UKRI Funding Opportunities (All Councils)

Doctoral Focal Award: Environmental Evidence Synthesis, £8.1M

UKRI announces a £8,144,000 Doctoral Focal Award for environmental evidence synthesis, co-funded by NERC and ESRC. Up to two doctoral focal awards will be funded, each receiving up to £4,072,000 to support 30 notional studentships across three annual intakes. Applications open 15 April 2026 and close 15 July 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. A notification of intent must be submitted by 27 May 2026.

£2.5M Frontier AI Feasibility Studies Grant - UK Organisations

UKRI/Innovate UK announces £2.5 million grant competition for UK organisations to develop feasibility studies for frontier AI and foundation models. Single applicants from UK businesses, research organisations, charities, nonprofits, public sector bodies, and NGOs may apply. Competition opens 14 April 2026 and closes 10 June 2026.

£10M UKRI Grant for Offshore Wind Industrial Research, Closes Jun 3

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Innovate UK have opened a £10 million grant competition for industrial research in offshore wind technologies. UK-registered businesses may apply in collaborative projects to share the funding. Applications close on 3 June 2026 at 11:00am UK time.

Solution Development for Advanced Connectivity Technologies

UKRI/Innovate UK, on behalf of the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), announced a £25 million grant funding competition for UK organisations to develop secure, sustainable or sovereign connectivity technologies. Single applicants must be UK-registered SMEs; collaborative projects require a UK business as lead with at least one SME partner. Applications close 13 May 2026.

Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure Two: Alternative Fuels

UK Research and Innovation announced a £150 million grant funding opportunity for clean maritime solutions. The competition, co-funded by the Department for Transport and administered by Innovate UK, opens 26 June 2026 and closes 16 September 2026. UK registered organisations in collaborative partnerships can apply to develop, deploy, and operate zero-emission vessel technologies using alternative fuels for three years in real-world environments.

Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026 - Pre-announcement

UKRI/STFC has issued a pre-announcement for the Particle Physics Experiment Consolidated Grants 2026. The funding opportunity opens 27 April 2026 and closes 2 July 2026. The grant period runs 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2029 (24 months). STFC will fund 80% of Full Economic Cost. This grant round extends the 2024 consolidated grants and covers the remaining two years of the award cycle.

CfI: Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT): Call 1 - £15M Funding

UKRI and Innovate UK have opened a £15 million funding opportunity for UK registered organisations to develop near-term, testable connectivity solutions advancing the UK's Secure and Resilient and Sustainable Network Grand Challenges. This is the first call under the CfI: Advanced Connectivity Technologies programme. Individual awards can reach up to £2 million, with a closing date of 3 June 2026.

Biological Influence on Ocean Carbon: Novel Modelling Approaches

NERC and NASA have launched a joint funding opportunity for UK-US collaborative research on ocean carbon modelling. The grant supports novel modelling approaches to assess biological influences on ocean carbon storage. UK components receive up to £312,500 (80% FEC). Applications close 14 July 2026, and a notification of intent is required for eligibility.

Multiple Model Assessment of Biological Influence on Ocean Carbon

NERC and NASA announced a joint £625,000 grant opportunity for UK-US collaborative research on ocean carbon storage biological influences. UK researchers at eligible institutions can apply for up to £625,000 (80% FEC) to participate in the BIO-Carbon and EXPORTS programmes. Applications close 14 July 2026; notification of intent required by deadline.

ProQure Scaling UK Quantum Computing Funding Opportunity

Innovate UK announces £14 million in funding under the ProQure program to develop, build and validate integrated quantum computing hardware and software for commercial scale deployment. Applications close 29 May 2026 at 11:00am UK time. Eligible organisations of any size may apply, with contracts awarded to single legal entities.