Intensive Industrial Innovation Programme

The Intensive Industrial Innovation Programme is an intensive support programme for SMEs in the North East LEP area.

The programme will directly connect with SMEs from the smart specialisation sectors with the region’s University research expertise and will work actively with them to address their specific research needs.

The project will offer three years of dedicated postgraduate researcher time plus associated academic oversight time to each SME research project.

Who Can Apply?

Businesses who wish to participate in the ERDF Industrial PhD programme must:

Meet the EU definition of SME
Be located within the North East of England geographical area
Be active in one of the key sectors for the North East
Be financially stable
Not exceed State Aid limits as a result of participating in the programme.

What is the eligibility criteria for participating SMEs?

A SME is defined as a small/ medium enterprise that does not employ over 250 people.
Has either an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million or an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million. And is not more that 25% owned by firms that do not comply with the above requirements.