Prosperity Partnerships is a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) that funds ambitious, collaborative research programs co-created and co-delivered by UK academic institutions and established business partners. EPSRC funds 80% of the full economic cost, with the business partner required to contribute cash matching at least the amount funded by EPSRC.

Projects must aim to create long-term UK prosperity through fundamental or applied research grounded in engineering and physical sciences. The 2027 cycle opens March 12, 2026, with proposals due by May 21, 2026. Eligible applicants are UK higher education institutions, research council institutes, and approved independent research organizations partnered with UK-based or UK-present businesses.

UKRI Translation: EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships 2027 – UKRI Funding opportunity: UKRI Translation: EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships 2027 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 12 March 2026 9:00am UK time 21 May 2026 4:00pm UK time Last updated: 7 April 2026 - see all updates Apply for funding to support ambitious, collaborative research programmes.

Prosperity Partnerships projects must: be co-created and co-delivered by established business and academic partners aim to create long-term prosperity for the UK, by bringing jobs and revenue growth/addressing societal and sustainability issues be fundamental or applied research, firmly grounded within the engineering and physical sciences Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) of your application.

The business cash contribution must at least match the amount funded by EPSRC. Register below for the webinar on 19 March 2026, 10am UK time. This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility.

Check if your organisation is eligible . The below section provides more detail about what role your organisation may take in an application. Research organisations can act as the ‘primary academic partner’ if they are eligible to receive EPSRC funding.

This includes: UK higher education institutions research council institutes UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-approved independent research organisations public sector research establishments NHS bodies with research capacity For full details about eligibility, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page .

The primary academic partner will be required to create and submit the application on the UKRI Funding Service, but all partners are expected to contribute to the application in the spirit of the partnership before its added to the system. Applications must be co-created with a primary business partner that has an established relationship with the lead academic partner.

The business partner (or partners) must make a cash contribution to the project which matches or exceeds the amount requested from EPSRC.

Businesses can act as the ‘primary business partner’ if they meet at least one of the following requirements: be a UK-based business of any size be a business of any size with a UK presence and significant UK-based research activity be a public sector research establishment (PRSE), noting that your financial contribution to the match funding requirement must not be derived from public funds (appropriate confirmation and assurance of this will be required) be the lead of a consortium of organisations which collectively contributes the match funding, the members of which meet any of the above requirements Collaborations may include international partners, noting that the match funding must be contributed by a partner or consortium meeting the above definitions.

All partners are expected to be involved in the creation of your application. This funding opportunity will support collaborative partnerships between the primary partner organisations which have been established for at least one year. A partnership is a working relationship between the two individuals who will lead the project in both organisations, as well as a broader relationship between the two organisations.

An established partnership in this context is one which meets all the following requirements: has individual relationships at the core of the partnership can be recognised by both primary partner organisations can demonstrate a track record of at least one year (prior to the point of application) showing significant, regular collaborative research projects which the primary academic and business partners have developed and progressed together can demonstrate a clear trajectory for future collaborative work These partnerships may involve the signing of a memorandum of understanding or collaboration agreement.

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.

The aim of the funding opportunity is to support ambitious, collaborative, fundamental research programmes which are co-created and co-delivered by business and academic partners. By co-investing in basic and applied research projects alongside business, we aim to create long-term prosperity for the UK, for example by bringing jobs and revenue growth, or addressing broader societal and sustainability issues.

EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC of your application. The business cash contribution must at least match the amount funded by EPSRC. The duration of this award is up to five years.

Projects must apply for at least £500,000 and may last up to five years. We will pay 80% of the FEC. We particularly encourage involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in this funding opportunity.

Involvement could be as a sole primary business, or as part of a consortium. This funding opportunity does not feature a separate application route for smaller scale projects. Instead, there is a single assessment route, and applications may range in size from £500,000 and up.

You must demonstrate a minimum of one year of an established partnership collaboration in your application. Less established partnerships are expected to apply for smaller grants, and larger grant applications will need to demonstrate stronger evidence of an established partnership. The assessment panel will judge this as part of the assessment process.

