Optical wireless communications research and testing facility (Grant)

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.

Demand management

Demand management is not currently being applied to this funding opportunity. However, should the level of interest exceed what can be managed within the assessment process, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) may introduce limits on the number of applications that can be submitted. Further details will be clearly communicated where this is the case. UKRI encourages organisations to support applicants in preparing well-planned, high-quality applications that are competitive for funding relative to the funding opportunity.

Aim

Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT), or Future Communications Systems, is a key frontier technology identified in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, one of the eight sector plans contained in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. Future communications and the networks they underpin, are becoming increasingly essential for industry, government and for citizens. There is a clear need to leverage UK strengths in this sector, particularly in priority applications such as defence, transport and future telecoms networks, including satellites.

This investment is part of the UK Integrated Security Fund (ISF), a government-wide fund that addresses the highest-priority threats to UK national security, at home and abroad. The ISF uses a whole-of-government approach, to find creative solutions to the most complex national security challenges. The ISF aims to be:

• integrated (using expertise from across government departments and agencies)

• catalytic (mobilising smaller-scale activities with a view to upscaling, providing the foundation and evidence base for longer-term programmes)

• high-risk (allowing ISF programmes to act in unstable or uncertain environments)

• agile (responsive to changing circumstances)

As future security challenges become increasingly complex and interconnected, the UK requires technologies and infrastructures that provide freedom of manoeuvre, adaptability, scaling-up and resilience, particularly in defence and other mission critical contexts. Effective national security capabilities must balance approaches that rely on sovereign capability (‘own’), strategic collaboration (‘collaborate’), and targeted technology access (‘access’).

Within this landscape, future communications systems act as a foundational enabler and underpins digital, sensing, space, AI, and autonomous systems to operate cohesively across domains.

The international research infrastructure environment demonstrates that, while the UK has recognised strengths in communications technologies, other countries (for example, Germany) maintain more mature or better-funded testbed capabilities. Strengthening UK facilities is therefore essential to remain competitive, attract investment, and ensure sovereign resilience in strategically important areas.

This optical wireless communications research and testing facility opportunity is funded through UK Government’s ISF and delivered by UKRI.

As the funding is provided through the ISF, you will be required to comply with additional security requirements, which are set out in this funding opportunity document.

This funding opportunity forms part of the IS-8 Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) Programme, delivered by UKRI’s Priority Programmes.

Optical Wireless Communications

Optical wireless communications (OWC) is a dual-use technology at the intersection of defence, national security, and high-growth commercial markets. It offers secure, high-capacity connectivity solutions in environments where radiofrequency technologies are constrained or unsuitable, ranging from remote communities and harsh environments to sensitive, high-assurance operational scenarios.

Expanding UK capability in OWC aligns with the ISF’s objectives by advancing technologies that provide flexibility, resilience, and secure communication advantages across the security and defence landscape.

The UK already possesses internationally recognised strengths in optical wireless research and innovation. This facility will consolidate and extend that leadership by reducing barriers between research, testing, and deployment.

This investment will strengthen UK industrial competitiveness by:

• accelerating the translation of research outputs into deployable products and services

• supporting the development of resilient supply chains

• positioning UK organisations to capture emerging global markets with significant long-term commercial potential

The facility will enable transformative advances in OWC by providing the capability to evaluate and validate systems under real operational conditions across terrestrial, aerial, underwater, and space environments. Moving beyond laboratory-based experimentation will allow researchers and innovators to interrogate system performance, propagation effects, and network behaviour in complex settings that more accurately reflect future deployment environments.

It will also support the investigation of physical effects that are not fully understood or observable in controlled laboratory settings, helping to strengthen the scientific foundations of OWC and free-space optical communications. In doing so, it will generate high quality experimental data to underpin the development of advanced modelling approaches, including AI-enabled techniques to improve system design, optimisation, and long-term reliability.

Crucially, the facility will be positioned as an asset for the wider national ecosystem. Opening access to industry, academia, and government users, supporting commercialisation pathways and stimulating innovation. The investment complements and strengthens the UKRI EPSRC investments and related national programmes such as the UK Future Connectivity Hubs Evolution Programme.

There is potential for quantum communications community groups to develop a strong partnership, given the increasing convergence development between optical wireless communications, quantum-secure communications, and quantum satellite. These convergence areas are of growing strategic importance for security and defence communities.

