how

• any unintended negative impacts and how they can be avoided

Question 11. Milestones

What are the key milestones that will you be aiming to achieve in this project?

You must focus on what the funding you would receive from this competition would enable you to do.

You must ensure these milestones fit within your anticipated timeline for project delivery, but you do not need to provide the full timeline yet, there is space to provide that later in the application.

Question 12. Delivery of milestones

What steps will you be taking to ensure the successful delivery of your milestones

Your response must consider what you can do to make sure you achieve the key milestones you have set out to time and at cost.

Question 13. Route to market

You must outline the key steps and timeline for bringing your idea to market. This includes the work required once this project has finished.

In your response, include information on the following areas where relevant:

• product development milestones: describe the critical phases and checkpoints in your product development process

• supply chain and manufacturing: explain your strategy for sourcing materials and manufacturing the product, including any partnerships or logistical considerations

• sales channels and partnerships: identify your planned sales channels and any strategic partnerships that will facilitate market entry

Question 14. Top three risks

You must outline the top three risks for your project in more detail.

For each identified risk, explain what actions you will take to mitigate its impact.

Risks can come from many areas, for example:

• Technical risks: Risks related to product development, functionality of performance

• Commercial or financial risks: Such as those related to market adoption, competition or profitability

• Environmental or social risks: Risks related to environmental impact, regulations, social acceptance

• Regulatory risks: Risks related to obtaining necessary regulatory approvals

• Project management risks: risks related to timelines, team or resources

Recognising and acknowledging potential risks is a vital part of the planning process and will not negatively impact your application.

Question 15. Skills

What skills, capabilities or experience does your team hold that will help you deliver the project?

You must include any skills, knowledge, or experiences that are applicable, even if they are not from previous project completions.

Question 16. Market size

Estimate the realistic market opportunity for your idea.

Provide an evidence based assessment through:

1.    The Total Addressable Market (TAM): This is the total market demand for a product or service. It's the maximum revenue opportunity available if 100% market share was achieved.

2.    The Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): The portion of the addressable market that can realistically be captured by your idea. It factors in constraints like competition, geography, pricing, and how easily you can go to market.

Question 17. Market growth

How much do you expect your target market to grow over a two, five and ten year period?

You must consider the key market trends or drivers underlying this growth.

Highlight any research or evidence that supports these expectations in your response.

Question 18. Competitors

Who are your main competitors in the market?

Where possible, include estimates of their market share and their approximate business size.

Question 19. Differentiators

How does your business or idea set itself apart from the competitors you have identified?

Provide specific examples and evidence where possible.

Question 20. Intellectual property details

Describe your formal intellectual property (IP) strategy and the progress you have made.

Include information on whether you have already applied for or had any IP approved, as well as any future plans for IP management.

You can read more in the UK Government guide to understanding intellectual property.

Question 21. Public funding

How will public funding accelerate or enhance your idea compared to relying solely on private investment or internal resources at this stage?

3. Finances

Each organisation in your project must complete their own project costs, organisation details and funding details in the application. Academic institutions must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method and upload to IFS to support their costs. This is a replacement to the Je-S form which has now been decommissioned.

For an overview on what costs you can claim, see our project costs guidance. Note this is general guidance, for specific guidance see the eligibility section in this competition. You can also view our application finances video.

4. Project Impact

This section is not scored but will provide background to your project.

Each partner must complete the Project Impact questions before being able to submit the application.

More information can be found in our Project Impact guidance and by viewing our Impact Management Framework video.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles. 

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors based on the content of your application and their skills or expertise relevant to your project. All of the scores awarded will count towards the total score used to make the funding decision unless you are notified otherwise.

You can find out more about our assessment process in the General Guidance.

Your submitted application will be assessed against these criteria:

Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis - Assessor Guidance for applicants.pdf (opens in a new window)

Interviews

If your application passes the first stage of assessment, you may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. Your interview will take place online. The interviews will be held between 11 January 2027 and 15 January 2027.

If you require reasonable adjustments for your interview, we recommend you contact us within three working days of receiving your invite to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the interview.

Before the interview and by the deadline stated in the invitation email, you:

• must send a list of who will attend the interview

• must send your interview presentation slides

• must return a suggested spend profile for the project duration on the template provided

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Agree the list with your consortium. The number of attendees will be between three and five depending on your funding level, ideally one person from each organisation, and this will be confirmed when you are invited to interview. They must all be available on all published interview dates. We are unable to reschedule slots once allocated.

Presentation slides

Your interview presentation must:

• use Microsoft PowerPoint

• be no longer than the time allocated for your funding level

• have no more than the maximum number of slides for your funding level

• not include any video or embedded web links

You cannot change the presentation after you submit it or bring any additional materials to the interview.

Presentation limits will be 20 minutes if you are applying for up to £2 million, or 30 minutes if you are applying for more than £2 million. You can use up to 20 slides for a 20 minute presentation, or up to 30 slides for a 30 minute presentation.

Written response to assessor feedback

This is optional and is an opportunity to answer the assessors’ concerns. It can:

• be up to two A4 pages in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend up to 45 minutes asking questions. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and the response to feedback. The exact time allowance will be confirmed when you are invited to interview.

After your presentation, the panel will spend 30 minutes asking questions if you are applying for up to £2 million, or 45 minutes asking questions if you are applying for more than £2 million. You will be expected to answer based on the information you provided in your application form, presentation and response to feedback.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will replace the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in this competition brief. We will notify you whether you have been successful or not by email and you will receive feedback on your interview within a week of notification.

