Contracts for Innovation: READ-OUT digital cognitive dementia assessments

Who can apply

Your project

Your project must:

• start on 1 August 2025

• last up to 20 months

• end by 31 March 2027

• have total costs of no more than £600,000 inclusive of VAT

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 Contract has been approved by Innovate UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs. For specific guidance, see the eligibility section in this competition.

Applicant

To lead a project, you can:

• be an organisation of any size

• work with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups)

Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only. The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

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 that 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.

Funding

A total of up to £1.2 million, inclusive of VAT, is allocated to this competition. The contract is for up to 20 months and we expect to fund two projects.

The total funding available for the competition can change. The funders have the right to adjust the provisional funding allocation.

The contract is completed at the end of the competition and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC.

VAT registered

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total. Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £600,000.

Not VAT registered

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered. Your total project costs must not exceed £600,000.

Research and development (R&D)

Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service. This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

R&D does not include:

• commercial development activities such as quantity production

• supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs

• integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes

Subsidy control

Contracts for Innovation competitions involve procurement of R&D services at a fair market value and are not subject to subsidy control criteria that typically apply to grant funding.

Your project

This competition supports the government’s Dementia Goals programme.

This competition is a demonstrator and aims to accelerate innovation in dementia based digital cognitive assessments (DCA). High maturity DCA innovations will be deployed and assessed as part of the READ-OUT (REAl-world Dementia OUTcomes) blood based biomarker study and feed into the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative System Preparedness project.

Your proposed DCA must demonstrate significant accuracy and specificity to the progression and correlation of diseases that can cause dementia. The University of Oxford will support and facilitate the real world use of the DCA test at READ-OUT clinical sites.

You must demonstrate how proven DCA technologies can be integrated into an NHS environment for the first time as ‘first of a kind’ demonstrations. This competition will support innovative suppliers in preparation for market readiness.

You must describe your projects potential to be successfully exploited in an NHS environment. Any solution must demonstrate full integration with the READ-OUT study.

It is expected that the combination of blood biomarkers and a DCA will provide real time objective measures of cognitive function, capturing behavioural and neurological changes that may not yet be captured in a standard clinical setting. Together, these tools create a powerful, complementary framework that increases the likelihood of early detection.

The proposed digital cognitive assessment should consist of a battery of tests, suitable for people with mild cognitive impairment, or mild to moderate dementia, and recommended to take less than 10 minutes to complete that evaluate key cognitive domains.

We anticipate successful DCAs to include measures of processing speed, episodic memory, recognition memory and executive function. Variations or extensions to this list of cognitive domains will be considered but would require strong justification. The test must be able to be implemented in Memory Clinics.

The study is across 10 sites with up to 2,000 patients. Each successful applicant will have access to five sites and up to 1,000 patients.

In this competition you must provide:

• a mandatory first milestone for formal and legal incorporation into the READ-OUT study by 18 August 2025 if your project is funded

• a comprehensive plan for deployment and integration into the study

• licences for digital cognitive testing

• a sample link to your proposed DCA, to be validated by members of the READ-OUT study and the READ-OUT Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group

The successful applicant must be ready to implement their DCA test as follows:

1. Be ready for full deployment into the READ-OUT Study by 1 September 2025.

2. Be of a length suitable enough for a person with mild cognitive impairment or mild to moderate dementia to complete

3. Provide evidence of validity and high sensitivity, including prior comparisons with standard neuropsychological tests used in dementia trials, for example, Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognitive (ADAS-COG) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and prior evidence of sensitivity to diseases that can cause dementia.

4. Comply with all appropriate legislation and have a clear path to regulatory approval, for example, UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) Medical Device Regulations (ISO13485), and Clinical Data Protection Standards.

5. Be suitable for administration by non-experts, including carers.

6. Be suitable for different cultures, languages, ethnicities and levels of education.

7. Be suitable for use by people with mild cognitive impairment or mild to moderate dementia.

The assessment process will include members of the READ-OUT and Dementia Goals Programme Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) groups. The PPIE group will assess the acceptability and usability of your proposed DCA. Their views will feed into the application review and award decision making process

You must demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, so your application must include a plan to commercialise your results.

Contracts will be given to successful applicants.