To ensure maximum return on investment, the applicant consortium should consider how the OWC research converges with the existing quantum communication capabilities. These include but not are limited to SpeQtre Satellite, Heriot-Watt Ground Station, Satellite Platform for Optical Quantum Communications (SPOQC) Mission, EPSRC Quantum Communications Hub, EPSRC Integrated Quantum Network Research Hub and so on.

Scope

This investment will support the establishment of a national research and testing facility enabling experimental investigation of integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems operating in three-dimensional environments. The facility will support research spanning terrestrial networks, non-terrestrial networks, and their convergence, with a particular emphasis on the design, operation, and performance of architectures that extend across air, space, and ground domains.

The facility will enable controlled experimentation involving high-altitude platforms and their interaction with satellite systems, optical and radio links to ground terminals. It will also provide dynamic network functions such as mobility, routing, and dynamic handover management . It will also support research into the integration of ground-based fixed and mobile networks, including approaches to the coordination and orchestration of services across converged network infrastructures.

The facility will provide experimental environments and measurement capabilities to characterise environmental and atmospheric effects on wireless and optical propagation. These capabilities will support the development, validation, and benchmarking of advanced modelling and data-driven techniques, including artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled methods, applicable to optical wireless and free-space optical communication technologies. A diverse set of outdoor experimental testbeds will be established, covering underwater, maritime, terrestrial (fixed and mobile), aerial platforms (including unmanned systems), and non-terrestrial environments, including high-altitude platforms.

Through these combined capabilities, the infrastructure will enable the investigation of fundamental physical effects, support the development of specialised and optimised optical wireless communication technologies, and underpin pathways towards future communications systems, services, and applications.

Objectives

The objectives of this investment are to create a coordinated national capability that advances optical wireless communication technologies and accelerates their translation into resilient, secure, and high-performance communication systems.

Objective one: Establish nationally accessible experimental infrastructure for optical wireless communications

Deliver and operate a minimum set of shared, indoor and outdoor experimental facilities enabling reproducible testing of optical wireless and free-space optical communication systems across terrestrial, aerial, maritime, underwater, and non-terrestrial environments, with defined access, governance, and usage models.

Objective two: Quantify and model environmental impacts on optical wireless system performance

Generate validated datasets characterising atmospheric and environmental effects on optical wireless propagation, and deliver benchmarked models (including physics-based and data-driven approaches) that demonstrably improve system performance prediction and design.

Objective three: Enable AI-supported optimisation of free-space optical communications

Deliver curated, quality-controlled datasets suitable for training and validation of AI-enabled techniques for free-space optical communications, and demonstrate their application in improving resilience, throughput, or reliability under real-world operating conditions.

Objective four: Demonstrate cross-domain optical wireless communication systems at elevated TRLs

Design, prototype, and experimentally validate optical wireless communication systems in at least three distinct operational domains (for example, terrestrial, aerial, space, maritime, or underwater), with consideration towards their convergence and wider system of systems approach where possible, with documented progression to higher technology readiness levels.

Objective five: Accelerate translation, standardisation, and industrial uptake in the UK

Establish sustained public–private partnerships involving academia, industry, and government, delivering a portfolio of translational outputs including high-TRL demonstrators, protected intellectual property, researcher secondments, and engagement with relevant international standards and regulatory bodies.

Objective six: Deliver sustainable operating and collaboration models for long-term impact

Define and evidence viable business, access, and international collaboration models that enable continued operation, industry engagement, and global positioning of the UK optical wireless communications ecosystem beyond the lifetime of this investment.

Duration

The duration of this award is 27 months.

The award made via this funding opportunity will have a fixed start date of 1 January 2027. We expect you to apply for a realistic grant duration for meeting your objectives.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £7.13 million. It is expected that around £6 million will be costed for the facility and around £1.13 million will be costed for the facility associated resources. This funding is subject to business case approval.

EPSRC will fund 100% of the FEC for the facility cost.

EPSRC will fund 100% of the FEC for the resources cost.