If the full economic cost of the project is £625,000, then we would contribute 80% of this figure (£500,000). The match contribution from the industry partners would then need to be at least £500,000 cash and the total value (full economic cost and business cash contribution combined) would be at least £1,125,000. Note that ‘cash’ in this context can include internal investments and salaries of business employees.

See the definitive list of eligible cash contributions for our definition of what can be counted towards the cash contribution. The primary business partner, or the consortium led by the primary business partner, must collectively contribute match funding to the project, in cash, equal to or exceeding the EPSRC contribution. In the case of a consortium, the greatest single contribution should come from the primary business partner.

See the definitive list of eligible cash contributions for our definition of what can be counted towards the cash contribution.

See more funding scenarios Requested funds from EPSRC may include: skills and talent training costs small items of equipment under £25,000 per item and other items required to carry out the project equipment (between £25,000 and £400,000 per item Quotes for equipment do not need to be included in your application.

However, 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 . Prosperity Partnerships are collaborative research partnerships that focus on important industry challenges.

Applications should feature world-leading, fundamental engineering and physical sciences research, which creates long-term prosperity for the UK. They should lead to significant impacts by creating new knowledge, innovations, approaches, or technologies. It should be clear that both the business and academic researchers are making distinct intellectual contributions to the partnership.

This funding opportunity focuses on fundamental and applied research. Projects must be firmly grounded within the engineering and physical sciences. Cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary projects are welcomed.

In our assessment process, we will prioritise applications which can demonstrate clear strategic alignment to one or more areas of high potential identified within the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and the associated sector plans (IS-8). We will consider applications which address other similarly prominent and current national strategies, but we expect the majority of applications to align to the Industrial Strategy.

This aspect will be assessed and used to shortlist and prioritise applications at the first assessment stage.

Please consider the following position statements which set out UKRI’s priorities for each of the IS-8 areas: Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT), Cyber Security and Semiconductors Projects aligning to these topics must support the ambitions outlined in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan and, where relevant, the National Semiconductor Strategy and the National Security Strategy .

All projects must embrace the principles of Secure by Design . This includes: projects which accelerate the commercialisation of ACT research to deliver commercial products and services which can be deployed in networks around the world projects which create and sustain UK sovereign capabilities in ACT, noting that developed ACTs should contribute to the security and resilience of future networks.

projects which enhance, anchor and build upon the UK’s existing strengths in chip design (including compound semiconductors, silicon photonics and optoelectronics as well as novel technologies, architectures and memristors) and projects which enable the advancement of heterogeneous integration in the UK.

projects focusing on ACT, cyber security or semiconductors with applications at the convergence with other IS-8 areas projects which support safe innovation, application and adoption of new digital technologies and which increase the UK’s resilience to all forms of threats Projects aligning with advanced manufacturing must address the priorities set out within the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan .

This includes: challenges in the frontier manufacturing industries: automotive, batteries, aerospace, space, advanced materials and agri-tech with a focus on improving productivity and competitiveness applications which realise the potential of advanced manufacturing to drive progress and growth in other IS-8 sectors are also welcomed partnerships led by or involving small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) Projects aligning to artificial intelligence (AI) must support the direction set out in the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and the UKRI AI Strategy .

All proposals must embed responsible AI at their core.

This includes: partnerships that contribute to development and adoption of novel AI to transform scientific and research endeavours projects that address barriers to AI adoption across sectors, including safe, trustworthy and explainable AI projects which accelerate commercialisation that drives the growth and scaling of UK AI businesses into real-world products and services Clean Growth and Energy (CGE) Projects aligning to CGE should support the UK’s ambition to decarbonise the energy system and create jobs and growth through clean energy industries, as set out in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (PDF, 14.

9MB) and Clean Energy Superpower Mission research areas.

This includes: building research and innovation capacity for the frontier industries of the sector plan alignment to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Cleantech Innovation Challenges (due to launch summer 2026), which will support the development and deployment of mission-critical new technologies in clean energy research and innovation which supports the whole energy system, for example in grid flexibility or smart services.

Projects aligning to the creative industries should support the visions set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan and UKRI’s R&D strategy for the creative and cultural economy .

This includes: accelerate innovation-led growth by developing new IP, tools and technologies, strengthening R&D capability, productivity and resilience across the creative industries, with spill over benefits into other sectors drive commercial impact and global competitiveness by co-developing scalable R&D with industry partners, supporting skills development, supply-chain innovation and adoption of cutting-edge creative technologies, aligned with the national mission to boost sector growth and jobs by 2030.

