If you intend to apply to this funding opportunity, your lead research organisation must complete this survey by 16 March 2026: Fundamental AI Research Lab Intent to Apply
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this Opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
- Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
When including images, you must:
- provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit).
- insert each new image onto a new line.
- use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format.
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:
- sentences or paragraphs of text
- tables
- excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
- references are easily identifiable by the assessors
- references are formatted as appropriate to your research
- persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.
Deadline
EPSRC must receive your application by 31 March 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the funding opportunity.
Personal data
Processing personal data
EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.
EPSRC may share the application and any personal information that it contains with DSIT. For more information on how DSIT uses personal information, visit DSIT consultations: privacy notice.
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email TFSchangeEPSRC@epsrc.ukri.org
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
- individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
- declaration of interest
- additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
- conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
- the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.
Institutional matched funding
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on this initial application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations.
This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.
Publication of outcomes
EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Applications Outcomes.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
- opinion-formers
- policymakers
- the public
- the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
- context
- the challenge the project addresses
- aims and objectives
- potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
Only list one individual as project lead
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.
Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.
Vision and Approach (Primary Criterion)
Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than 4 sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm. You may include images, graphs, tables. You can have an additional page for a diagrammatic workplan.
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.
Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.
What are you hoping to achieve with and how will you deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
For the Vision, explain how your proposed work:
- is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
- has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- is timely given current trends, context and needs
- impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment
The following should also be included to support your response:
- how your proposed lab will have an ambitious independent research agenda and a single vision with the potential to shape the trajectory of AI model development targeting areas not currently pursued by commercial AI labs
- how the lab will ensure that fundamental developments can be translated towards market or utilisation, where possible, through open sourcing
For the Approach, explain how you have designed your work so that it:
- is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology
- if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
- will maximise the potential to translate outputs into outcomes and impacts
- describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place, and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
The following should also be included to support your response:
- an initial plan for how over the first six months of the award you will bring together partners and institutions and build a flexible long-term centre of research excellence which will address the expectations detailed in the “what we are looking for” section
- a delivery plan for the initial 18-month grant including how this will be managed flexibly and strategically as the lab is set up
- evidence of ability to attract and retain staff and students to enable the viability of the lab
- details of your realistic approach to managing the funds available within the fixed timeline and a clear risk management plan and mitigations to avoid slippage
- a plan which illustrates your proposed usage of the in-kind AIRR compute resource
Applicant and team capability to deliver (primary criterion)
Word limit: 2,000
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:
- world-leading expertise in fundamental AI as evidenced by a clear track record of outputs and outcomes
- the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
- experience of being and remaining at the forefront of fundamental AI development and building and maintaining the stakeholder partnerships necessary to enable this
- the right balance of skills and expertise to lead the lab and deliver the proposed work
- the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the lab and your approach to develop others
- transformational leadership and management experience of the set up and management of large, complex programmes
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
- excellence in delivering training and people development
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
The word count for this section is 2,000 words: 1,500 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.
Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
- contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
- the development of others, at all levels, and the maintenance of effective working relationships
- contributions to the wider research and innovation community
- contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions
Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
References may be included within this section.
The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.
Resources and cost justification (secondary criterion)
Word limit: 1,000
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
Please note: all funding for doctoral studentships should be excluded. This funding will ultimately be issued as a separate training grant at the award stage.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) (secondary criterion)
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
- the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
- how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project
If you are collecting or using data, you should identify:
- any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further re-use of data)
- formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with
Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) relating to research involving:
- animals
- human participants
- genetically modified organisms
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.
Application questions
Training environment (Secondary criterion)
Word limit: 1,000
Please provide a justification for the doctoral studentships.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
The Fundamental AI Lab funding opportunity provides funding for at least 10 doctoral students. This is in recognition of the Lab representing an exciting opportunity for students to train and acquire skills that support the development of a healthy, diverse, and inclusive AI talent pipeline.