The spend profiles for fiscal year (FY) 2026 to 2027 and 2029 to 2030 are defined as the following:

FY 2026 to 2027 spend profile:

• quarter 4 (Q4) £1.43 million

FY 2027 to 2028 spend profile:

• Q1 £890,625

• Q2 £890,625

• Q3 £890,625

• Q4 £890,625

FY 2028 to 2029 spend profile:

• Q1 £534,375

• Q2 £534,375

• Q3 £534,375

• Q4 £534,375

Quotes for equipment do not need to be included in your application, but please retain quotes for equipment costing more than £138,000 as we may ask for these at post-panel stage before releasing funds. For details of how to include equipment in your application see Equipment on research grants.

What we will fund

We will fund the establishment of a shared national research and test facility to enable systematic, real-world investigation, products and services development and validation of OWC technologies. The investment will support a technically credible, strategically aligned programme of activity capable of being delivered within a 27 month timeframe, building on existing UK capability and responding to growing demand across civil, commercial and defence applications.

This initial investment will support the creation of a core, operational facility. Funded facilities may be delivered in stages, for example through the progressive establishment of permanent ground stations, outdoor free-space optical (FSO) testbeds, underwater communication facilities and maritime or ship-to-shore links. Applications should demonstrate how phased development will deliver early capability while enabling future scope for phased expansion of the facility as additional partners and co-investment are secured.

The funded facility will capitalise on the UK’s existing strengths in OWC research and innovation, including internationally recognised academic leadership, established small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and prior laboratory-scale experimentation. While the UK research base has demonstrated technical readiness through turbulence simulators and short-duration outdoor trials, this investment will address the current lack of permanent infrastructure required for reproducible testing, channel characterisation and performance evaluation under realistic environmental conditions such as fog, rain and atmospheric turbulence.

The facility will support research and development across both major classes of OWC, that is, outdoor free-space optical communications and indoor optical wireless networking. It will enable experimentation across terrestrial, aerial, maritime, underwater and non-terrestrial environments, reflecting the increasing role of OWC in emerging non-terrestrial networks, including satellite constellations and high-altitude platforms.

The funded activity will deliver an AI-ready experimental environment, generating real-world datasets to support the training, validation and benchmarking of data-driven and hybrid models for OWC and FSO systems. This will include the use of AI techniques for system optimisation, environmental adaptation, mobility management, handover, routing and security in complex three-dimensional network architectures. Applications may also explore AI-enabled photonic networking, switching and routing, with relevance to performance, power efficiency, lawful access and resilience.

The investment will support use cases with clear pathways to commercial exploitation and public benefit, particularly on dual-use applications. These may include, but are not limited to:

• secure terrestrial backhaul where fibre deployment is impractical

• mobile and deployable connectivity

• satellite-to-satellite optical links

• satellite-to-aerial and satellite-to-ground communications

• underwater communications for remotely operated systems

• optical links to subsea docking or sensing infrastructure

We expect you to demonstrate strong engagement with industry, government and end users. Applications should articulate how the facility will support translation, standards development, certification pathways and the growth of a sustainable OWC ecosystem for the UK.

What we will not fund

We expect you 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 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.

We will not fund applications that duplicate effort, with fragmented capability that only represents a subset of the community or fail to demonstrate effective community engagement.

The grant is intended for the purchase and set up of the facility. We will not fund costs associated with the support of individual research projects. However, the application should demonstrate the user community needs and a research pipeline for the proposed facility.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Expert review

We will invite experts to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.

Shortlisting

EPSRC will review the comments and scores for each application. Depending on the number of applications received, there may be a panel consists of EPSRC internal staff and an external panel member for the shortlisting process. Up to two applications will be shortlisted to go to an interview panel who will make a funding recommendation.

If your application is shortlisted, you will have five days to respond to reviewers’ comments.

Interview

For shortlisted applications, an expert interview panel will conduct interviews with applicants after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

We expect interviews to be held in November 2026.

EPSRC will make the final funding decision.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment, including to correct language, spelling, grammar and formatting. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

• purpose

• vision

• approach

• sustainability

• applicant and team capability to deliver

• project partners support

• your organisation’s support

• ethics and responsible research and innovation

• resources and cost justification

• facility design, governance, and operation requirement

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Click here to start an application on the UKRI Funding Service: 

https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1319/apply/1347

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

1. Confirm you are the project lead.

2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.

3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

• provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)

• insert each new image onto a new line

• use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:

• sentences or paragraphs of text

• tables

• excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

• how applicants use the Funding Service

• how research offices use the Funding Service

• how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:

• references are easily identifiable by the assessors

• references are formatted as appropriate to your research

• persistent identifiers are used where possible

General use of hyperlinks

Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

EPSRC must receive your application by 15 September 2026 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it will be rejected.