Specific themes

Your proposed DCA should evaluate the key cognitive domains, including:

• processing speed

• episodic memory

• recognition memory

• executive function

Variations or extensions to this list of cognitive domains will be considered but would require strong justification.

Research categories

Prototype development and evaluation

This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. The primary objective is to make further technical improvements on products, processes or services that are not substantially set.

Projects we will not fund

We will not fund projects that:

• are not original in scope and duplicates someone else’s work

• cannot evidence capacity and preparedness to participate

• do not have a detailed plan to utilise the data resources in the READ-OUT study

• do not have appropriate regulatory approvals in place

• do not have a robust plan to commercialise

• are not likely to be successfully exploited by the NHS to deliver benefits in clinical practice

• are not within 24 months of being ready for market

• are for initial exploration of ideas or low technology readiness prototypes

• do not have DCAs

• have a DCA test that cannot be completed by people with mild to moderate dementia

• do not demonstrate the required scientific specificity or sensitivity

• have a DCA that cannot be administered by non-experts

• are not accessible to people with mild cognitive impairment or mild to moderate dementia and their carers

• are not acceptable to the PPIE group and do not pass their assessment

15 April 2025

Online briefing event: watch the recording.

Briefing slides are now available to download from supporting information.

23 June 2025

Interviews start

25 June 2025

Interviews end

30 June 2025

Applicants notified

30 June 2025

Contracts awarded

30 June 2025

Feedback

1 August 2025

Project start from

Before you start

By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.

The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.

When you start an application, you will be prompted to create an account as the lead applicant or sign in as a representative of your organisation. Using your account, you will be able to track your applications progress.

As the applicant you are responsible for:

• collecting the information for your application

• representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful

You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application.

What happens next

A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. Feedback from the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group on acceptability and usability of the digital cognitive assessment (DCA) will be used in the application review and award decision making process.

Members of both patient groups will review your DCA for user acceptability and ease of use.

You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided.

You may be invited to attend an interview, where you must give a presentation. The interview panel will include scientific experts and at least one representative from the PPIE group and the Dementia Goals PPIE group.

Your interview will take place online. The date and time of your interview will be included in your invitation.

What we will ask you

The application is split into three sections:

1. Project details.

2. Application questions.

3. Finances.

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

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

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).

Project details

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

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

Application details

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

Who made you aware of the competition?

Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.

How long has your organisation been established for?

Select a category to state how long your organisation has been established for. You cannot choose more than one.

What is your organisation’s primary focus area ?

Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.

Project and scope summary

Please provide a short summary of your project.

Describe your project briefly. Be clear about what makes it innovative and how it relates to the scope of the competition. How does it tackle different aspects of the challenge and how will it provide an integrated solution?

Give details of the lead organisation. Before you submit, we expect you to have discussed your application within your organisation and potential subcontractors.

Your answer for this section can be up to 500 words long.

This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it may be rejected.

Public description

Please provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project. This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application.

Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Applicant location

You must state the name of  your organisation along with your full registered address.

You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Application questions

The assessors will score all of your questions except questions 1 to 3 which are not scored. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding.

Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any URLs in your answers unless we have explicitly requested a link to a video.

Question 1. 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 2. 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 process of being applied for

• Not applicable

Question 3. Link to interactive digital cognitive assessment (DCA) sample (not scored)

You must submit a link to your proposed digital cognitive test in a format that can be anonymously accessed and reviewed to allow University of Oxford, READ-OUT study members and PPIE representatives to make a full evaluation of the test’s accessibility and usability.

Question 4. Themes

Which of the key domains is your proposed DCA focusing on?

Your proposed DCA should evaluate the key cognitive domains, including:

• processing speed

• episodic memory

• recognition memory

• executive function

Variations or extensions to this list of cognitive domains will be considered but would require strong justification.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: Clear evidence relating to the key cognitive domains and information about the DCA is provided, including strong justification for any variations or extensions to this list.

Question 5. Proposed idea or technology

How does the project meet the challenge described in the competition scope?

Provide a description of your proposed idea or technology.

Include a description of the current state of development or readiness of the idea.

You can submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: How valid is the technical approach and how well does the proposal meet the challenge?

Question 6. Technical project summary

What are the main technical challenges you are addressing?

