The UK Government has launched the Visa Fees Reimbursement Scheme for Scale Ups (VFRS4SU), a targeted grant scheme to help UK scale ups in Clean Energy, Life Sciences, and Digital and Technologies hire internationally by reimbursing eligible visa application fees for specialist hires and their dependants.
UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council
Apply for funding to transform the commercialisation of research in the creative industries, working collaboratively to address barriers to commercialisation and develop a new sector specific commercialisation guide.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.
The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) provides funding to public, private and third sector applicants, to support improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects in England and Wales that are operating sub-optimally and resulting in poor outcomes for customers and operators.
Projects can apply to HNES for either revenue or capital grant funding:
Revenue grants – grants to fund procurement or mobilisation of external third-party support to carry out Optimisation Studies. These studies will assess heat network projects to identify causes of sub-optimal performance and recommend costed intervention or improvement measures.
Capital grants – grants to part-fund the delivery (installation) of eligible intervention/improvement measures.
The Better Commissioning Pathways programme (the “Pathways Programme”) is a funding package of up to £2.03 million to deliver a national training and guidance offer to support voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) to develop the skills and capacity to enter into public sector supply chains.
The Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) initiative is a programme by the DfE that is central to the goal of raising standards for all children in all schools across the country. RISE forms part of the government’s Opportunity Mission which focuses on breaking down the barriers to opportunity and ending the link between background and success.
The RISE grant will provide mandatory targeted intervention to schools that Ofsted have identified as needing to improve which will act as a catalyst for collaboration and improvement. Where appropriate, RISE teams will arrange for a high-quality organisation to work with a school, via its responsible body, with grants available to fund supporting activity.
Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, Department for Transport
The Depot Charging Scheme supports uptake of zero-emission HGVs, vans and coaches by part-funding the installation of charging infrastructure at fleet depots.
The first application window ran from 25 March 2026 to 30 June 2026, and will fund 70% of charge point and civil costs, up to £1 million across all sites.
The next window is expected to open from 28 October 2026 to 29 January 2027 for projects which may begin from April 2027 and must be delivered by 31 March 2028. Terms and grant rates for this phase are still to be confirmed.
UK Research and Innovation, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Apply for funding to pursue an adventurous, ambitious, curiosity-driven project in environmental research.
You must be:
• based at a UK research organisation eligible for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funding
• in a role that meets the individual eligibility requirements
There is no limit on the value of the grant, the value specified within the summary page is an example.
Up to £950kCloses in 30 days (22 September 2026)UK-wide
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for innovative projects in specific technology areas. You must collaborate with at least one Swiss implementation partner applying under the equivalent Swiss Innosuisse programme.
£1,000 – £450kCloses in 11 days (3 September 2026)UK-wide
This fund is not yet open for applications.
The Farmer Collaboration Fund (FCF) aims to support farmers, land managers and growers to manage land in a productive, nature friendly and sustainable way.
The FCF will create opportunities to learn from each other, share knowledge and lessons learned, create joined up plans for landscape-level projects and apply for more ambitious land management schemes, in both government and private sectors.
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £150 million. The funding will be to develop, deploy and operate innovative clean maritime solutions for three years in a real world environment. This funding is from the Department for Transport.
£1,000 – £30mCloses in 24 days (16 September 2026)UK-wide
Local Water Environment Grant (LWEG) provides capital and revenue grants to local authorities and third sector organisations to improve their local water environment.
UK Research and Innovation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Apply for funding for a research grant in any area within the remit of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.
There is no limit on the value of the grant, the value specified within the summary page is an example.
Skills Bursaries provide grants of up to £1,000 for people seeking to grow their expertise in community heritage work. Open to applicants at any stage of their personal or professional journey, these bursaries can be used for training, mentoring, attending workshops, or other professional development activities related to heritage and community engagement to be determined by you.
Offered on a rolling basis, Skills Bursaries are designed to be accessible and responsive, helping to build confidence and capacity across the sector—particularly among those who may not have had access to such opportunities before.
UK Research and Innovation, Natural Environment Research Council
Apply for funding to deliver collaborative research which focuses on the underpinning science of aviation’s non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) impacts and how they interact with climate over time with the view to identifying benefits, mitigation options, informing industry and government policy decisions.
Up to £385.4kCloses in 16 days (8 September 2026)UK-wide
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
The Legal Services Advisory AI Growth Lab provides innovators and adopters with coordinated access to regulators, helping them to understand how current regulation applies to cutting-edge technology so they can bring products to market faster.
The Lab will accelerate safe and responsible AI adoption and innovation in the legal sector and improve access to justice for the public by enabling high-quality, faster and more affordable legal services.
Participants will receive coordinated engagement with relevant regulators and delivery partners. Participants will not receive funding.
Amount not publishedCloses 27 September 2026UK-wide
CharityCICCommunity groupVoluntary organisation+3 more
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £20 million to develop innovative solutions for automation and robotics in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. This funding is from the Farming Futures R&D fund.
The National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) provides co-funded grant support to derisk high-reward R&D projects with a clear target market. NSIP operates open funding calls for all space-related technologies under two strands: NSIP Kick Starter that supports highly disruptive early-stage innovations, and NSIP Major Projects which emphasizes commercialisation and growth of particularly lucrative ideas from UK businesses, universities and research organisations. NSIP Call 3 will expand the NSIP portfolio of innovative R&D projects that meet the programme’s objectives to: catalyse investment into the UK space sector, capture market growth, raise Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) of priority space capabilities, and position space activities closer to commercialisation and exploitation.
UK Research and Innovation, Science and Technology Research Council
Apply for funding to deliver STFC’s doctoral focal awards in the field of data-intensive sciences.
This funding opportunity builds on our previous investment, providing students with skills and training to enable careers in academia or industry.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding
Up to £2.1mCloses in 24 days (16 September 2026)UK-wide