If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the opportunity.

Personal data

Processing personal data

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email TFSchangeEPSRC@epsrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)

• declaration of interest

• additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section

• conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection

• the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Institutional matched funding

There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.

This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

Publication of outcomes

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at EPSRC Funding Applications Outcomes.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

• opinion-formers

• policymakers

• the public

• the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

• context

• the challenge the project addresses

• aims and objectives

• potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

• project lead (PL)

• project co-lead (UK) (PcL)

• specialist

• grant manager

• professional enabling staff

• research and innovation associate

• technician

• researcher co-lead (RcL)

Only list one individual as project lead.

Postdoctoral research assistants should be included on the grant as research and innovation associate.

A research technical professional can be listed as a project lead or project co-lead (UK), provided that their:

• appointment is resourced from the central funds of their institution at the time of application

• level of responsibilities and duties is appropriate to a person with substantial research experience

• contract extends beyond the duration of the project

Please do not add industry project partners in this category, as these should be added in the ’Project partners’ section instead.

UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Purpose

Word limit: 1,650

What is the facility, why is it needed, and why should UKRI support it?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how the proposed facility:

• is timely, given current trends and context

• delivers an unmet need

• meets national needs by establishing or maintaining a unique, world leading activity or both

• meets community demand and need from a diverse and inclusive user base

• enhances and complements existing research capability at a local, regional, or national scale

• meets the strategic aims of UKRI or the government

Please describe alternative plans for how the research would be achieved should the equipment not be funded. The plans should reflect:

• host organisation strategies for this equipment

• host organisation commitment to the equipment landscape

• a summary of existing facilities beyond the host organisation, including identification of similar instruments overseas or in industry, outlining reasons why they cannot be utilised for the intended research

You should input your response to this section in the text box.

References may be included within this section.

Within this section you also have the option to create a single document that includes support letters or emails from organisations that have shown a clear intention to use the infrastructure. This document should only include letters that are highly selective and demonstrating significant support.

You are advised to only include letters from a cross-section of key users, rather than from every user. These may represent different universities within or outside any regional alliance or may indicate relevance to key collaborators within industrial sectors. Only one letter is permitted per organisation.

You are encouraged to work with key EPSRC investments, such as the Future Connectivity Hubs to support their application, evidence community demand and identify where there are collaborative working opportunities. Applicants should include a letter or letters of support from EPSRC Future Connectivity Hubs consortium within this section.

Each letter or email you provide should clearly explain the value, relevance and possible benefits of the work to users.

Each letter should be no more than two pages in length.

Please do not include letters of support from project partners in this section. We have a separate section for ‘Project partners: letters or emails of support’.

For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Purpose letters of support from key users’.

Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any sensitive data within the attachment.

If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

Vision

Word limit: 1,650

What are you hoping to achieve with the proposed facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how the proposed facility will:

• enable high quality, novel or transformative research

• offer training opportunities for the wider community

• if applicable, have measurable impact beyond the immediate team, including on world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment

• has the potential to advance current understanding and generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area

• is relevant to identified stakeholders, including users

• be of international importance

• meets the six defined objectives in this call document

• identifies the potential local, regional and or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be

• enhances the UK’s research and innovation capabilities through local and or regional activity

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Please also provide a detailed plan of research which includes a description of the projects that will be supported by the equipment, with sufficient experimental detail to allow the panel to assess the quality of the research, including preliminary results where possible.

Approach

Word limit: 1,650

What are your plans to manage the proposed facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

We expect you to show how your approach:

• is feasible, identifying any risks to delivery and citing appropriate mitigation

• provides details of access and usage estimates, particularly where a culture of equipment sharing may extend use to external users

• provides long-term technical support which will be available for the requested equipment

• provides training and development of technical staff

• describes how the research environment (in terms of the place, its location, complementary expertise, facilities and relevance to the proposal) will contribute to the successful utilisation of the equipment

• has been designed so that it will generate local, regional, national and international impacts

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Please also provide a plan for prioritising access to and maximising usage of the infrastructure. This should include any application and assessment processes and an estimate for the balance of users from the host institution, academics from external institutions and industrial users.