Early diagnosis of cancer is a critical national priority underpinning ambitions set out in the National Cancer Plan for England and the NHS 10 Year Health Plan to improve survival outcomes and reduce inequalities. Earlier diagnosis significantly increases the likelihood of effective treatment and improved patient outcomes.

A key unmet need lies in the early detection of rare and less common cancers, for example, brain, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Although individually less prevalent, these cancers collectively represent a substantial proportion of diagnoses and account for a disproportionate share of cancer mortality, often due to later stage detection and poorer survival outcomes.

These cancers are also underserved by current research and commercial investment, with developers typically prioritising more common cancers where market incentives are stronger. As a result, patients with less common cancers are more likely to be diagnosed following emergency presentation and experience worse outcomes, reinforcing health inequalities.

The ‘Advancing innovation in accelerated cancer diagnosis’ competition has been established to directly address these challenges by supporting the clinical validation and evaluation of innovative diagnostic technologies, particularly those targeting less common cancers.

By funding cross sector collaborations across industry, academia, the NHS and charities, the programme aims to generate robust clinical evidence and accelerate promising innovations towards adoption in healthcare settings.

This competition is part of the wider Office for Life Sciences’ Cancer Healthcare Goals programme.

The Cancer Healthcare Goals programme aims to maximise and direct global industrial investment for the development and acceleration of new cancer diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and devices in the UK. This is achieved by:

• providing research investments to support the development of innovations in the early stages of the development pathway, and

• supporting industry to accelerate cancer diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and devices in the latter stages of development into the NHS

The UK Collaborative for Cancer Clinical Research (UK3CR) provides coordination and support for multidisciplinary Cancer Research Groups, enabling UK's leading clinical cancer researchers to co-ordinate best practice, initiate collaborations, and connect with strategic partners. UK3CR members are groups of the UK's leading clinical experts in all cancer types, based throughout all four nations. Their voices inform the development of new clinical trials and research initiatives across the cancer research landscape, both nationally and internationally. 

Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Scheme Information

This award is being offered under the Research, Development and Innovation Streamlined Subsidy Scheme in accordance with section 10(4) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Projects funded must meet the following definitions:

Category 2: Industrial research​

​The planned research or critical investigation that is aimed at the acquisition of new knowledge and skills for developing new products, processes or services. It can also be for projects that are aimed at bringing about a significant improvement in existing products, processes or services. ​

This would include digital products, processes or services, in any technology, industry or sector, including, but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, such as supercomputing, quantum technologies, blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber security, big data and cloud technologies. ​

Industrial research comprises the creation of component parts of complex systems. It may include the construction of prototypes in a laboratory environment or in an environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems as well as of pilot lines. Where necessary, this would be for the industrial research and notably for generic technology validation.​

Category 2: Experimental development

Means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. ​

This includes:

• digital products

• processes or services in any technology, industry or sector, including but not limited to, digital industries and technologies, for example, supercomputing

• quantum technologies

• blockchain technologies

• artificial intelligence

• cyber security

• big data

• cloud or edge technologies ​

This may also encompass, for example, activities aimed at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of new products, processes or services.​

Experimental development may comprise prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real life operating conditions. This would be where the primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set. ​

This may include the development of a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is necessary for the final commercial product and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes. ​

Experimental development does not include routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements

Briefing recording and slides

Online briefing event: watch the recording

Briefing slides are available to download here:

Applicant Briefing 2527 Advancing innovation in early cancer diagnosis.pdf (opens in a new window)

What happens if you receive a grant offer

If you have passed your initial assessment and have received an email with a grant offer, you will be asked to complete the project setup process on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS). Watch our video on what steps are there before a project starts.

We will ask for information that will allow us to undertake mandatory checks on your organisation and the eligibility of your costs, as well as review the documentation for your project.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your project's dedicated IFS Set Up portal, where we gather the information required to set up your project, for example your bank details. Watch our video on how successful applicants receive their funding.

If your application is unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful with your application this time, you can view feedback from the assessors. This will be available to you on your IFS portal following notification.

Sometimes your application will have scored well, and you will receive positive comments from the assessors. You may be unsuccessful as your average score was not above the funding threshold or your project has not been selected under the portfolio approach if this is applied for this competition.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect or the UK Collaborative for Cancer Clinical Research (UK3CR).

In submitting a "Find a project partner" request, you acknowledge that the information you provide may be shared between Innovate UK Business Connect and UK3CR for the purpose of coordinating partner-finding support for this funding opportunity.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth service

Innovate UK Business Growth helps innovation focused businesses make the best strategic choices and access the right resources, in order to grow and ultimately achieve scale.

Visit the service’s website to learn about how you might benefit as a winner.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK and Office for Life Sciences (OLS) (each an ‘agency’).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use. 

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to OLS and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

• the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants

• scoring and feedback on the application

• information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Service Provider reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s national and regional UK third parties and partners who may contact you. For more information see how we handle grant applicant and grant holder data.

Innovate UK and OLS are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect and OLS will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

For OLS: DSIT privacy notice - GOV.UK

OLS will handle data in line with Business, Innovation, Science and Trade’s Privacy Notice once Machinery of Government changes have been finalised.

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.