Explain:

• how you will improve the readiness of the technology for clinical development or regulatory submission

• how evidence for the scientific and commercial merit of the project is based on previous research and development

• the main technical deliverables

• the acceptability and usability features and benefits of your DCA

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: How valid is the technical approach and how well does the proposal meet the challenge?

Question 7. Current state of the art and intellectual property

Are similar products currently available in the market?

How is your proposed project differentiated from them?

You must include details of:

• any existing intellectual property (IP) and its significance to your freedom to operate

• novel concepts you develop or employ

• new approaches or technologies you use

• new tools or technologies

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: How innovative is this project? How much does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools or technologies for this area?

You must explain how you would handle any intellectual property (IP) issues which might arise during the project.

If you are working with subcontractors (specialist skills only), include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract.

Question 8. Project plan and methodology

Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones.

Provide evidence that the technology works, can be made into a viable product and can achieve the proposed benefits.

You must:

• describe resources that will be needed to deliver the project with particular emphasis on your preparedness to participate in the READ-OUT study

• provide a detailed plan of the trial activity you will undertake with the integration partner

• describe what the main success criteria will be

• identify the project management processes that will ensure you achieve the milestones

• provide a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility

• describe the main technical, commercial and environmental risks and what you will do to mitigate them

You must upload a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Your milestones must:

• include a mandatory first milestone for formal incorporation into the READ-OUT study

• be clear

• be defined using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) criteria

• be associated with the appropriate deliverables and payments

• indicate your payment schedule by month

This question will be assessed against these assessment criteria:

• has the mandatory milestone been included and is it achievable

• does the project demonstrate technical and resource preparedness to participate in the READ-OUT study

• does the proposal show a clear plan for establishing technical and commercial feasibility

• is there a clear management plan

• what are the main technical, commercial, and environmental risks to the project’s success

• how will these be effectively managed

• are the milestones and evaluation procedures appropriate

Note: information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question. Proposed milestones and associated payments stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary on your application.

Question 9 . Technical team and expertise

Who is in the technical team? What expertise do they offer?

Provide a brief description of your technical team, including any subcontractors.

Describe:

• how each organisation has the skills, capabilities, and experience to deliver the intended benefits

• how much of their time will be spent on the project

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: Does the applicant have the skills, capabilities and experience to deliver the intended benefits?

Question 10. Costs and value for money

How much will the project cost? How does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer?

Describe:

• the total costs inclusive of VAT (If applicable) you are requesting in terms of the project goals

• how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer

• your expected overall costs

Proposed costs stated in this section must match those entered in the finance summary.

All costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.

You can submit a single appendix as a spreadsheet in PDF format. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Note that all payments are made quarterly in arrears on submission of an invoice. The invoice must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations. Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

The assessors are required to judge the application finances in terms of value for money. They will score your finances against this assessment criterion: Are the budget and costs realistic, justified and appropriate for the aims and methods?

Note that information from the finances section will be used to support the assessment of this question.

Question 11. Commercial potential

What is the commercial potential of your project? You must focus on your proposed customer’s needs.

Describe your:

• timescales

• projects commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service

• delivery plan

• expected route to market

Describe the competitive advantage that your project has over existing or alternative technologies that meet market needs.

Describe any existing commercial relationships relevant to the project.

With the focus on your proposed customer’s needs, you can also mention the future commercial potential across the public or private sector and international markets.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria:

• is there a clear commercial potential for a marketable product, process or service

• is there a clear plan to deliver that and a clear route to market

• how significant is the competitive advantage of this technology over the nearest currently available solutions to the challenge identified

3. Finances

Enter your project costs, organisation details and funding details.

You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs. We advise you answer the VAT registered question first before entering your eligible costs. Your total eligible project costs must not exceed £600,000.

If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your eligible project cost total.

If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered.

VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business. We will not provide any further advice and advise you to seek independent advice from HMRC.

Full Economic Cost (FEC) calculations are not relevant for Contracts for Innovation competitions. Contracts for Innovation is a competitive process and applications will come from a variety of organisations.

Whatever calculation you use to arrive at your total eligible project costs your application will be assessed against applications from other organisations. Bear this in mind when calculating your total eligible project costs. You can include overheads but remember that this is a competitive process.