Sustainability

Word limit: 1,650

What steps have you taken to ensure the sustainability (economic, environmental and social) of your proposed asset?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

For the sustainability, explain how the proposed facility:

• is as economically, environmentally and socially sustainable as possible

• delivers large scale societal, environmental and economic benefits

• will have its lifetime maximised, including stating what the expected lifetime is and, where relevant, how the asset will be sustainably decommissioned

Within the ‘Sustainability’ section we also expect you to explain:

• how long-term operational and maintenance costs, including staffing, will be supported

• how the proposed asset will be integrated into an existing UKRI service, facility, equipment pool, or similar

• how the proposed asset is complementary to UKRI or host institute carbon reduction targets

• if relevant, how the proposed asset contributes to a broader approach to environmental sustainability, such an enhancing biodiversity or clean air, as well as reducing carbon emissions

• your plans for sustainability and legacy beyond the end of UKRI funding. These could include cost recovery models, securing additional funding, development or expansion after the initial period of funding

• how you have considered equality, diversity and inclusion, including equitable access, in the design and planned use of the asset to maximise benefit to the UK environmental sciences community

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to procure and manage the proposed equipment?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage)

• the right balance of skills and expertise

• the appropriate leadership and management skills and your approach to develop others

• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on), have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. You should use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the following key skills each team member brings:

• contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge

• the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships

• contributions to the wider research and innovation community

• contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

Additions

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details:

• the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)

• the project partner contact name and email address

• the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the Project Partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:

• confirm the partner’s commitment to the project

• clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them

• describe any additional value that they bring to the project

• have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner

Within this section, we also expect you to:

• provide up to six letters (or emails) of support

• provide an overall statement of two sides A4, clearly stating the outcomes from proposed project partners collaborations and forward plans with existing and new project partners

• demonstrate how your partnership will leverage significant private funding as a result of this investment

• demonstrate a significant increase of the proportion of research and innovation expenditure from private sector sources

This document should only include letters that are highly selective and demonstrating significant contribution.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Do not provide letters of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.

Your organisation’s support

Word limit: 2,000

Provide details of support from your research organisation.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing how they will support you, as the applicant, and your proposed activities. This should include details of any support that will be provided to the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.

Assessors will be looking for a strong statement of support from your research organisation. This information should have been approved for submission by an appropriate institutional authority.

You must also include the following details:

• a significant person’s name, their position and office or department, or all

• office address or web link

Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and RRI considerations, implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

• the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project

• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm

• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project

If you are collecting or using data you should identify:

• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further re-use of data)

• formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation.

Animal Involvement and”3Rs”

You must complete this section about how your proposed project will involve or impact animals.

If your project does not involve or impact animals, you must confirm this on the next page. You may be asked about:

• what animals you are involving

• the severity of the procedures you are using

• where the procedures will take place

• welfare standards you aim to meet

• the relevance of your project to the development, validation or dissemination of the 3Rs

You may also need to download, complete, and upload at least one set of additional questions. You will be told how to do this towards the end of this section.

To complete this section and check whether your project is in the scope of the questions, refer to the UKRI policy for research and innovation involving animals.

What counts as an animal

UKRI policy relates to all animals in the Kingdom Animalia, including vertebrates and invertebrates.

Genetically modified organisms and biological risk

You must complete this section if your project will include genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies.

If you project does not involve genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies, you must confirm this on the next page.

You may be asked about:

• the type of organism your project will involve and the procedures your project will include

• the intended use of the organism or genetic technology

• the genetic, biological and environmental risks of your project

For more information, see UKRI’s guidance on genetic technologies.

Human Participation in Health-related Research

You must complete this section about whether your project will include human participation.

If your project does not involve human participation, you must confirm this on the next page.

You may be asked about:

• what type of human participation your project includes

• the project design for human participation

• the phase of the clinical trial

• whether the project will be in an NHS setting, if so how the project will be registered

• whether diversity and inclusion will be considered

For more information, see UKRI’s guidance for human participants in research.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,500

What will you need to procure to deliver the proposed equipment and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more substantial costs, in particular:

• project staff

• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)

• any equipment that will cost more than £25,000

• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities

• all facilities and infrastructure costs

• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

• details of the equipment requested

• details of the service or maintenance service requested (if applicable)

• details of any cash contributions to the equipment from other sources reasons for choosing a quoted equipment (versus other quotes)

• reasons for requesting a particular specification of equipment or a particular manufacturer

• how the funding spend profile defined within ‘what we are looking for’ will be met

You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project. For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders. Where a funding limit is imposed on the opportunity, requested costs for reasonable adjustments may exceed the maximum funding amount.

