Optical wireless communications research and testing facility

Optical wireless communications research and testing facility is sponsored by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Optical wireless communications research and testing facility. Funding opportunity from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Apply via the UKRI portal.

Optical wireless communications research and testing facility – UKRI Funding opportunity: Optical wireless communications research and testing facility Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 8 July 2026 9:00am UK time 15 September 2026 4:00pm UK time Apply for funding to establish an optical wireless communications research and testing facility.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding. This facility will support communications research and convergences among terrestrial networks, non-terrestrial networks, high altitude platform stations, inter-satellite links, free space optics, ground-to-ground networks and so on. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £7.

13 million . EPSRC will fund 100% of the FEC for facility and 100% of the FEC for resources. This funding is subject to business case approval.

Funding can be requested for up to 27 months. This funding opportunity has been relaunched following a pause to update assessment processes, introducing additional requirements on eligibility criteria, security checks and facility operational governance provisions. 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 .

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 UK, the US or Vatican City.

You 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.

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 . 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: 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 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. 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 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.

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.

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. 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. 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: FY 2028 to 2029 spend profile: 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 . 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. 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 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. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: 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 (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 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 . 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. 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 . 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) 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.

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 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: the challenge the project addresses potential applications and benefits List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate 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 .

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 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. You 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