FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
EQUIPMENT
There are funding opportunities for students, researchers and SMEs to access Royce equipment at the University of Cambridge. Similar schemes are available at the other Royce partners: Imperial, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield. For more information visit its UK Funding Page and Access Scheme Overview Page.
EXTERNAL STUDENT AND RESEARCHER ACCESS SCHEME
External students, post-doc researchers and academics from outside of the University of Cambridge are invited to apply for funding to access Royce equipment at the University for short projects that must be completed by 31 December 2026. Applications should propose a single package of research work, allowing users to enhance their research by utilising state-of-the-art equipment. The access schemes are designed to open up Royce facilities to the UK academic materials community, build relationships and develop future collaboration opportunities.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants should use this form to apply. Upon receipt of your application, technical experts from one of the Royce Partners will work with you to develop the experimental project and schedule access to the appropriate equipment. To make sure your request is processed as quickly as possible we recommend sending an enquiry email to royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk.
SME ACCESS SCHEME
SMEs are invited to apply for funding up to £10k in commercial costs to access Royce equipment at the University of Cambridge for projects that must be completed by 31 December 2026. The Royce SME Equipment Access Scheme is open to UK-based SMEs, spin-outs and start-ups and offers subsidised access to its extensive portfolio of equipment. The scheme is available to businesses under minimal financial assistance, part of UK subsidy control, and businesses must be eligible to receive this to apply. Previous SME projects have led to new industry-academic collaborations and allowed SMEs to develop their devices, go back out to investors to raise capital to expand their businesses and create jobs.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants should use this form to apply. It is designed to identify equipment required or the need for a scoping discussion. Upon receipt of your application, technical experts will work with you to develop the experimental project and schedule access to the appropriate equipment. To make sure your request is processed as quickly as possible we recommend sending an enquiry email to royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk. Due to the nature of the scheme, Royce does not envisage generation of IP in most circumstances and as such, IP rights will continue to reside with the respective organisations which contribute them to any project.
INDUSTRIAL COLLABORATION PROJECT (ICP)
The Henry Royce Institute’s Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) provides grant funding for research, development, and innovation sprint projects that support technology translation. This competition is Royce’s flagship funding initiative and is designed to catalyse impactful partnerships between industry, academia, and Research Technology Organisations (RTOs). Through the Industrial Collaboration Programme, Royce funds projects that respond to major national challenges and accelerate the progression of advanced materials from breakthrough discovery to real-world application. ICP supports innovation across the entire economic value chain, from agile start-ups to global corporations and from early-stage research to fully manufactured products. For more information and to apply: Industrial Collaboration Programme Round 6 – Henry Royce Institute.
ENTREPRENEURIAL SCHOLARSHIPS
Royce Cambridge also supports commercialisation activities though sponsoring places on the Cambridge impulse Programme for technology entrepreneurs. These are for University of Cambridge researchers including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers working in advanced materials. Read about Sparxell's success, a Royce sponsored impulse Programme candidate.
Henry Royce also sponsors ten places on EnterpriseTECH at the Cambridge Judge Business School for PhD students and postdocs working in materials science or engineering research. More details here.
CREDITING ROYCE
Any party publishing research that required Royce Facilities in whole, or in part, must acknowledge the support of the Royce explicitly in the associate publication or report. E.g. “This work was supported by the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, funded through EPSRC grants EP/R00661X/1, EP/P024927/1, EP/S019367/1 and EP/X528550X/1.”