Guidance notes for the MacRobert Award
Nominations for the 2025 are now open until 31 January 2025.
The submission process using the online application form is straightforward, and requires the following:
Contact information
This is the person the MacRobert Award team can liaise with over such matters as site visits, publicity and so on. The person need not necessarily be a member of the team.
Although the ultimate ownership of the organisation is not relevant, the organisation named on this form must be registered in the UK.
Team members
Normally a minimum of five individuals may be nominated, all of whom should have played a significant part in the engineering innovation. It is not a requirement that the individuals be chartered engineers.
It is not a requirement that the individuals be still employed by the organisation. However, should the submission progress to the shortlist stage, the individuals will be expected to make themselves available for the Judging Panel. Please ensure that those named are prepared to be questioned on the breadth and depth of the innovation submitted.
It is acceptable for the named team members to be from more than one organisation, if there has been cross-organisational collaboration on the main components of the innovation.
The nationality of the individuals carrying out the work is not relevant.
The £50,000 prize money is awarded to the individual team members, not the company.
The Academy is committed to diversity and encourages applications from women and other groups who are currently underrepresented across engineering.
Submission details
Please provide the name of the project or innovation being submitted / title of submission using no more than 10 words.
Applications will be considered for engineering innovations in any area of engineering, applied science, technology or medicine.
In the case of larger projects, it is specifically the innovative component that should be identified. This should have a substantial UK content.
Since the primary criterion for the Award is innovation, care should be taken to differentiate between the content of this project and any background or prior work or any larger accomplishment of which this is a part.
There is no need to provide any additional background material at this stage, however, please provide web links to any pages, videos or multimedia presentations that may be helpful to describe the innovation. Please note that, should the submission progress to the shortlist stage, additional information may then be requested.
In considering applications for the MacRobert Award, the Judging Panel uses the following criteria:
- Innovation (maximum 500 word summary)
- Commercial success (maximum 250 word summary)
- Benefit to society (maximum 250 word summary)
All three criteria may be interpreted broadly to reflect the very diverse nature of engineering and its role in every aspect of society. The following notes may help to align the submission with these criteria.
Innovation
The most important task is to define as clearly as possible the specific innovation being claimed, identifying the benefits of the innovation to end users as well as its advantages over competitive solutions. The Judging Panel should not be asked to simply review a successful engineering / commercial development.
Among points that may be considered for inclusion in the submission are: How does the submission differ from previous solutions that have addressed the particular application involved? What are the particular technical or commercial advantages of the new approach? (These might include creating a new market, improved performance, design for economic manufacture, improved reliability, ease of maintenance etc.). Have patents, or any other external recognition, been granted for the innovative components of the project?
If other companies, universities, suppliers or partners have been involved in the project, explain how their role relates to the claimed innovation.
Commercial success
Evidence of commercial success must be provided. This must include numeric information on, for example, sales and/or installations, market penetration or customer usage. An indication should be given as to how the success is likely to be maintained.
The Judging Panel recognise that, for some organisations and submissions, commercial success may not be measurable in strictly financial terms. In these cases, the panel will wish to see evidence that the users at whom the innovation is aimed have fully embraced it within their applications and/or businesses. They will also expect to see that the scale of the success is commensurate with the scale of the innovation and the applications at which it is aimed. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- a major funding round that supports the company through to significant sales
- sale of licenses
- significant sales/orders
- other indicators of future commercial success, including take up and use of technology and software outside your company.
Please note that commercial success is not measured by how much money has been spent on, or invested in, the project.
Benefit to society
Benefit to society can arise in a number of different ways, according to the specifics of the innovation and the context within which it is deployed. Examples include, but are not limited to,
- health and safety
- national security
- environmental improvement and sustainability
- employment
- exports
- spin-off activity.
Please provide information on your company’s policies regarding diversity and inclusion, as well as corporate social responsibility. The Academy is committed to diversity, equality and inclusion in the engineering profession it is important that these subjects are addressed.
Confidentiality
The Academy’s web site is secure. Your submission will not be visible to others.
All material submitted for the Award is treated as confidential and will not be disclosed to anybody beyond the Judging Panel and the secretariat involved in the evaluation process. Eventual disposal of any submission will be carried out with due regard for the confidential nature of the contents.
The fact that the organisation has made a submission for the Award is not publicly disclosed until the submission becomes a finalist.