Transport Research and Innovation Grants 2021 programme launched, with over 50 awards available

• Nearly £2million to be given to tech start-ups to power up the transport revolution

Connected Places Catapult is proud to be delivering the Department for Transport’s TRIG Programme (2021).

The Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) programme was launched by the Department of Transport (DfT) in 2014 to foster research and innovation in the sector. This year’s TRIG will be bigger than ever, with over 50 awards spanning four different challenge areas, as outlined below.

• Maritime Decarbonisation 
• COVID-19 Recovery and Resilient Transport Systems 
• Future of Freight
• Open Call

Under the Open Call, we would like to hear from innovators addressing any current transport challenges. However, we would be particularly keen to explore technologies within the fields of low carbon fuels, open bus data and active and shared travel.

For the first time, we will be running a pilot offering up to 5 awards of £100k grant under the Future of Freight challenge. This is in addition to TRIG’s traditional £30k grants that will be available under all four challenges. For the £30k grant, we would expect applicants to progress their technology from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 (basic research) to TRL 4 (proof of concept/small scale prototype). To receive a £100k grant, we would expect applicants to show how their technology will progress to a higher level of technological development – TRL 5 or higher – by the end of the project delivery period. This will include operational testing of the technology within its intended environment.

CEO of Connected Places Catapult, Nicola Yates OBE, said:

“The UK’s innovation ecosystem has a strong track record in developing solutions to complex problems. The TRIG 2021 call is focused on finding the next wave of state-of-the-art transport solutions, enabling the sector to achieve net zero and become more resilient to disruption. I very much look forward to seeing the proposed innovations and working with the successful teams to support their journey to market.”

Transport Minister, Trudy Harrison said:

“Backing innovation is a priority for us and I’m delighted to be supporting Britain’s budding entrepreneurs, as they help us to ensure people can travel at ease and to solve the complex task of decarbonising our transport system.

“This is vital as we look ahead to a greener and safer transport future that will create jobs right across the UK.”

Find out more about the programme and to apply see below. The deadline for applications is midnight Sunday 7^th November.