Immersive Arts phase two: invite only

Immersive Arts phase two: invite only is sponsored by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Immersive Arts phase two: invite only. Funding opportunity from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Apply via the UKRI portal.

Immersive Arts phase two: invite only – UKRI Funding opportunity: Immersive Arts phase two: invite only Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotland 12 May 2026 9:00am UK time 11 June 2026 4:00pm UK time This is an invite-only funding opportunity for funding to lead a consortium to deliver the second phase of the Immersive Arts programme.

This three-year programme will support the development and impact of creative practice and stimulate economic growth through the adoption and application of immersive technologies within the arts, culture and creative sectors across the UK. The maximum amount of funding that Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the UK national arts development bodies will provide to the project is £8. 35 million (pre-indexation).

This funding opportunity is being administered by AHRC on behalf of all the funding partners. You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so. This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility.

Check if your organisation is eligible . As a minimum, the consortium must include five partners from across the UK.

This will support one hub and a minimum of four regionally dispersed partners which must include: two partners based in England, at least one of which must be outside of London one partner based in Northern Ireland one partner based in Scotland one partner based in Wales The consortium may include more partners, including a mix from the creative industry and cultural, commercial and research sectors.

The number and combination of these partners will be determined by the consortium and will be based on their ability to support the delivery of Immersive Arts’ objectives and activities.

Consortium partners from cultural and creative organisations, the creative industry and commercial sector that contribute to the delivery of Immersive Arts’ activities can receive funds from the consortium lead hub organisation to cover their involvement as collaborating organisations.

If these consortium partners are individuals who bring specialist skills and intellectual input to the project, they should be listed as specialist on the project as part of the core team roles. The one thing to note in regard to them being a specialist on the project is that they must be employed by the lead organisation or one of the collaborating organisations, except if a public contributor.

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: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process. Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.

AHRC and all four UK national arts development bodies are looking to commission a second phase of the Immersive Arts Programme, a three-year creative research and development innovation programme (originally known as XRtists). The programme builds on the successes and learnings from the first three-year phase of the programme.

As in Phase one, the programme will support the adoption and application of creative immersive technologies, and where appropriate other new technologies, developing creative practice and economic impact in the creative and cultural sectors across the UK.

It will support createch growth and skills development, addressing barriers to strengthen innovation capacity and, where appropriate, attract private investment, as per the UK Government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan . It will be aligned to the Creative Industries Sector Plan and the ambitions of the Industrial Strategy which identifies the sector’s high growth potential.

The consortium should outline how it will continue its successful collaboration with relevant cultural, commercial and research partners across the UK. It should also assess the need for additional partners and build on its existing collaborations to expand reach and growth impacts, as highlighted in the UKRI R&D strategy for the Creative and Cultural economy .

The consortium will deliver the programme in accordance with the objectives and targets required by the funding partners.

support the arts and culture sector in the UK to develop skills and knowledge in immersive content and experience development, production and distribution refine the existing pipeline of Immersive Arts funding strands to support organisations and individuals at different scales and levels of readiness support collaboration and ecology building across all regions of the UK to strengthen the reach and innovation growth of the UK’s creative immersive industries build on the successes of Phase one events, providing opportunities to celebrate, showcase and distribute projects that derive from the Immersive Arts programme support knowledge exchange and mentoring in immersive production and distribution between the academic, creative industries and arts and culture sectors undertake research and mapping which will support the growth of the UK arts, culture and creative sectors and the creative immersive industries in the long-term build on the successful development of the Immersive Arts brand, to catalyse pathways to collaboration and create a well understood home for the immersive arts community continue to lead the way in the development of inclusive and accessible opportunities for people of all backgrounds to make and enjoy creative immersive productions across all areas of the UK support the development of mature, high-potential projects from Phase one, to drive commercialisation of creative research and innovation, and creative assets What the successful consortium will be expected to deliver The successful consortium will deliver four primary strands of activity to enable the objectives to be realised across the UK.

These strands will be to: run devolved funding programmes (minimum 55% of total budget for devolved awards) provide training and skills development for individuals and cultural or creative organisations organise an annual industry showcase The consortium should also propose additional activities and engagement strategies to support the realisation of objectives not covered within the four strands, such as: mentorship or producer support business and commercialisation skills The consortium will utilise a minimum of 55% of the total budget to develop and run devolved funding programmes over the three years of the award.

The devolved funding will provide approximately 200 to 240 awards in total, supporting at least three levels of applicants.

The three levels of awards are: Explore: these awards are expected to be approximately £6,000, aiming to support small-scale research and development projects for organisations and individuals with limited prior experience of immersive technologies to test ideas or proofs of concept which could potentially result in applications for prototype funding Experiment: these awards are expected to be approximately £24,000.

They will be expected to push the boundaries of creative immersive production. Some awards might assist small-scale research and development projects to make the transition to full-scale prototypes.

