These products and services should either have reduced environmental impact compared to current alternatives, or be less dependent on the use of strategic materials such as rare earth metals, key food elements such as phosphorous and high quality proteins and high purity petrochemicals.

Up to £500,000 is available for each project and the total budget is £4.5 million. Projects are expected to have a maximum duration of 24 months. For those working with universities and colleges, this would make them compatible with KTPs and employment of post doctoral researchers or Masters level students.

A key feature of this competition is that the project activities must be focused on delivering a ‘specification of an unmet need’, provided by the end-user.

This is an open competition which opens on 3 October 2011. Proposals should collaborative and led by a business.

Find out more and register on the Technology Strategy Board website.

Alan Harper, the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network Technology Manager in Scotland can advise on the technical basis of projects and give or acquire guidance on suitability of individual subjects.

Please email a.j.harper@hw.ac.uk by 7 October with initial enquiries.