Centre for Quantum Commercialisation Skills
Closed EPSRC grant call for one UK centre that strengthens quantum commercialisation skills over four years, with an award range of £10,000,000 to £11,300,000 in non-FEC eligible costs.
Centre for Quantum Commercialisation Skills
This page is a historical reference for the 2026 Centre for Quantum Commercialisation Skills funding opportunity. The official Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) page now marks the opportunity Closed. It does not announce a replacement round or a new application window. The published closing date for this cycle was 14 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time, so organisations cannot submit a new application to this call.
The call was designed to fund one UK centre for four years. Its purpose was to build commercialisation skills among quantum researchers and connect them with industry, investors, users and other partners. It was not a conventional research project, doctoral studentship or equipment call. The official page gives an award range of £10,000,000 to £11,300,000 and says the grant is non-FEC: EPSRC would fund 100% of eligible costs, while estates and indirect costs would not be funded. The planned project start date was 1 December 2026.
Key details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Centre for Quantum Commercialisation Skills |
| Funder | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Funding type | Grant |
| Amount | £10,000,000 - £11,300,000 |
| Opportunity status | Closed; historical reference |
| Publication date | 7 May 2026 |
| Opening date | 6 May 2026 (9:00 am UK time) |
| Closing date | 14 July 2026 (4:00 pm UK time) |
| Planned project start | 1 December 2026 |
| Duration | 4 years |
| Location | UK |
| Eligibility basis | Standard UKRI eligibility and an EPSRC-eligible UK research organisation |
| Not eligible for | tuition fees, stipends, research training support grant, long-term research, public engagement, equipment over £25,000, and IP filing costs |
| Submission system | UKRI Funding Service (not Je-S) |
| Application restrictions | One lead application per research organisation; one project-lead appearance per person |
What the call was intended to fund
The call addressed a skills and translation gap in the UK quantum sector. EPSRC wanted a national centre that could help researchers recognise market-driven opportunities, protect and progress intellectual property, form spin-outs where appropriate, and work effectively with industry and investors. The intended centre was to complement existing UK quantum investments rather than run its own substantive subject-led research programme.
The official objectives covered several connected outcomes:
- strengthen the UK quantum workforce with commercial and entrepreneurial skills;
- help research progress towards IP protection, licensing, commercial exploitation and spin-out creation;
- address different levels of commercialisation training across the quantum research community;
- help researchers identify industry-relevant opportunities and possible routes from discovery to use;
- improve understanding between academia, industry, investors and end users; and
- support challenge-led co-creation with partners to surface needs and early ideas.
The centre was expected to operate for the benefit of the wider UK quantum community, even if it was hosted by one lead organisation or a consortium. Activities were therefore meant to be nationally accessible and open to researchers at different career stages. A proposal focused only on the host university or one laboratory would not have matched the published remit.
Who could apply
The lead applicant had to be a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding, with standard UKRI organisational eligibility applying. The call was open to organisations rather than individual-only applicants. EPSRC stated that the award was intended to be provided on a no-subsidy basis under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Applicants and partners therefore needed to consider whether their project activity could give an economic advantage to an organisation and build suitable controls into governance.
Demand management applied. Only one application could be submitted per research organisation as lead organisation, and a person could be named project lead in no more than one application. An organisation could participate in other applications as a non-lead organisation. The UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation Agreement did not apply, and the official page specifically ruled out a Norway-based international co-project lead.
The suggested centre model included a lead research organisation or, where appropriate, a multi-institutional centre; a co-director for centre strategy and operations; a co-director for commercialisation and entrepreneurial skills; a wider team covering skills development, equality, diversity and inclusion, translation, partnerships and stakeholder engagement; a hub manager; administrative support; and independent advisory and governance structures. The application could name only one person as project lead in the Funding Service, but UKRI welcomed flexible or joint leadership arrangements in the wider team.
Funding, eligible activity and exclusions
The award could be up to £11.3 million, with a published range of £10 million to £11.3 million. It was a non-FEC grant: 100% of eligible costs could be funded, but estates and indirect costs were not allowable. The centre was expected to request a budget that was tied to delivery rather than treating the award as unrestricted institutional funding.
The official examples of potentially eligible costs included leadership salaries for time spent establishing and running the centre, administrative support, staff costs connected with placements or other two-way movement of people, justified travel and subsistence, external facilitators, mentors and coaches, specialist subcontracting for targeted training, software and delivery platforms, events, engagement activity and website development. Project partners were expected to contribute cash or in-kind support, such as staff time, specialist expertise, mentoring or hosting placements.
The centre’s flexible fund was intended to support early-stage research acceleration, opportunity discovery and ideation, placements and related capability-building activity. The official page says flexible funds could support researchers at any career stage at organisations currently eligible for EPSRC funding, subject to fair, transparent allocation and appropriate reporting. PhD students and research and innovation associates at eligible organisations could be eligible for flexible-fund awards, but the centre itself was not to provide student stipends or fees.
The call expressly excluded tuition fees, stipends, research training support grant costs, long-term research carried out by the centre, public engagement activities, equipment over £25,000 and the filing of intellectual property such as patents, trademarks or registered designs. Salaries of staff employed by industry or other non-eligible organisations could not be funded through the grant, including during placements into academia. The centre also could not give direct financial support or selective advantage to individual enterprises.
