Engineering Biology Access to Infrastructure Pilot
Engineering Biology Access to Infrastructure Pilot supports SMEs with infrastructure access, pilot testing and commercial validation to scale lab-proven engineering biology innovations for UK company growth.
Funder: UK Research and Innovation
Due Dates: October 21, 2026, 11:00am UK time (Application) | November 27, 2026 (Notification) | February 1, 2027 (Start by) | January 31, 2029 (End by)
Funding Amounts: Up to £5 million total; £200,000–£750,000 eligible project costs; projects up to 24 months
Summary: Supports SMEs scaling lab-proven engineering biology innovations through infrastructure access, pilot-scale testing and commercial validation.
Key Information: A UK-registered SME must lead, with a UK-registered scale-up infrastructure organisation as partner or subcontractor.
Description
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), administers this competition within UKRI’s Engineering Biology Programme, funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST). It supports lab-proven engineering biology innovations moving to pilot or demonstration scale, affordable access to specialised UK scale-up capabilities, and validation of technical and economic viability in commercially relevant settings.
Engineering biology means purposefully engineering biological systems to create new or enhanced functions unavailable naturally or efficiently through conventional approaches. The project’s primary innovation and competitive advantage must arise from, or enable, engineering biology. Projects should predominantly focus on scale-up, with robust commercial validation, evidence of lab-scale readiness, and a clear contribution to company growth in the UK. Supporting manufacturing or regulatory progression can be included when directly enabled by the underlying innovation.
