Funding opportunities

Discover our open funding calls and look back on past ones.

Our research model

At the heart of our approach are our Programme Directors, who retain creative control over how and who they fund within the opportunity spaces they've defined. Our research model is built around two primary modes: 

1.

Programmes (£50–80M):

Our programmes are designed to advance complex, large-scale ideas which require coordinated investment and management across disciplines and institutions. To build a programme, each Programme Director directs the review, selection, and funding of a portfolio of projects which work in tandem to drive breakthroughs. 

2.

Opportunity seeds (up to £500k):

With smaller budgets and less structure than programmes, seeds support individual research teams to uncover new pathways that could inspire future programmes or might justify additional support as a standalone project.

Funding opportunities

View our live funding opportunities:

Opportunity Seed

Opportunity seeds: Programmable Plants

The Programmable Plants opportunity space asks if we can programme plants to remove more CO2, improve food security, and deliver medicines to those in need. This seed funding call is looking to fund projects to challenge assumptions, open up new research paths, and provide steps towards new capabilities within the space, with up to £500k each.

Application Date

09 April 2025

Opportunity space

Programmable Plants

Programme Director

Angie Burnett

Programme Funding

Safeguarded AI: Technical Areas 1.2 + 1.3

Backed by £14.2m, we’re looking to fund teams of software developers to build the scaffolding needed for the success of the Safeguarded AI programme. For Technical Area 1.2, we are looking for Creators to develop the computational implementation of the theoretical frameworks being developed as part of TA 1.1 (the 'Theory'). For TA 1.3, Creators will work on the 'Human-Computer Interfaces' that facilitate interaction between diverse human users and the systems being built in TA 1.2 and TA 2 (‘Machine Learning’). These technical areas are integral to supporting the programme’s wider ambition on demonstrating the viability of a new, alternative pathway for research and development toward safe and transformative AI.

Application Date

09 April 2025

Opportunity space

Mathematics for Safe AI

Programme Director

David 'davidad' Dalrymple