People with good ideas are being offered thousands of pounds to help to turn them into reality.

The idea might be anything that has the potential to be a new product, service or technique - the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) is inviting applications of all sorts for its invention and innovation programme.

Nesta says the support packages it can offer include everything from research and development and securing intellectual property rights, to establishing and developing a business.

This might involve buying or hiring materials or renting workspace, or putting up investment capital.

It intends to support between 50 and 100 projects a year. The application process is now open - you can do it all online through Nesta's website - and there is no end date.

High-energy individuals sought

Financial packages on offer will range from £5,000 to £50,000, and even as high as £100,000 in "exceptional cases".

Even people under 18 can apply, provided their application is sponsored by an adult co-applicant.

A spokeswoman said the idea was to find "exciting and original ideas" - and individuals with the energy and determination to carry them forward.

"We are looking for ideas which demonstrate creativity and innovation or commercial and social potential, extend or cross the boundaries of disciplines or fields, are sustainable, represent value for money - and will work."

The only catch is that because Nesta is required by law to increase its endowment, it will normally expect to agree a stake in the project - probably a share in the intellectual property rights or royalty payments.

Motivational

By way of example, Nesta points to its "pioneer projects". These were cross-disciplinary schemes, announced in June.

One was the Motivate idea from Cambridge University's Millennium Mathematics Project. Over three years, this is aimed at improving the maths teaching for talented and exceptional pupils in schools in disadvantaged areas.

The first event involved a video conference between an academic in Cambridge and pupils gathered at John Kelly Girls Technical College in the London Borough of Brent.

Another was a "choreographers' lab" run over nine days in July by Performing Arts in Kent. It brought together a group of innovative choreographers and artists from a wider range of disciplines, such as writers, visual artists, filmmakers and composers.

And in another project, photographer Giles Revell was given support to break off from his commercial work to build up a portfolio of 3D images made by a new method which involves bombarding a subject with a scanning electron microscope, then treating the result on a computer.