Optical wireless communications research and testing facility (Grant)
UK Research and Innovation, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Award
Up to £7.12m
Total fund Up to £7.12m
Deadline
Closes in 23 days (15 September 2026)
Where
UK-wide
Summary
Apply for funding to establish optical wireless communications research and testing facility. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding.
Who can apply
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) individual eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit UKRI’s eligibility page . Who can apply We expect the applicants to take responsibility for a community-led coordination approach during the application process. It is encouraged that the community should self-organise and submit a unified consortium application where possible that represents the strongest possible national capability to host this optical wireless communications facility. The collaborative application should bring together the relevant expertise, capability and governance required to deliver the facility set up and long-term sustainability vision. Applications that duplicate effort, represent only a subset of the community, or fail to demonstrate effective community engagement may be judged non-competitive. You can apply if you are a resident in the UK and meet at least one of the conditions below: are employed at the submitting research organisation at a level equivalent to lecturer or above hold a fixed-term contract that extends beyond the duration of the proposed project, and the host research organisation is prepared to give you all the support normal for a permanent employee hold an EPSRC, Royal Society or Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship aimed at later career stages hold fellowships under other schemes (please contact EPSRC to check eligibility, which is considered on a case-by-case basis) Eligibility requirements: Nationality-based restrictions Project lead, project co-lead and any project team role upon application for this award must be citizens of one of the following Alliance Nations: Andorra, Australia, Canada, the European Economic Area (EEA), Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America or Vatican City. Applicants should not have dual nationality with any country on the UK Government’s list of countries subject to trade sanctions, arms embargoes and other trade restrictions . Dual nationality with other countries is allowed but will be subject to security checks. This applies for countries not on the sanction list and outside of Alliance Nations listed, providing that at least one of their citizenships is from one of Alliance Nations. The project team is required to include at least one UK national with a leadership role. This eligibility requirement supersedes all other requirements or guidance related to applicant eligibility. This nationality-based restriction applies to all 12 role types defined in the UKRI Funding Service guidance, including named and unnamed staff on the project who will have direct responsibilities for the management and operation of the facility. The nationality-based restriction does not apply to all facility users. Security checks Applicants recommended for funding to this optical wireless communications facility funding opportunity are required to undergo Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks or equivalent prior to grant award. By applying to this funding opportunity, you are agreeing to be security checked if recommended for funding. The award research organisation is responsible for arranging the completion of BPSS checks, or an equivalent level of screening for members of the award team. The checks should be conducted by an independent and authorised entity. The organisation must also provide UKRI with sufficient assurance of the completion of these checks. The BPSS checks, or their equivalent, must encompass four elements for each member of the award team: right to work, identity (including nationality in line with the eligibility criteria), criminal conviction and employment history. Staff not named in the application who may be appointed during the course of the award are also subject to BPSS checks or equivalent. These unnamed roles are core members of the project team that are specified under the ‘Eligibility requirements’ section, within the 12 role types defined in the Funding Service guidance . These checks will need to be completed before the award is finalised or any future appointment confirmed. The award research organisation should also provide a review or sufficient assurance to UKRI for validating the outcome of these security checks. Security clearance and vetting To enable secure engagement with national security and defence stakeholders, the project team from the application recommended for funding, in addition to BPSS checks, may be subject to security clearance and vetting sponsored by the relevant governmental organisations. The security clearance and vetting process applies to members of the project team who undertake classified or sensitive work. It is preferred that one member of the project team (ideally the project lead) has already gone through the security clearance and vetting process. However, this is not a requirement for application. Where necessary to facilitate sensitive or sovereign research activities, future project teams and users shall be subject to additional security checks and vetting in accordance with the requirements of National Security and Defence (NSD) projects. We expect the NSD projects to be a small percentage of the overall projects undertaken. Declarations of conflicts The host research organisation must put in place arrangements to provide reasonable confidence that individuals are not engaged in activities that are incompatible with, or may reasonably be perceived to conflict with, their involvement in this facility as a UK national security investment. The arrangements must include the collection and management of declarations of conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment. The research organisation is to address and resolve any identified conflicts and must operate the arrangements through the life of the project. Who is not eligible to apply Holders of postdoctoral level fellowships are not eligible to apply for an EPSRC grant. Submissions to this funding opportunity will count towards the EPSRC repeatedly unsuccessful applicants policy . Resubmissions We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder. Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy . Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers. We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes: career breaks support for people with caring responsibilities flexible working alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Full details
Apply for funding to establish an optical wireless communications research and testing facility. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding. This facility will support communications research and convergences among terrestrial networks, non-terrestrial networks, high altitude platform stations, inter-satellite links, free space optics, ground-to-ground networks and so on. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £7.13 million . EPSRC will fund 100% of the FEC for facility and 100% of the FEC for resources. This funding is subject to business case approval. Funding can be requested for up to 27 months. This funding opportunity has been relaunched following a pause to update assessment processes, introducing additional requirements on eligibility criteria, security checks and facility operational governance provisions.