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

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. The assessors will be supported in their evaluation by feedback from members of the Scientific Advisory Board and representatives from the READ-OUT study team.

Your interview and presentation will be scored. The decision making process will include feedback from user testing of acceptability and usability by representatives of the PPIE and PPI. All 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:

Contracts for Innovation READ-OUT digital cognitive assessment - 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 either online or at a designated location. The date and time of your interview will be included in your invitation.

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

• can send a written response to the assessors’ feedback

List of attendees

Up to three people from your organisation can attend. 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 10 minutes

• have no more than five slides

• 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.

Written response to assessor feedback

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

• be up to one A4 page in a single PDF or Word document

• include charts or diagrams

Interview

After your presentation the panel will spend 20 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.

After your interview

The panellists will individually score your application and these will be averaged for your overall interview score. This score will supersede the one you received from initial assessment unless stated otherwise in the 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.

Background and further information

About Contracts for Innovation competitions

Contracts for Innovation provides innovative solutions to challenges faced by the public sector. This can lead to better public services and improved efficiency and effectiveness.

The Contracts for Innovation programme:

• supports economic growth and enables the development of innovative products and services through the public procurement of R&D

• generates new business opportunities for companies

• provides a route to market for new ideas

• creates opportunities to work directly with the public sector

Contracts for Innovation competitions are open to all eligible organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. Developments are 100% funded and focused on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation.

Contracts for Innovation encourages the creation and protection of new (intellectual property) IP. Applicants retain all the rights to both foreground and background IP but will be expected to grant certain royalty-free licences to the funder for use of the foreground IP.

Contracts for Innovation is a procurement of R&D services. If successful, you will receive a contract to deliver the proposed activity. Costs quoted must reflect actual costs at a ‘fair market value’ and not include profit.

You must submit an invoice for the work undertaken. All payments are made in arrears on submission of an invoice. Invoices must be submitted within 30 days of the end of each monitoring period for all completed milestones.

If you are VAT registered, your total costs are expected to include VAT that you would charge as a service provider. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business and applicants should ensure that VAT has been calculated correctly as part of their application. You will need to confirm your VAT status as part of the application process

Note: we are seeing a rise in double counting of VAT during the application process, making some applicants ineligible. To avoid this, it is important you input your costs minus VAT. VAT is added on by us in the Innovation Funding Service (IFS).

Suppliers for each project will be selected by an open competition process and retain the intellectual property generated from the project, with certain rights of use retained by the contracting authority. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an early customer for a new technology and to fund its development.

Broader Information

The dementia diagnostic landscape is rapidly evolving, with increasing recognition that combining multiple low-burden diagnostic modalities will provide more accurate and comprehensive assessment of a patient’s condition and disease progression.

In 2024, international efforts to develop a ‘biomarker toolbox’ that combine blood-based and digital biomarkers have grown, supported by studies such as REAL-AD, AD-RIDDLE or Bio-Hermes.

READ-OUT is part of a broader programme of work called the Blood Biomarker Challenge, funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Postcode Lottery, Gates Ventures and National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The goal of the challenge is to produce the clinical utility, health economic data and momentum necessary that lead to broad implementation of blood-based biomarkers for dementia in the NHS.

It is expected that READ-OUT will recruit over 3,000 participants across more than 28 clinical sites. The study's distinctive feature is its emphasis on diversity and inclusion, targeting 30% recruitment from traditionally under-represented populations.

READ-OUT will establish a framework for evaluating blood-based biomarkers in real world settings that can directly inform NHS implementation.

To maximise the potential impact of READ-OUT's programme, a digital cognitive assessment component will be added to the existing blood-based biomarker. This addition would help capture both biochemical and cognitive indicators of dementia, strengthening the study's diagnostic capabilities across diverse populations.

This new digital cognitive assessment bolt-on to the READ-OUT study is supported by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative preparedness programme which offers implementation support and evaluation, drawing on experience from more than 50 health systems globally.

Data generated through this new digital cognitive assessment bolt-on study to the READ-OUT study will be shared with the Dementia Goals Programme, including future initiatives developed under its umbrella. The data generated will support their objectives in advancing research and innovation in dementia through the Neurodegeneration Initiative.

