New Funding Opportunities for Life Sciences and Innovation
A range of new funding calls from Innovate UK and partners are now open, spanning AI, advanced manufacturing, neurotechnologies and materials innovation - areas highly relevant to many Bionow members.
Below are a selection of current opportunities, with key deadlines and eligibility highlights.
Frontier AI: Discovery
- Deadline: 10 June 2026 (11:00am)
- Funding: £25k–£50k feasibility studies (Phase 1)
- Eligibility: Open to single UK-registered organisations including businesses, research organisations, charities and public sector bodies
A good fit for early-stage, technically ambitious AI concepts looking to build towards larger collaborative programmes.
Frontier AI: Benchmarking Datasets
- Deadline: 27 May 2026 (11:00am)
- Funding: £500k–£750k per project (from a £4.5m fund)
- Eligibility: Collaborative projects only, led by a UK business or RTO, with at least one SME partner
Focused on building high-quality datasets and benchmarking tools to accelerate AI development, including applications in health and life sciences.
Medicines Manufacturing: Labs of the Future
- Deadline: 27 May 2026 (11:00am)
- Funding: £500k–£1.5m per project (up to £7.5m total)
- Eligibility: UK-registered SMEs must lead; can apply alone or in collaboration with academia, RTOs and other partners
Supports the adoption of digital, AI and robotic technologies to improve pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing efficiency.
ARIA: Massively Scalable Neurotechnologies (TA1)
- Deadline: 11 May 2026 (14:00 BST)
- Funding: Typically £2m–£4m per project
- Eligibility: Open to a wide range of organisations and teams (including academia, SMEs, startups and international applicants), with a focus on non-surgical neural interface development
A more ambitious programme supporting breakthrough neurotechnology approaches, particularly relevant to those working at the interface of biology and engineering.
National Materials Innovation Programme: Feasibility Studies (Round 2)
- Deadline: 24 June 2026 (11:00am)
- Funding: Share of up to £2m for feasibility studies
- Eligibility: Open to UK-registered businesses, either applying alone or as part of a collaboration
Supports early-stage materials innovation projects with a clear route toward industrial application, including healthcare-relevant materials.
These calls reflect the continued breadth of funding available across the UK innovation ecosystem, from early feasibility work through to large-scale, transformative R&D programmes.
For a wider view of currently open competitions across the health and life sciences sector, members can explore the full opportunities page here.