Digital Dairy Chain: Collaborative R&D and growth
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2m for business focussed innovation in advanced and high value dairy production and manufacturing. This funding is from Digital Dairy Chain for Cumbria, South and West Scotland.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with Digital Dairy Chain for Cumbria, South and West Scotland, led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). They will invest up to £2 million in innovation projects.
These projects will stimulate an uplift in the region’s economy through inclusive and innovation led growth.
The aim of this competition is to support business focussed innovation in Cumbria, South and West Scotland. This is to support the transition to net zero and deliver improved productivity and sustainability in advanced and high value dairy production and manufacturing. Your project should focus on one or more of the following:
- novel and high value products from dairy systems
- decarbonising dairy production and manufacturing
- waste minimisation and resource recirculation
- reduced environmental impact and increased sustainability, for example biodiversity, soil, air and water quality
- sensor development and digitisation to improve productivity, welfare of staff and animals and product quality, including nutritional characteristics
- value addition in the dairy supply chain
Eligibility
Your project must:
- have a total grant funding request between £50,000 and £350,000
- start from 1 October 2023
- end by 31 December 2025
- last between 6 and 24 months
- carry out at least 75% of its project work in Cumbria, South or West Scotland
- intend to exploit the results in Cumbria, South or West Scotland
To lead a project your organisation must:
- be either a UK registered business of any size or a UK farming business of any size
- be able to evidence that you are an established business, including sole traders and partnerships
- have a UK bank account
- be based in Cumbria, South or West Scotland or carry out significant economic activity in that region
- collaborate with other UK registered organisations or farmers
Academic institutions and research and technology organisations (RTOs) cannot lead a project.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a UK based farmer or one of the following UK registered:
- business of any size
- academic institution
- charity
- not for profit
- public sector organisation
- research and technology organisation (RTO)
Collaborations with Digital Dairy Chain research organisations are encouraged. These organisations are:
- Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
- University of Strathclyde
- University of the West of Scotland
- CENSIS, part of the University of Glasgow
A business can only lead on two applications within this competition but can be included as a collaborator in a further two applications. If a business is not leading any application it can collaborate on any number of applications within this competition. Non-business organisations can collaborate on any number of applications.
Scope
The aim of this competition is to support business focussed innovation in Cumbria, South and West Scotland. This is to support the transition to net zero and deliver improved productivity and sustainability in advanced and high value dairy production and manufacturing. Digital Dairy Chain want to encourage socially inclusive innovation for individuals to contribute and benefit from economic growth in Cumbria, South and West Scotland.
We encourage projects that:
- provide solutions that tackle new or emerging needs
- demonstrate a realistic potential to support business growth, scale-up and job creation
- deliver benefit to Cumbria, South and West Scotland, as well as further afield
- enable academic researchers to collaborate with businesses to help further develop and translate research towards commercially relevant impact and wider societal outcomes
- consider developing novel approaches to monitor the effectiveness of products
Your activities can solve challenges at any point in the dairy value chain, including dairy farming, milk transport and logistics, as well as the processing of milk and manufacture of other dairy products.
Specific themes
Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
- novel and high value products from dairy systems
- decarbonising dairy production and manufacturing
- waste minimisation and resource recirculation
- reduced environmental impact and increased sustainability, for example biodiversity, soil, air and water quality
- sensor development and digitisation to improve productivity, welfare of staff and animals, and product quality including nutritional characteristics
- value addition in the dairy supply chain
This list is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting.
We are not funding projects that:
- do not demonstrate potential to positively impact on the economy of Cumbria, South or West Scotland
- deal with plant-based alternatives to milk
- mainly install currently available technologies and involve minimal innovation
- only involve product testing of agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, feeds or additives
Briefing and support
If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Agrifood team.