Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 6 (AKT 6) 2026: Up to £2.5 Million for 3-Month UK Innovation Projects
UK-registered knowledge base organisations can apply with UK businesses for short, targeted 3-month innovation projects under Innovate UK’s AKT 6 competition.
Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 6 (AKT 6) 2026: Up to £2.5 Million for 3-Month UK Innovation Projects
Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 6, usually shortened to AKT 6, is a short-form Innovate UK collaboration competition for UK knowledge base organisations and UK businesses. The public guidance describes it as a rapid and targeted intervention that helps a business evaluate or develop an innovation project or concept with the support of a university, college, research and technology organisation, or Catapult partner.
This is not a long research grant and it is not a vague networking opportunity. The scheme is built for projects that can move quickly, produce business value, and fit inside a three-month delivery window. The official public pages also make the business case plain: AKT 6 sits alongside Innovate UK’s priority sectors and is meant to support work with clear commercial potential.
The competition opened on 26 May 2026 and closes on 15 July 2026 at 11:00am UK time. The public summary says Innovate UK is offering a share of up to GBP 2.5 million. Because the window is short and the form asks for detailed partnership, finance, and project questions, the strongest applications will be the ones that are already well structured before drafting begins.
Key details
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 6 (AKT 6) 2026 |
| Funders | UK Research and Innovation / Innovate UK |
| Official public summary | Innovate UK Business Connect opportunity page |
| Application portal | Innovate UK Funding Service competition overview |
| Funding available | Share of up to GBP 2.5 million |
| Project duration | 3 months |
| Opening date | 2026-05-26 |
| Closing date | 2026-07-15 at 11:00am UK time |
| Lead applicant | UK knowledge base organisation |
| Business partner | UK registered business with 4+ FTE |
| Business contribution | Minimum 10% of project costs |
| Main sectors | Six Industrial Strategy priority sectors |
| Application format | 31-question online application |
What AKT 6 is designed to do
AKT 6 exists to speed up innovation transfer between a knowledge base and a business. The public guidance says the scheme supports a “short, rapid and targeted intervention” that can accelerate the evaluation or development of an innovation project or concept. That wording matters because it tells you what reviewers are likely to expect: a narrow scope, a clear business problem, and a delivery plan that can show progress in months rather than years.
The competition is structured around a three-way relationship:
- The knowledge base partner leads the application.
- The business partner brings the commercial need and the operating context.
- The associate or associates deliver the day-to-day project work.
That structure makes AKT 6 different from a standard small grant. The knowledge base is not only lending credibility; it is expected to bring the specialist capability that the business does not already have. The business partner is not a passive beneficiary. It must be ready to define the need, provide access to information and staff, and contribute cash to the project.
The public guidance also points applicants toward Innovate UK’s six priority sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, and life sciences. If a project does not sit neatly in one of those sectors, the guidance says it may still be eligible if it is exploiting a novel area of research and the business has high growth potential. That gives some room for good projects outside the obvious boxes, but it also means applicants should be explicit about fit.
Who is eligible, and who is not a good fit
The lead organisation must be a UK registered higher education or further education institution, a research and technology organisation, or a Catapult. The business partner must be a UK registered business with four or more full-time employees. The business must also contribute at least 10% to the project costs.
That eligibility shape points to a particular kind of team. Good fits usually have:
- a real commercial problem the business wants solved soon;
- a partner institution that can supply applied expertise quickly;
- enough internal commitment on the business side to keep the project moving;
- a clear route to taking the result into normal operations after the 3-month project ends.
The opportunity is less suited to teams that are still trying to decide whether the project matters, who the customer is, or whether the technology is ready to be tested. If the innovation question is still exploratory in a broad sense, AKT 6 may be too compressed. Likewise, if the business partner is not able to release staff time, share operational detail, or fund its contribution, the proposal will be weak before scoring even begins.
One useful point from the application form is that you can name an Associate in the application, and the form also asks whether you need one Associate or two. That means the project team should decide early whether a single associate can cover the work or whether the project genuinely needs two people with different skills. Because the project is only 3 months long, overbuilding the team can be just as risky as underbuilding it.
Funding, duration, and project shape
The headline amount is a share of up to GBP 2.5 million. The official pages do not present a per-project award figure in the summary I reviewed, so the safest way to think about the funding is as a competition pool rather than a fixed grant size per project.
The most important structural constraint is the duration: 3 months. That is short enough that every week matters. For applicants, the practical implication is that the project plan should be tightly scoped and easy to manage. A good AKT 6 project should be able to show what will happen in month 1, month 2, and month 3, and how each stage reduces uncertainty for the business.
The application page also confirms that the knowledge base is the sole grant recipient. That is common in knowledge-transfer style competitions, but it matters operationally because the funding and reporting responsibility sits with the lead institution even though the business partner is central to delivery.