The sharing of data will be conducted in a manner that does not confer preferential access, does not compromise participants’ commercial interests, and does not limit the potential for future commercial development or exploitation by the originating parties.

Briefing recording and slides

Online briefing event: watch the recording.

Briefing slides are now available to download here:Applicant Briefing C4i READ-OUT.pdf

If your application is successful

If you are successful with this application, you will be asked to set up your project.

You will be notified by email on the date published for this competition. Notifications may be sent any time up to 5pm.

You must follow the unique link embedded in your email notification. This takes you to your Innovation Funding Service (IFS) Set Up portal, where we gather the information to set up your project.

Watch our video on what steps there are before a project starts.

During the project set up you will be assigned a delivery executive who will guide you through the whole project set up process.

Following your email notification, you will need to provide the following within 5 working days (including weekends and bank holidays):

• the name and contact details of your project manager and project finance lead

• a copy of your bank details

You will have 30 days (including weekends and bank holidays) to complete all of your project set up. Within this time, you will also be required to submit:

• project location

• any answers to financial or milestone queries we have requested

• any requested documentation to support your project

Your funding offer may be withdrawn if project setup is not completed within this or an alternative timeframe as advised by Innovate UK.

In order for us to process your invoices, you must make sure you have a valid UK business bank account. It can take several weeks for a new account to be created if required. We recommend starting this process as early as possible to avoid any delays to your project start date.

The bank account which milestone payments are to be paid into must:

• be a business account in the same name as the organisation listed in IFS

• be from a UK bank regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)

• have a cheque and credit clearing facility

Online accounts are eligible as long as they meet the above criteria.

Innovate UK will accept most banking societies apart from:

• Viva Wallet

• Intesa Sanpaolo

• Equals Money UK Limited

• Modulr FS Limited

If you have any doubts that your bank account will not meet Innovate UK's funding criteria, you can use the sort code checker. If you input the sort code and find a tick next to the ‘BACS Direct Credit payments can be sent to this sort code’, this will give you an indication that the bank account you hold is acceptable.

Finance checks

We will carry out checks to make sure all organisations are UK registered with access to the funds necessary to complete their project.

You must check your IFS portal regularly and respond to any requests we have sent for additional information to avoid any delays.

If you are not a UK registered organisation or fail to complete project setup this may result in your grant offer being withdrawn.

During our financial due diligence checks you must provide evidence of how you will finance your project costs for the duration of your project. Payments for completed milestones are made quarterly in arrears.

Your Contract

Once you have successfully completed project setup, we will issue your contract. The contract will be made available on your IFS portal. You will need to sign and upload this for us to approve. Once approved we will send you an email with permission to start your project on your confirmed start date.

You must not start your project before the date stated on your email and contract. Any costs incurred before your agreed start date cannot be claimed as part of your project.

Your contract start date is provided in the dates and eligibility sections. This cannot be varied and all contracts must start on that date.

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.

We would like to remind you that eligible non-funded business can still benefit from fully funded and bespoke support from the Innovate UK Business Growth service.

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.

Our innovation and growth specialists provide our fully funded and bespoke support to clients nationwide. Visit the service’s website to discover whether you could benefit from this advisory support, which is available to Innovate UK funded and non-funded businesses alike.

Protecting your innovation

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.

Our innovation and growth specialists provide our fully funded and bespoke support to clients nationwide. Visit the service’s website to discover whether you could benefit from this advisory support, which is available to Innovate UK funded and non-funded businesses alike.

Data sharing

This competition is operated by Innovate UK.

Innovate UK is directly accountable to you for its holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with our own policies. 

Innovate UK may also share any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application with Innovate UK’s regional UK third parties.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

Data generated through this new digital cognitive assessment bolt-on study to the READ-OUT study will be shared with the Dementia Goals Programme, including future initiatives developed under its umbrella. The data generated will support their objectives in advancing research and innovation in dementia through the Neurodegeneration Initiative.

The sharing of data will be conducted in a manner that does not confer preferential access, does not compromise participants’ commercial interests, and does not limit the potential for future commercial development or exploitation by the originating parties.

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.

Further help and guidance

If you want help to find an organisation to work with, contact the Innovate UK Business Connect.

If you have any questions about the scope requirements of this competition, email support@iuk.ukri.org.

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.