The inclusion of doctoral studentships must add value to the proposed research, and to the student who must be provided with a clear opportunity for a distinct and independent course of enquiry.
In line with the above explanation, please provide a justification for any doctoral studentships. Ensure that you have included:
- a clear vision for the added value of associating doctoral training with the lab, including detail of how the students’ engagement in the investment will play a notable role in establishing a sustainable AI ecosystem
- how you will embed delivery of UKRI’s statement of expectations for doctoral training. You should aim to build students’ understanding of what conducting high quality research involves, and prepare globally competitive researchers for a range of sectors and careers
- how you and the host organisation will champion and embed equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across all aspects of the training grant, and create and maintain a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for all students and staff involved
- how you will support a cohort-based approach to training
- detail that demonstrates you have secured the appropriate research and pastoral capacity to support the number of studentships that you expect to deliver through this award regardless of whether the second-stage five year research grant is awarded or not
The positive, inclusive, and supportive environment created and maintained by you and the host organisation is expected to address a variety of needs and support good wellbeing. You should have an appropriate track record of supporting the training and development of others and of research and pastoral capacity to support the studentships.
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Doctoral students (secondary criterion)
Word limit: 500
All applicants are required to complete the following template for doctoral studentship costings(XLSX, 22KB) and submit as an attachment here.
Create a document that includes the completed template. For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Doctoral Studentship Costings’. Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
The overall or individual funding levels do not need to be justified where these have been mandated by UKRI.
Through the costings template , indicate the total number of students that you expect your programme will support (across all funding sources). Also indicate the number of full-time equivalent studentships that either UKRI has indicated it will support, or you are requesting.
Outline the main uses of the following funding:
Total: RTSG, research support costs
Outline your approach to costing the research and training costs associated with individual studentship projects or tailored, individual student training in support of your vision and approach.
Total: other costs, programme-wide initiatives
Outline costs of group training and other overarching activities through the programme that will support your vision and approach.
Total: staff, management costs connected to programme delivery
You must not include costs standard to all doctoral studentships for example not general administration or supervision.
You do not need to justify the following unless the funding opportunity has afforded you flexibility:
Total: student stipend
Stipend costs only, where enhancements are requested.
Total: fees
Tuition fee costs only, for example requests above UKRI’s standard level.
You should describe any co-funder contributions to the programme’s costs.
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
Co-creation and Stakeholder Engagement (secondary criterion)
Word limit : 1,000
Please describe:
- how your proposed team of researchers and stakeholders, including EPSRC and DIST, will be assembled to work collaboratively towards the joint vision and the set up of the lab
- how you will plan to engage new and existing stakeholders and further co-create the research challenges and vision throughout the life of the programme
- existing and potential partnerships should be described as part of the response to this section
Your organisation’s support (secondary major criterion)
Word limit: 1,000
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing how they will support the lab and the proposed activities. This should include details of any additional support that might add value to the lab.
Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of support from your research organisation. This information should have been approved for submission by vice chancellor or equivalent.
The letter should demonstrate:
- how the host organisation will support the lab to realise the proposed vision and approach
- how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and alignment of strategic aims
- how the host organisation will ensure staff time commitment to the lab is protected
- what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to staff aims and aspirations
- evidence of how the host organisation would recruit and retain doctoral students for the duration of the training grant and beyond
- details of any support your institution will provide such as practical support, access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, which is being provided and how this strengthens your application
- evidence of how the host organisation would take a creative approach to recruiting and retaining staff to meet the expected profiles and grant timing
- how the host organisation will support the lab to build towards sustainability over the life of the grant
- how the host organisation will create and maintain a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for all doctoral students supported by or involved in this lab, addressing a variety of needs and supporting good wellbeing, including relevant, specific support and training for supervisors where needed. Host organisation support should meet UKRI’s statement of expectations for doctoral training
You must also include the following details:
- a significant person’s name, their position and office or department, or all
- office address or web link
