Isambard-AI and Dawn AIRR supercomputers: Innovator route

Opportunity status: Open Funders: , , , , , , , Funding type: Other Publication date: 6 November 2025 Opening date: 6 November 2025 9:00am UK time Closing date: 16 January 2026 4:00pm UK time Apply for up to 150,000 graphics processing unit (GPU) hours on the Isambard-AI and Dawn supercomputers for artificial intelligence (AI) related research and development projects. This route: provides flexible computational support for AI-related research and development projects that will expand AI capabilities and push current AI boundaries encourages the formation of broader research teams and partnerships, fostering multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral innovation You must be a UK researcher from academia, industry or other organisations. You can apply for between 50,000 and 150,000 GPU hours to be used over a six-month project. No funding is provided. This opportunity is open to eligible researchers from across the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) remit. To be a project lead, you must have a contract (of longer duration than your proposed project) with your organisation. Your organisation must be one of the following: UK registered business, with a Companies House registration number charity not for profit Find out about the different types of organisation in our . There is no limit to the number of applications from any one organisation. We welcome collaborative projects. You can only be project lead on one application to this opportunity. We consider research technical professionals, including research software engineers, as academic employees. They are eligible to be a project lead or co-lead under the same terms as traditional researchers. Previous awards To prove your intended use of AIRR is feasible and scalable, we expect you to have already applied for and used an or award. If not, the first month of any innovator award will be treated as a similar assessment period. The full award of GPU hours will not be released until the intended use of AIRR is proven feasible and scalable (for example, has the project consumed at least 10,000 GPU hours). Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all applicants. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. The Innovator route offers an open and adaptable pathway for accessing computational resources, available to users across academia, industry and individual research, within the broad remit of the AIRR programme. It builds upon the existing Gateway route by supporting larger, more ambitious projects, that continue to explore emerging areas of AI. This route is designed to help build capacity across the UK’s compute ecosystem for AI research through experimentation, cross-sector collaboration and skills development. It encourages the formation of broader research teams and partnerships, fostering multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral innovation, while maintaining a focus on new users, disruptive thinking and early-stage innovation. Aligned with the strategic vision set out in the UK Compute Roadmap, the Innovator route contributes to the development of a diverse, integrated and responsive compute ecosystem. This ecosystem is intended to support the full scientific and innovation lifecycle, operating as a coherent and flexible suite of services that are accessible across disciplines and sectors. This opportunity supports the UK Compute Roadmap’s goal of scaling capability, enhancing accessibility, and strengthening collaboration across the UK compute landscape, including integration with other compute services where appropriate. It will do this by enabling access to resources for more ambitious research and innovation efforts. Potential topics and activities Potential AI-related research and development topics include, but are not limited to: development of novel algorithms and software tools exploring AI-assisted workflows AI-driven data collection, production and synthesis early-stage development of AI products Within these novel and developing areas, we are particularly keen to hear from projects that contribute to delivering against the government’s five missions: growing the economy an NHS fit for the future safer streets opportunity for all making Britain a clean energy superpower This route covers activities that fall into the following categories: fundamental research feasibility studies industrial research experimental development See more on . Resources available This opportunity has an indicative budget of 2,000,000 GPU hours across the two AIRR services. Each application can request between 50,000 and 150,000 GPU hours on either of Dawn or Isambard-AI, to be used over a six-month project. This application process is for compute resource. No funding is available. Trusted research and innovation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector. It will enable partnerships to be as open as possible and as secure as necessary. Our set out UKRI’s expectations of projects awarded through this route in relation to due diligence for UK and international collaboration. Subsidy control and state aid where applicable All AIRR access routes provide awards in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. See , including the relevant support ratios. You can use the AIRRPortal to apply to use AIRR. Guidance on how to apply to the Innovator route can also be found at . If your application does not follow this guidance, it may be rejected. General guidance on using the AIRRPortal can be found at: Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to ensure that: all information provided in the application is accurate all project information details requested have been provided the application meets the eligibility and scope criteria for the chosen access route the application contains the additional documents requested in the guidance (templates for the documents to be uploaded are available on the AIRRPortal) What to include in your application The application consists of two components. AIRRPortal online form The form has three sections, not scored by assessors: project details, which includes the ‘Upload supporting documentation’ option, where the supporting attachments should be uploaded resource requests project team Supporting documentation The following supporting documentation should be uploaded: project details form, which includes organisational information, team members, trusted research and innovation, project costs and subsidy history, and ethical assessment (not scored by assessors) assessment questions (scored by assessors) Templates for both attachments are available on the AIRRPortal. Processing personal data and data sharing UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will need to collect some personal information to manage your application. 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 . UKRI will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) so that they can participate in the assessment process. See more information on . Assessment process Eligibility and remit UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will check Innovator applications for eligibility and remit. Expert review Innovator applications will be subject to peer review by two reviewers drawn from the AI and high-performance computing community. Allocating resources Following assessment, applications will be allocated to one of three tiers. Resources will be allocated to the applications in the top tier as priority, using partial randomisation as required. Applications in the middle tier may be recommended for resources using partial randomisation. Resources are allocated until the budget is exhausted throughout the middle tier. Assessment by experts remains the mainstay of the process and applications must pass a certain threshold to be deemed competitively strong against the assessment criteria. Therefore, only highly competitive applications will be considered via randomisation. The UKRI or Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Delivery team will make the final allocation decision. Assessment areas Your application will be assessed against the following areas: are the project objectives in scope for the AIRR programme? has the project demonstrated how it has the potential to advance current understanding of AI research and innovation, and impact world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment? has the project demonstrated how it will contribute to building capacity across the AI ecosystem? has the project demonstrated that the AIRR resources requested are appropriate and justified? has the project demonstrated that it has identified and evaluated the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations, including how to manage these considerations? We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed. What happens if you receive an award offer If your project application is successful, UKRI will send the project lead a formal offer letter, which will contain: the award terms and conditions any subsidy notice required a link to the online equality monitoring form When you confirm the equality monitoring form has been completed, the project lead will be emailed a project link from the AIRRPortal. By logging in to the AIRRPortal and accessing the compute resources, you will have accepted the UKRI terms and conditions. Important notes We will not accept requests to significantly delay the award start date. UKRI and DSIT reserve the right to pause your access to AIRR to allow high priority projects and urgent national requirements to access AIRR. We will provide as much notice as possible should this occur and work with you to reschedule work appropriately. Get help with your application For guidance, email:  Background The AIRR programme intends to address the significant shortage of publicly available computing resources in the UK. In January 2025, the government announced expanding AIRR capacity, by at least 20 times by 2030, as part of the . The government has committed to spending an extra £1 billion to scale up our compute power by a factor of 20, giving Britain the power to become an AI leader. AIRR is a partnership between: UK government UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) University of Cambridge University of Bristol Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Nvidia Intel Dell AIRR compute clusters The government is investing significantly in the Isambard-AI and Dawn AIRR clusters and will have invested over £350 million by 2030. Isambard-AI, University of Bristol The Isambard-AI facility is the UK’s most powerful public compute facility. It is made up of 5,448 Nvidia GH200 Grace-Hopper superchips (supplied by HPE) and operated by the University of Bristol at Bristol’s National Composites Centre. . Dawn, University of Cambridge The Cambridge Dawn facility is made up of 1,024 Intel Data Centre GPU Max 1550 GPUs. It is a close partnership between Cambridge, Intel and Dell at the Cambridge Open Zettascale Lab. . Supporting documents