Projects aligning to Defence and National Security should support the visions set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy , the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence Review 2025 to create a prosperous, resilient defence innovation and industrial base in the UK.

This includes: building out a national, academic research capability delivering solutions to emerging and future threats identified by National Security and Defence stakeholders ensuring that the sector has access to the critical research that underpins its research and development Projects aligning to engineering biology should address the priorities set out in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan .

This includes: projects which enable routes to market for new products and enhance the UK’s capabilities and resilience in key areas of the domestic value chain, while also considering how to overcome the regulatory barriers projects which enhance the UK’s global leadership role on responsible innovation for new engineering biology applications and processes, in particular for biomedicine, clean growth, environmental solutions and food systems partnerships led by or involving relevant UKRI institutes Financial, professional and business services Projects aligning to financial, professional and business services (FPBS) should support the ambitions set out in the Industrial Strategy Sector Plans for Financial Services and Professional and Business Services to strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in technology-enabled services.

This includes: improving the accuracy, reliability and compliance of AI in core professional and financial services tasks, enabling trustworthy outcomes, regulator confidence and proportionate assurance, and driving wider adoption, productivity and competitiveness ensuring the sector has easier and faster access to critical, sector-relevant data, to improve firm-level innovation and productivity and accelerate the development and adoption of emerging digital and AI technologies across FPBS Projects aligning to life sciences should support the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy Life Sciences Sector Plan and the 10 Year Health Plan to drive growth, innovation, and better health outcomes.

This includes: developing innovative advanced treatments pioneering the use of AI in diagnostic medical imaging and medicines discovery developing new tools and technologies to shift from hospital-based to community-based care Projects aligning to quantum technologies must support the vision set out in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan and UK’s National Quantum Strategy (NQS).

They should be aligned to delivering one or more of the UK’s NQS Missions to ensure the UK can benefit from being a quantum enabled economy.

This includes: the delivery of the core outcomes of the NQS Missions projects which complement the broader UK Quantum Technologies ecosystem Match contribution details The business and academic partners should consider the following: business cash contribution will at least match the amount funded by EPSRC (see the ‘Definitive list of eligible cash contributions’ section).

Any contribution not defined under the definitive list will count as ‘in-kind’ no UKRI, public or government funding will be used as match funding Match contribution: single primary business partner If there is a single primary business partner named in the application, then they must provide a cash contribution which at least matches the EPSRC funding . Our funding is at 80% of FEC of the application.

In-kind contributions will not count towards this cash component but are encouraged. See examples in the costings examples document Match contribution: consortium led by a primary business partner The combined cash contributions from all the business partners must at least match the EPSRC funding requested. The value of the primary business partner’s cash contribution must be the greatest among business partners on this application.

In-kind contributions, such as data, software, management time, or facilities access are welcome and can help show business commitment to the success of the project. However, they will not count towards the industry matching contributions. Any academic partner’s cash contribution, including the primary academic partner, does not contribute to the matching contribution requirements.

There is no expectation for the academic partners to contribute significantly to the project, and it won’t affect the assessment of your application. We do not mandate a specific audit format for the business contributions to a project. However, a record must be provided if requested that can demonstrate a continuous auditable cash transfer, or staff time-record by the business partner.

The business cash contribution can be used in conjunction with our funds for the gross academic staff salaries such as researchers, postdoctoral research associates (PDRAs), technicians, and the project manager (that is National Insurance, taxes including indirect costs such as pension). Definitive list of eligible cash contributions Please note that the names of grant roles have changed .

Researchers’ salaries (including project co-lead, researcher co-lead) This should be all or part of the pro rata, gross salary cost associated with researchers employed by universities or businesses (including co-leads, and postgraduate researchers). The expectation is that researchers will devote a significant and appropriate amount of their time on the Prosperity Partnership required for the project.

The salary of the person who is the primary business partner must be paid by the business. This money is not eligible to be counted as a cash or in-kind contribution. This will be one of the aspects looked at by peer review to ensure that the appropriate resources are being dedicated to the project.

