Tax Relief for the Advanced Materials Sector

Funding for Advanced Materials Businesses

As an essential cog in the wheel of the high-tech economy, the field of advanced materials research and development (R&D) plays a crucial role in driving progress and life-changing innovation across various industries. 

From aerospace to biomedicine, advanced materials offer greater strength, durability, flexibility, and functionality, thus paving the way for new, transformative technologies, products, and applications. 

With the ability to convert ideas into reality, developing the advanced materials of today contributes to the ground-breaking solutions that will improve all our lives tomorrow. 

Investing in developing the super-materials of the future allows for the continuing creation of revolutionary solutions spanning multiple sectors. This, in turn, boosts the economy and maintains the UK’s standing as a world leader in advanced materials. 

R&D in Advanced Materials

If a company is developing materials with exceptional properties for engineering applications or developing a new technology that creates these innovative materials, then R&D is likely involved as it attempts to make an industry advancement. 

Here are some examples of R&D in advanced materials: 

  • Designing advanced materials whose process of manufacturing is more sustainable than what is possible currently

  • Developing next-generation materials for extreme environments and applications such as shielding for nuclear reactors or spacecraft

  • Developing materials for use in biomedical devices that accelerate manufacturing agility and improve tailoring of solutions specific to individual patients

  • Developing new products and technologies with significantly improved material properties

  • Improving sustainability of the end-of-life for products you produce by redesigning and reformulating these materials for improved recycling or reuse, whilst not compromising advanced material properties

  • Developing new knowledge regarding material behaviour, such as better understanding of thermal breakdown in electronic components and materials to improve service life and operational safety

  • Designing novel coating and lubrication solutions to improve resilience to harsher operating conditions in critical applications such as marine or oil and gas exploration, e.g., improving drive chain lifetime and reducing maintenance requirements through developing improved greases and lubricants with novel formulations for sea vessel engines

  • Redesigning formulations for materials using locally sourced raw materials and precursors, whilst not compromising material properties in application, e.g., cements for construction using supplementary materials and clinker components sourced from local deposit

  • Designing more resilient containment/immobilisation technologies for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and long-term storage of radioactive byproducts and wastes

  • Modifying a material’s structure to generate improved and advanced material properties and behaviour, e.g., creating improved chemically active filtration membranes for rapid high-volume water desalination

    How Can You Fund R&D in Advanced Materials?

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    Grant Funding

    Any business that’s investing time and resources into innovative R&D in the UK can apply for and access UK/EU grant funding. There are various funding bodies, such as Innovate UK and the European Innovation Council, which provide funding competitions for businesses to access funding to innovate and grow.
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    The Patent Box

    The Patent Box is a government tax relief scheme that rewards companies for investing in innovation. If a company is making a profit on patented inventions, it’s eligible for a lower effective corporation tax rate of 10% on relevant profits. What’s more, if a company is eligible for the Patent Box tax relief regime, it’s likely that it’s also eligible for R&D tax relief.
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    R&D Tax Relief

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) R&D tax relief scheme rewards businesses that are seeking an advance within their industry. R&D tax credits can be claimed by businesses that are developing new systems, products, or processes or modifying existing ones, which in turn create a scientific or technological advancement.

    Ryan’s Advanced Materials Specialist:

    Mehul Kyprianou-Chavda, PhD – Senior Manager, R&D Technical

    Mehul is a published scientist and engineer with a doctorate in materials science who has worked in the aerospace, automotive, defence, and mass-transit application spaces. He has worked on the development of several leading-edge materials technologies such as cementing chemistries for immobilisation of nuclear wastes and the industrial scaleup of manufacturing technologies for graphene.

    He has worked across large multidisciplinary teams on flagship R&D projects with leading academics and industrialists and has been successful in accelerating projects through technology readiness levels to industrial commercialisation. 

    Mehul leads a team of specialist tax consultants across the UK who are experts in identifying and claiming innovation incentives, including R&D tax reliefs, R&D allowances, and the Patent Box, with specialties in engineering (automotive, materials, civil, software, electronic, and chemical) and construction. 

    Your Innovation Funding Partner

    By investing in advanced materials, we can create new solutions, improve efficiency, and promote sustainability.

    With exciting breakthroughs and new possibilities on the horizon, the future of materials R&D looks promising. 

    Ryan’s award-winning team of innovation funding specialists supports companies on their innovation journey to achieve the funding they need to develop the advanced materials that contribute to the revolutionary products, services, and engineered solutions that will improve all our lives. 

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