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified

• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes

• maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Facility design, governance, and operation requirements

Word limit: 1,650

What are your plans to design, govern and operate the proposed facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide statements on how the facility design, governance, and operation requirements are met.

Facility design, governance, and operation requirement (additional assessment criterion)

The aim of the optical wireless communications facility is threefold; building a UK sovereign capability, contributing to national resilience and catalysing economic growth. These three priorities should be pursued together, recognising that different types of activity may contribute in different ways.

Overall, the facility must support the development of UK sovereign optical wireless communications capability, while also enabling broader research and innovation that contributes to UK national resilience and economic growth.

Location and design

The facility must be located in the UK. The location should provide access to a strong and diverse knowledge base, with a proven track record in optical wireless communications technologies.

The facility should be designed to be accessible to a broad range of researchers and innovators from across the UK. Furthermore, as a post-award requirement, the facility design should be co-developed with UK Government National Security and Defence stakeholders, including relevant national technical authorities such as National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority, while also addressing the needs of UK academia and industry.

Operation and access plan

The facility must support clear operational compartmentalisation and be capable of supporting classified or sensitive work up to, but not exceeding, Secret level, within appropriate security frameworks.

The facility must enable:

• significant open-access capability, enabling collaboration with academia, industry, and trusted international partners where appropriate

• controlled work requiring restrictions

• sovereign activities independently undertaken by appropriately vetted UK personnel

The facility should actively encourage and enable participation from UK nationals, including through skills development, access opportunities, and leadership roles.

The access plan (including both the facility and data access) should also include the host institution requirement on security arrangements for different types of user groups. In particular, the facility design and operational framework should incorporate robust data access protocols and controlled sharing mechanisms to ensure that sensitive information is accessed appropriately and disseminated only on a need-to-know basis.

As a minimum requirement, the host institution should have the capability to utilise the MoD cyber security model to carry out risk assessments and consider the cyber security standard for suppliers. The suppliers and sub-contractors of this optical wireless facility must meet the contractual cyber security requirements of Defence Condition 658 and Defence Standard 05-138.

Governance

You must provide a comprehensive facility governance and management plan outlining approaches to user and stakeholder engagement, including coordination with Government to support UK sovereign capability and with industry and academia to enable economic growth. The approaches should include project governance structures, including how the facility obtains advice on risk and issue management.

Additionally, the leadership team must encourage and enable participation in the facility by UK nationals, including but not limited to plans for skills development and facility access for this cohort of researchers.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

Trusted Research and Innovation is the protection of the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people, and infrastructure from potential theft, misuse, and exploitation.

Organisations receiving UKRI funding are obliged to act in line with UK government legislation. They are also expected to undertake appropriate due diligence assessments of organisations involved in research partnerships, collaboration agreements, and commercial contracts.

You will be asked about:

• which areas of the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act your project relates to

• who you intend to collaborate with and how

• if your project requires an export control licence

Your answers may affect the T&Cs of your funding agreement if you are successful. We may use your answers to determine that our current T&Cs are sufficient or if additional T&Cs are required.

Reciprocal expert review

The Future Communications team is running a number of funding opportunities in 2026. EPSRC would like to ensure that the expert review demand on the community is balanced fairly. To implement this we are setting an expectation that applicants to this funding opportunity will be prepared to participate in the expert review process of other funding opportunities we are running.

By applying to this funding opportunity you agree to participate in the expert review process of at least one of the other funding opportunities, subject to your expertise and other reasonable exceptions (for example, relating to sickness, parental leave, part-time working and so on).

Related funding opportunity

The investment complements and strengthens the UKRI EPSRC investments and related national programmes such as the EPSRC Future Connectivity Hubs Evolution programme.

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Supporting document

Equality Impact Assessment (PDF, 220KB)

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

• breaks and delays

• disruptive working patterns and conditions

• the loss of ongoing work

• role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Related content

• Corporate policies and standards

• EPSRC policies and standards

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact future.communications@epsrc.ukri.org

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.orgPhone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm

• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.