The business contribution requirement is another important filter. A minimum 10% cash contribution means the business needs to believe in the project enough to put money behind it. If the business cannot explain why the project deserves that commitment, reviewers are unlikely to see it as ready.
How the application works
The online form is built around 31 questions. The first five are not scored, but they still matter because they screen basic eligibility and compliance issues. Those questions cover:
- animal testing;
- permits and licences;
- international collaboration;
- export control licensing;
- Trusted Research and Innovation considerations.
The form then asks about associate identification, number of associates, Industrial Strategy sector alignment, business partner type, project duration, employee count, company size, SIC code, registration details, partnership addresses, supervisor details, business background, innovation, risks, partnership rationale, expected impact, project management, project plan, associate skills, and several declarations.
One practical warning is explicit in the application page: do not include website addresses or links in the application answers. Any URLs included in the text boxes will not be viewed or opened. That is a small detail, but it can cost time if a team tries to use linked evidence instead of writing clearly inside the form.
The form is asking for a lot of operational information because it is trying to test whether the partnership is real, whether the project can be delivered in 3 months, and whether the business can absorb the result. The best strategy is to answer directly and keep every answer grounded in the actual project rather than in generic innovation language.
How to prepare a strong submission
Start with the partnership, not the prose. Before writing the application, confirm three things:
- The knowledge base and business partner both meet the published eligibility rules.
- The project fits the 3-month delivery window without hand-waving.
- The business contribution and internal support are real, budgeted, and signed off.
After that, build the submission around evidence rather than aspiration. A strong AKT 6 application should usually include:
- a concise statement of the business problem;
- why the business cannot solve it alone;
- what specialist knowledge the knowledge base contributes;
- what the associate will do each week;
- what measurable change will exist at the end of 3 months;
- what happens after the project if the pilot works.
The project plan question is especially important. Because the window is short, a good plan is not a large work package list. It is a simple sequence that proves the team understands the order of operations. For example: verify baseline need, run the intervention or test, review outputs with the business, then package the result for next-step use.
You should also treat the business background, risks, and impact questions as core narrative, not filler. Reviewers will want to know whether the business already has traction, what commercial or operational upside is expected, what can go wrong, and why this partnership is the right way to reduce those risks. If the answers are vague, the application will read like a concept note rather than a funded collaboration plan.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common mistake is treating AKT 6 like a general innovation grant with a loose partnership attached. The form is built to test whether there is a real three-way working model. If the business partner is only present on paper, the application will look weak.
Another common issue is trying to make the project too broad. A 3-month intervention needs a precise question and a narrow finish line. If the scope cannot be explained in a few plain paragraphs, it is probably too large.
Applicants also lose time by leaving the finance and compliance questions to the end. The form asks for company details, employee counts, sector alignment, and declarations. Those items should be assembled before draft writing starts, not after the narrative is finished.
It is also easy to underestimate the importance of the Industrial Strategy sector question. The guidance says priority will be given to projects aligned with those sectors. If your project sits outside them, you need a stronger explanation of novelty and growth potential.
Finally, do not overcomplicate the Associate questions. The form asks whether you know who the Associate will be, how many Associates are needed, and what skills and attributes are required. That is a clue that the role should be defined early. If the project cannot explain who will do the work, it is not ready.
Frequently asked questions
Is AKT 6 a grant or a procurement-style contract?
It is a grant competition run by Innovate UK, not a procurement exercise. The application is still competitive, and the lead knowledge base must submit through the official funding system.
How long does the project last?
The public application page confirms a 3-month project duration.
Who can lead?
A UK registered higher education or further education institution, research and technology organisation, or Catapult can lead.
Does the business have to pay in?
Yes. The business partner must contribute at least 10% of the project costs.
What if the project is not in one of the six priority sectors?
The guidance says it may still be eligible if it is a novel area of research and the business partner has high growth potential, but sector alignment is still the safer route.
Can I put URLs into the application answers?
No. The application portal says URLs in answers will not be viewed or opened.
How many Associates can be named?
The form asks whether you need one Associate or two. Choose the number that matches the actual delivery plan.
Official links
- Innovate UK Business Connect summary: https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/opportunities/accelerated-knowledge-transfer-partnerships-6-akt-6/
- Innovate UK application overview: https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/2473/overview/d9a164dd-2094-4590-baa7-a057279d80a3
- AKT scheme background: https://iuk-ktp.org.uk/accelerated-knowledge-transfer/
If you are comparing this call against other 2026 innovation opportunities, the easiest rule is simple: choose AKT 6 only if your business problem is specific, your partnership is already real, and a 3-month knowledge-transfer intervention can produce a meaningful next step.