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Live UK funding opportunities from government, lottery distributors, research councils and arts bodies. Expired listings are removed automatically.

500 opportunities

Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES)

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

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.

£5,000 – £9.99mCloses 31 March 2030England, Wales
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Early Independence: Ernest Rutherford Fellowships 2026 (Fellowship)

UK Research and Innovation, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Apply for this Early Independence Fellowship to support you to establish your own research niche and independence. You must hold a doctorate or evidence equivalent research experience and be based at a UK research organisation eligible for STFC funding.

Up to £6mCloses 30 September 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

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 authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

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 authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

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
Limited companySMESole trader

Pushing the frontiers of environmental research (Grant)

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
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 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.

£1,000 – £1.22mCloses 30 September 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Research Infrastructure Renewal (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

Apply for capital funding to renew, replace and enhance capabilities for environmental science. The funding opportunity is for existing facilities, laboratories and other national capabilities which are demonstrably available for use by the wider environmental science community.

£300k – £1mCloses 21 October 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Early independence: BBSRC fellowships: full stage (Fellowship)

UK Research and Innovation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Apply for a BBSRC fellowship to further your career through an independent research project. You must: be an early career researcher hold a PhD qualification (or equivalent experience) be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding

Up to £9mCloses 23 September 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Optical wireless communications research and testing facility (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

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.

Up to £7.12mCloses in 23 days (15 September 2026)UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

AHRC responsive mode: collaborate with researchers in Luxembourg (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR)

Apply for funding to work with overseas researchers in Luxembourg. Submit a collaborative research grant application within the remit of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR). You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. There is no limit on the value of the grant, the value specified within the summary page is an example.

£300k – £1.5mCloses 31 March 2027UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Farming Innovation Programme: Feasibility Round 5

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £15 million for feasibility projects. This funding is from the industry led R&D Partnerships Fund, part of the Farming Innovation Programme.

£200k – £500kCloses in 17 days (9 September 2026)UK-wide
Limited companySMESole trader

AHRC responsive mode: working with Brazilian researchers (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

Apply for funding to work with overseas researchers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Submit a collaborative research grant application within the remit of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. There is no limit on the value of the grant, the value specified within the summary page is an example.

£300k – £1.5mCloses 31 March 2027UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

People and Research

Historic England

The People and Research Scheme offers grants for activities that help people understand and champion the historic environment through, engagement, skills, training, education and heritage project-based posts. It also offers grants for research activities related to the historic environment sector including scientific and technical conservation, surveys and investigations, publication, archiving, toolkits and guidance. https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/people-activities/ https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/research-activities/

£250 – £300kCloses 31 March 2027England
IndividualLocal authoritySchoolCharity+6 more

National Space Innovation Programme - Call 3

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

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.

£150k – £2mCloses 13 November 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

UKRI Translation: BBSRC Proof of Concept 2026 (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Apply for funding to translate bioscience research into innovations such as products, services and solutions that generate real-world economic, societal, and environmental impact. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for BBSRC funding.

£100k – £800kCloses 14 October 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

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 authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Design Generators round two (Grant)

UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council

Apply for funding to combine design-led interventions with arts and humanities methodologies to make positive contributions to the green transition. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding.

£150k – £200kCloses 29 September 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

Ultra Long Duration Energy Storage Project Development Studies

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3 million for project development studies to support the development of ultra long duration battery energy storage demonstrators in the UK.

£350k – £700kCloses 30 September 2026UK-wide
Local authoritySchoolCharityCIC+5 more

The Minister for Veterans and People has committed to recognising and celebrating the contributions of women veterans' service in the UK Armed Forces. The UK Government’s Veterans Strategy includes a commitment to commission a new oral history project to capture and preserve the experiences of women veterans. The aim of this project is to create an official, digitised oral history collection documenting the lived experiences of women veterans. The project should capture experiences from recruitment and military service through to transition from the Armed Forces, including the impact on family life. The primary audience is the general public, with outputs also intended to inform policy officials, researchers, veterans and the wider armed forces community.

£150k – £250kCloses in 30 days (22 September 2026)UK-wide
IndividualLocal authoritySchoolCharity+3 more