To support prototype development the consortium should provide access to mentors, workshops and facilities in addition to funding for production Expand: these awards are expected to be approximately £60,000 with the aim of enabling a small number of the successful prototypes to continue development.

This funding will support audience-facing projects to become market-ready and sustainable in the longer term In addition, a form of Impact Funding is expected to support funded artists to take up opportunities for additional impact that arise in relation to Immersive Arts funded projects.

Further support for projects that exhibit high potential for sustainable economic growth should be provided by either the Impact Funding or other sources.

Devolved funding basic modelling The consortium is expected to indicate how the awards will be distributed between the three levels of readiness and across at least two rounds of funding in a way that reflects the needs of the sector, and which will maximise the likelihood of positive outcomes from the funded projects. The breakdown of awards between rounds for Phase one is noted below as an example of how awards were distributed.

Immersive Arts Phase one awards: Devolved funding should also include Impact awards for previously successful applicants . Any partners who form part of the consortium will be ineligible to apply for devolved funding. The consortium will be expected to clearly demonstrate how they will ensure that the opportunities of the programme are widely available, and the benefits are spread across the four nations of the UK.

The successful consortium will work with the funding partners to ensure that the devolved funding meets the necessary terms and conditions of the overall award. The consortium will need to consider how the devolved funding will be allocated via an appropriate review and assessment process, informed by Phase one.

The allocation of the devolved funds must be fair and transparent and within the framework of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) principles of assessment and decision-making . Training and skills development The consortium will need to continue to offer a package of skills development and provide entry-level or introductory training programmes.

This will give organisations and individuals from across the UK with limited prior experience of immersive production access to facilities, expertise and mentoring.

The consortium should consider how: participants can be supported to apply for the entry level awards (‘Explore’) at the end of the training where this is appropriate, based on learnings from Phase one some programme beneficiaries could progress from entry level funding (‘Explore’) to prototype (‘Experiment’) and follow-on funding (‘Expand’ and ’Impact awards’) in later stages The consortium will undertake further research and mapping which will increase support for the adoption, application and economic growth of creative immersive technologies within the arts and culture sector across the UK.

The consortium is expected to engage stakeholders from the UK arts and culture sector and the creative immersive industries to establish the research priorities, and to complement the work of the AHRC-funded CoSTAR Foresight lab and the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and the CICP Creative Clusters.

Examples of research areas which could be explored include (this list is not exhaustive): how creative immersive projects are brought to market and distributed to benefit audiences the audience experience of and engagement with creative immersive projects business and funding models for creative immersive projects how the nature of productions and performances changes in response to technology use workforce skills and training; supporting freelancers net zero challenges for the immersive arts sector barriers to growth (for example, access to facilities) accessibility and inclusivity practice based research and development (R&D) The consortium will continue to develop and run its annual industry showcase.

The aim of the showcase will be to build networks and a sense of community around immersive arts practice, creating a national and potentially international profile for the Immersive Arts programme and its outputs and to attract distribution opportunities and onward investment for award holders.

The showcase does not need to be held in the same location each year, it can change location to reflect the geographic diversity of the programme. The funding partners have together allocated £8. 35 million for this funding opportunity at full economic cost (FEC).

We are not able to specify what that is in full project cost terms as that will depend on the proportion of costs to be funded at 100% versus 80% FEC based on your proposal. The maximum amount of funding that AHRC and the UK national arts development bodies will provide to the project is £8. 35 million.

Therefore, by way of example, if 5% of the project is funded at 80% FEC the university contribution would be £83,500. The AHRC and UK arts council funding plus the university contribution would result in a full project cost of £8,433,500. If 10% of the project is funded at 80% FEC the university contribution would be £167,000.

This would result in a full project cost of £8,517,000. If 15% of the project is funded at 80% FEC the university contribution would be £250,000. This would result in a full project cost of £8,600,500.

The devolved funding activity will account for a minimum of 55 % of total budget and should be costed at 100% FEC. Other (non-exceptions) costs should be costed at 80% FEC in line with standard UKRI terms and conditions . The consortium will be expected to ringfence a minimum 55% of the total award for distribution via devolved funding.

The devolved funding budget might therefore be distributed as follows: Explore: 20% to 30% (previously 30%) Experiment: 40% to 50% (previously 50%) Expand: 20% to 30% (previously 20%) Impact funds responsive to opportunity or further support to develop a pipeline of growth and distribution with other investments: 10% to 20% (previously approximately 10%) As per funding application for Phase one, the consortium will need to demonstrate a strong management plan and operational structures to maintain delivery of a programme of this scale.

In building and maintaining the consortium team, you are encouraged to consider the range of capabilities you will need to deliver the objectives and activities.

leadership of the consortium (director role and co-directors if appropriate) the role of partner organisations programme management and administration communications, branding and website management events and engagement (including with funders, devolved awards, and the wider landscape of stakeholders and potential programme beneficiaries) supporting potential business development opportunities which may be created performance monitoring and impact reporting devolved funding assessment and awards process You may draw upon existing resources, either within a research organisation or partner organisation in building your teams.

