AI Scientist

Exploring the possibilities of AI-driven discovery

What we’re looking for

We are inviting proposals for a series of short, exploratory projects to be undertaken using existing AI Scientist systems. We are specifically looking for AI systems that can perform the full end-to-end workflow of scientific knowledge creation. This includes:

  • Ideation and hypothesis creation.

  • The design of experiments to test the hypothesis.

  • The ability to run experiments in (ideally fully-automated) labs.

  • Interpretation of the results and the drawing of conclusions.

  • The ability to produce a written report describing related work, the idea explored, experiments, results, and conclusions, placed in the context of relevant literature.

The final report must also include a clear and unambiguous acknowledgement of what roles or actions any human performed in the process. Your proposal should clearly state the expected human-in-the-loop involvement, the rough capabilities of your AI Scientist, and supporting evidence that the system will be able to perform the work.

As a nascent area, we recognise that current AI Scientist systems are often specialised. Therefore, a proposal can specify the research area and problem the AI Scientist will tackle. We ask each applicant to propose a ‘base’ problem that they are confident their system can solve, and an ‘extension’ problem that may be more challenging.

We’re looking to fund project teams with up to £500,000 each (inclusive of all taxes and costs), for a maximum project length of 9 months. We would like all projects to start by January 2026.

Who should apply

We don’t have hard constraints on the type of organisation we will work with. We welcome proposals from across the R&D ecosystem, including individuals (including those not affiliated with an organisation), universities (including proposals from students, postdocs and staff), research institutions, small, medium and large companies, charities and public sector research organisations, including those located outside of the UK. The only constraint is that we are looking for organisations who have an already working AI Scientist system that they feel would be able to participate.

How to apply

Please submit up proposals of up to two sides of A4 pages (PDF) (including diagrams, excluding references) by November 14th.

Resources

Call for proposals
Call for proposals (accessible version)
Accessibility support


Apply now

Clarification questions 

Ahead of submitting your application, we encourage you to look at our funding resources. If you have questions related to the AI Scientist solicitation, please reach out to clarifications@aria.org.uk.

Nb: clarification questions should be submitted no later than 4 days prior to the relevant deadline date. Clarification questions received after this date will not be reviewed.