Feasibility Fund

Introduction

The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) Feasibility Call invites industry-led, collaborative research projects with academia from businesses with a foothold in Scotland or a plan to deliver inward investment to stimulate Scotland’s economy.

• Between £20k - £40k funding from IBioIC at 80% fEC for each project

• Full details of funding criteria can be found in the Call Document.

• Supplementary information can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section .

• To apply, first complete the Expression of Interest form below.

• The deadline for Expressions of Interest - Monday 11th May 2026 at 5pm.

If you have any queries, please contact projects@ibioic.com

Successful Projects should demonstrate:

• A proof of concept for a product, process or service with the potential to deliver jobs and/or economic growth to Scotland.

• A route to sourcing follow-on funding or commercial application

• Collaborative knowledge exchange and research between Industry Partners and at least one of Scotland’s Higher Education Institutes (HEI).

  • There are currently 19 Universities and 24 Colleges funded by the Scottish Funding Council that are eligible.

Please note that IBioIC funding is awarded to the HEI partner, not the Industry Partner.

Scope

IBioIC welcomes submissions across all areas of industrial biotechnology, agnostic of market sector (please see exception below).

We are looking for projects where there is a clear innovative step deploying either a biological system (e.g., cell or enzyme based) and/or a technological advance (e.g., process improvement, novel platforms).

We currently cannot support projects in drug discovery, diagnostics or medical devices. However, we will consider projects on novel biomanufacturing platforms (e.g., Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products).

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who can apply for IBioIC funding?

  • A collaboration can consist of any number of Industry and HEI Partners provided each Industry Partner has a presence in Scotland and the HEI Partners are eligible for SFC funding. In Scotland, 19 Universities and 24 Colleges are eligible to receive IBioIC funding. For the avoidance of doubt, we cannot fund James Hutton Institute or Moredun Institute.

  • If you are a company based outside of Scotland, you can apply but need to convince reveiwers of the benefit to Scotland. For example, you may be planning a move to Scotland for R&D or manufacturing, or a plan to drive inward investment. The lead Higher Education Institute (HEI) must be a Scottish HEI. However, they can subcontract up to 20% of the awarded funding to another UK HEI if necessary for the project. No work can be subcontracted to a commercial provider.

• What cannot be funded through Feasibility Awards

  • Funding cannot be used to purchase capital equipment. We assume that the HEI is adequately equipped to do the project.

  • We will not support projects that appear to be mainly contract research service provision by HEI for industry. The project must be a true two-way collaboration with both parties involved in delivering the outcomes.

  • We will not fund more than one feasibility project per industry applicant at any one time. New applications will be rejected until the live project is complete and Final Report submitted. The new project must be distinctly different from the previous project and have a different HEI partner.

  • If Industry applicants do not make best efforts to progress project outputs, IBioIC reserves the rights to reject future applications.     

• What contributions must the Industry partner make to the project?

  • At least 50% of the total Project costs must be matched by a combination of in-kind AND/OR cash contributions.

  • Micro/ SMEs can provide contributions-in-kind.

  • We encourage large companies to apply but we expect them to provide a cash contribution to the overall project costs.

Expression of Interest Form

For details of projects we have funded in the past, please refer to our case studies page.