The funding partners will convene a Programme Management Board to provide oversight of the programme and ensure the consortium is supported in its activities. The consortium lead will be expected to engage with this group and attend forum meetings where required.

The funding partners will also work with the consortium to re-convene the advisory group which will include independent representation from sector leaders, creative and cultural practitioners and academics. The consortium must ensure they have robust governance structures in place to which all partners show a commitment.

The governance mechanisms (for example steering or management groups, or both) should be appropriate to support the successful delivery of the programme, both strategically and operationally, without being overly burdensome. The consortium will be required to provide the funders with regular updates and reporting at Programme Board, similarly to Phase one.

Performance monitoring and evaluation The consortium should ensure that performance monitoring of their activities, outputs and impacts is well-considered from the outset to effectively track the contribution and impacts across the cultural and creative sector.

They will be required to provide the funders with regular updates, reports and data, including ad-hoc reporting requirements that will help funders to report against Industrial Strategy IS-8 delivery, with key performance indicators and metrics to be agreed post-award. An interim programme report will also be expected from the consortium, summarising the highlights and achievements of the programme.

The funding partners will also commission an external evaluation of the programme and the consortium will be expected to engage with the evaluator and their processes, including the provision of relevant data, as required.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) The consortium must demonstrate a continued commitment to building an inclusive activity programme and a leadership and management team that reflects the diversity of the UK and that addresses current inequalities of opportunity. They must ensure that proactive EDI measures continue to be built into the structure of the consortium and its activities at a fundamental level.

This commitment to promoting EDI should include the design and delivery of the devolved funding, training and events activities run by the consortium.

Please note that proactively championing and enabling diversity and equality of opportunities to participate in the making and enjoyment of creative immersive productions is a core objective of the programme, that is, “to lead the way in the development of inclusive and accessible opportunities for people of all backgrounds to make and enjoy creative immersive productions across all areas of the UK”.

Environmental sustainability The consortium should demonstrate how they will approach issues of environmental sustainability within their activities and will take a proactive approach to reducing their environmental impact and carbon footprint.

The Immersive Arts programme should aspire to play a leadership role in the development of best practice in relation to sustainable design and development processes within creative immersive projects. The consortium should also encourage a proactive approach from the recipients of the devolved funding. The duration of this award is three years.

Projects must start by 1 February 2027. The maximum amount of funding that AHRC and the UK arts council co-funders will provide to the project is £8. 35 million.

We are not able to specify what that is in full project cost terms as that will depend on the proportion of costs to be funded at 100% versus 80% FEC based on your proposal. 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 you can find additional support.

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. You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so. The start application link will be provided via email: Confirm you are the project lead.

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. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. Send the completed application to your research office for checking.

They will return it to you if it needs editing. 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 in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) insert each new image on 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 will be rejected if you include: sentences or paragraphs of text 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 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 . AHRC must receive your application by 11 June 2026 at 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 may be rejected.

AHRC, 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 .

AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with the co-funders, as per phase one, so that they can participate in the assessment process. For more information on how the co-funders use personal information, please visit their websites: Arts Council Northern Ireland If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email creative@ahrc.

ukri. org with ‘Confidential: Immersive Arts’ in the subject line. 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) 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.

AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at AHRC board and panel outcomes . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . 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: the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: context including consortium partners the challenge the programme addresses top level aims and objectives innovative approaches to delivering the challenge the transformational impact and benefits it will have List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) specialist – this could also include industry experts professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead.

If key members of your team are industry experts who bring specialist skills and intellectual input to the project, such as producers on the consortium, they should be listed as a specialist. The one thing to note in regard to them being a specialist on the project is that they must be employed by the lead organisation or one of the collaborating organisations, except if a public contributor.

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 .

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your proposed work: is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s) has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area meets the strategic aims of the funding opportunity is timely given current trends, context, and needs impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment identifies the potential local, regional or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be enhances the UK’s research and innovation capabilities through local, regional or both 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. To support your response, you can also include a short comparison between Immersive Arts Phase one and the proposed Phase two of the programme, to show how Phase two aims to learn from the first Phase and will develop the aims of the programme.

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach so that it: is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable) summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable) will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work has been designed so that it will generate local, regional or national impacts clearly addresses the core characteristics in the ‘What we are looking for’ section including the approach to devolved funding.

Additionally, please include your approach to the following, under these headings, within your response: monitoring, evaluation and learning 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.

To support your response, you can also include comparisons between Immersive Arts Phase one and the proposed Phase two of the programme, to show how Phase two learns from the first Phase and will develop the aims of the programme. Applicant and team capability to deliver Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

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) to deliver the proposed work the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work 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 limit for this section is 2,050 words: 1,550 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the 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 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.

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 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 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). Complete this 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.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) What are