Delivery expectations
EPSRC expected the centre to provide a coherent programme rather than isolated workshops. The core activity families were:
- exchange of people and skills across the academic-industry interface, including placements and other forms of two-way movement;
- an early-stage research accelerator helping teams speak with potential users, test assumptions about use cases and assess possible application routes;
- opportunity discovery and ideation activities with private- and public-sector partners, such as themed workshops, sandpits and facilitated challenge exploration; and
- tailored, freely accessible courses and resources covering commercialisation, entrepreneurship, innovation practice, intellectual property, regulation, compliance, export controls, trusted research, equality, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
The accelerator was expected to include buddying, coaching and mentoring, and to end with researchers presenting findings to experts for advice on suitable next steps. Possible onward routes included further sponsored research, licensing or funding for spin-out creation. Training was expected to develop over time into a sustainable resource that could support the sector beyond the award.
Governance was central to the design. EPSRC expected oversight of training, capability building and exploratory activity; transparent processes for allocating devolved funding; avoidance of duplicated support from other UKRI investments; Trusted Research and Innovation controls; inclusive national engagement; independent scrutiny; and continuous evaluation. The call also required an equality, diversity and inclusion plan, including a costed staff post with responsibility for EDI. An independent advisory board or equivalent body was required, with at least 50% independent membership and an independent chair to be agreed with EPSRC.
How the 2026 application was submitted
The application route was the new UKRI Funding Service, not Je-S. The project lead was responsible for completing the application, while team members and project partners were expected to contribute. Only the lead research organisation could submit to UKRI. The published process was:
- Select Start application on the UKRI Funding Finder page.
- Confirm the project-lead role and sign in or create a Funding Service account linked to the organisation.
- Answer the questions in the Funding Service, saving work or preparing responses offline for later transfer. Upload documents when the service requests them.
- Review the application in read-only view and allow time for corrections.
- Send the completed application to the research office for checking.
- The research office submits the checked application to UKRI.
EPSRC had to receive the application by 14 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time. The official page states that applications could not be made after that time. Institutional research-office and finance deadlines could be earlier. After submission, an application could not be changed; a withdrawal before peer review or an office rejection for substantive errors could not be resubmitted to this opportunity.
The application required a plain-English summary, a core team with the specified UKRI roles, and named leads for centre strategy and operations and for commercialisation and entrepreneurial skills. The assessment material covered vision and approach, team capability, governance, resources and cost justification, the flexible fund, ethics and responsible research and innovation, fit to the opportunity, stakeholder engagement, organisational support and project partners. The Vision and Approach document had to fit the Funding Service requirements: no more than eight sides of A4, single-spaced, in 11-point Arial or an equivalent sans serif font, with at least 2 cm margins, plus one additional page for a diagrammatic work plan if needed, and a maximum file size of 8 MB.
What a future applicant should take from the archive
There is no open route to apply to this 2026 call now, and the official page does not announce a next cycle. A future replacement opportunity should be checked for a new deadline and any changed rules rather than assuming that this page’s amount or exclusions will carry forward.
If EPSRC announces a successor, a prospective lead organisation should first verify its UKRI and EPSRC eligibility, decide whether it can serve the wider UK community, and confirm that the proposal is a skills and capability programme rather than a conventional research project. It should identify a single project lead, the two named co-director functions, a national partner network, an independent advisory structure and enough administration to operate a four-year programme.
The cost plan should separate eligible delivery from excluded institutional overheads. It should show how placements, training, accelerator work and ideation will be allocated fairly, how partners will contribute, and how flexible funding will be reported. It should also explain how the programme avoids duplicate support for researchers already covered by another UKRI investment and how it handles subsidy-control, trusted-research, environmental and EDI responsibilities.
Historical-reference FAQ
Is this opportunity open?
No. EPSRC’s official page marks it closed, and the deadline was 14 July 2026 at 4:00 pm UK time. This record is retained for reference only.
Was it a studentship or research grant?
No. The planned centre was to deliver commercialisation skills, training, placements, early-stage exploration and related partnerships. The official call excluded studentships, tuition fees, stipends and long-term research conducted by the centre.
What was the award size?
The award range was £10,000,000 to £11,300,000, with one centre to be funded. EPSRC described it as a non-FEC grant covering 100% of eligible costs, excluding estates and indirect costs.
Could a university apply on its own?
The lead could be a single eligible research organisation or part of a multi-institutional centre. Either way, the proposal needed a national remit and access beyond the host. Only one application per research organisation could be submitted as lead, although an organisation could participate elsewhere as a non-lead partner.
What was the planned start date?
Projects were required to start on 1 December 2026 and last four years. That was the planned delivery period for the closed call, not a current application deadline or a guarantee that a future call will use the same timetable.
Where should a new announcement be checked?
Check the EPSRC and UKRI Funding Finder pages before relying on this archive entry. The verified official URL for this opportunity remains https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/centre-for-quantum-commercialisation-skills/.
Official links
- UKRI opportunity page: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/centre-for-quantum-commercialisation-skills/
- Funding service application:
Start applicationlink on the page - EPSRC contact for scheme questions:
[email protected](include opportunity name in subject) - Funding Service helpdesk:
[email protected](phone 01793 547490 on published support hours)