Research and innovation associates’ salary (including postdoctoral research associates) This should be all or part of the gross salary cost associated with research and innovation associates employed by research organisations to work exclusively on the Prosperity Partnership.

Research and innovation associates can also be employed directly by the businesses in the partnership and claim the gross salary as a cash contribution if they are exclusively committed to working on the Prosperity Partnership. Professional enabling staff salary (including grant manager ) The pro rata gross salary cost of professional enabling staff is an eligible cash contribution.

The expectation is that they will devote a significant and appropriate amount of their time on the Prosperity Partnership required for the project. Specialists’ and technicians’ salary The pro rata gross salary costs of specialists are an eligible cash contribution. A specialist is an individual who brings specialist skills and intellectual input to the project.

For example, data scientist, graphic designer, high-level or specialist technician or librarian. They must be employed by the primary business partner or one of the collaborating partners and the expectation is that they will devote a significant and appropriate amount of their time on the Prosperity Partnership required for the project.

This should be new software licences needed for the project and their maintenance cost for the duration of the grant. Software licences or intellectual property owned by the business which are already accessible by the partners will apply at marginal cost, not at market rate.

This should be genuine new equipment purchases and should be dedicated to the objectives of the Prosperity Partnership, and their utilisation should be critical to deliver the activity. The access does not have to be restricted to the project members, but we expect that the equipment will be available to project members as required for the project. All equipment should be appropriately justified.

Equipment produced by the business This should be equipment produced by the business, but only at the cost of manufacture, not market rate. Equipment-specific materials This should be specific consumable materials which are required for certain equipment, for example material used in 3D-printing.

Access to equipment and facilities This should be access to specific equipment and facilities critical to achieve the outcomes of the project, including access to labs and use of lab equipment. If the facility is based at the academic or primary business partner, the contribution will be at the internal rate, not market rate.

Facilities refurbishment can be an eligible research organisation cash contribution if the upgrade will increase the capability of the facilities. This contribution must be justified in addition to any estate costs already factored in. This is a business cash donation which will be provided to the partner universities, for the universities to manage in line with the project objectives.

Managing conflicts of interest It is important to manage conflicts of interest proactively, whether they are actual conflicts or perceived conflicts. You should set out how you will manage any potential conflicts of interest in your application. You must declare in your application if any member of your project leadership team has paid positions within both the business and research organisation partnering on the same project.

If this is the case, you must also clarify the separation of duties. 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 . UKRI supports over 25,000 FTE research and innovation (R&I) staff directly on grants, many more if indirect costs, facility charges and strategic funding streams are included.

Those skilled people and teams design our studies, deliver the R&I work and disseminate the outputs. They are the R&I system, and critical to delivering the outcomes we invest in. Our expectations for people and teams are collated on the supporting skills and talent section of the good research resource hub .

In this opportunity, we are piloting a new approach to embedding consideration of people and teams in our assessment. Some of the assessment criteria have been updated to reflect this. You can find the background to the pilot on our website .

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. 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. This funding opportunity has a ‘primary business partner’ and a ‘primary academic partner’.

The primary academic partner should be added on the Funding Service as the named project lead. Under the ‘Applicant and team capability section’, indicate the details of the primary business partner. All assessment stages will consider both roles as joint leads.

The individual acting as the primary academic partner and the individual acting as the primary business partner may only be named in these joint roles on one application at a time. Businesses and research organisations may be primary or supporting partners on any number of applications.

Organisations which are involved in multiple applications must confirm their commitment in their letter of support to provide all the stated resources for any successful applications they are involved in. The primary academic partner 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.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: Confirm you are the project lead. Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this Opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account.

This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you. 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 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 . EPSRC must receive your application by 21 May 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 the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may 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 funding 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 . EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with relevant Research Councils if there is a substantial element of the proposed work which lies outside EPSRC’s remit. 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 match funding There is no requirement for match 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 match 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.

Opportunity-specific information about roles Although the primary business partner is a key member of the team, they cannot be listed here with a core grant role. Instead, details should be added under the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ and ‘Project partner’ sections.

The primary academic partner should start and create the application on the UKRI Funding Service, but all partners are expected to contribute to the application in the spirit of the partnership before its added to the system. 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 Create a document that