EPSRC Future Computing Paradigms Network Plus: One £2.8 Million Award to Build the UK's Five-to-Twenty-Year Computing Vision — Mandatory Expression of Interest Closes 11 September 2026

EPSRC Future Computing Paradigms Network Plus: One £2.8 Million Award to Build the UK’s Five-to-Twenty-Year Computing Vision — Mandatory Expression of Interest Closes 11 September 2026

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is not funding computing research here. It is funding the argument about what computing research the UK should do next.

Future Computing Paradigms Network Plus puts up to £2.8 million at full economic cost behind a single network whose job is to produce a coherent, whole-systems national vision for computing technologies five to twenty years from now. There is one award. The opportunity opened on 3 August 2026, and the first gate — a compulsory expression of interest — shuts at 4:00pm UK time on 11 September 2026.

That first gate is the part most people will get wrong. The full application deadline of 13 October 2026 is the one that looks like the deadline, but an expression of interest is mandatory for eligibility. Miss 11 September and October is irrelevant.

Key Details

What EPSRC Is Actually Buying

A Network Plus is a coordination instrument, not a research grant with networking attached. The distinction matters because it changes what a competitive proposal looks like.

The 60 months split into two unequal halves. The first 18 months are an evidence-gathering phase: mapping UK academic strength, benchmarking against international programmes, horizon scanning, and strategic roadmapping. The remaining 42 months are the network phase, where the community built during the evidence work is convened, sustained, and pointed at the roadmap the first phase produced.

The technology scope is deliberately wide. EPSRC names novel computing architectures — neuromorphic, analog, reservoir, and reconfigurable systems — alongside hardware platforms and materials including photonics, biocompute, and advanced materials. It also covers software, algorithms and programming models, implications for high-performance computing, and edge, cloud, and distributed systems. Cutting across all of it: sustainability and resource efficiency, security, trust and resilience, and societal and economic value.

Read that list as a warning rather than a menu. A network that credibly spans device physics, materials, architecture, programming models, and deployment is not something one research group assembles in six weeks. The scope is a signal about the size and composition of team EPSRC expects.

What the Money Covers — and What It Does Not

Allowable costs are the costs of running a network. Project lead and co-lead salaries as directly allocated time. Community-building activities and networking events. Travel and subsistence. A grant manager and professional enabling staff. Horizon-scanning and evidence-gathering work. And, optionally, a flexible fund for exploratory activities and small pilot projects.

The exclusions are just as explicit, and they are where weak proposals leak. EPSRC will not fund primary research or large-scale technology development through this award — the flexible fund’s exploratory activities are the narrow exception. It will not fund capital infrastructure. It will not fund commercial product development. It will not fund equipment.

If the draft proposal reads as a research programme with a coordination wrapper, it is aimed at the wrong call. The flexible fund is the only place where anything resembling a research spend belongs, and requesting one obliges you to submit a separate 1,000-word plan covering allocation strategy and governance, plus regular reporting on how the money went out.

Note the co-investment arithmetic. EPSRC pays 80% of full economic cost. The remaining 20% is the standard institutional contribution that applies across EPSRC grants — there is no requirement for matched funding beyond it, but your finance office needs to see the number early.

Who Should Apply

Project leads must be based at UK research organisations that meet standard EPSRC eligibility. International researchers cannot lead. They can participate as project co-leads, but only through the UKRI–Research Council of Norway Money Follows Cooperation agreement, which is a specific mechanism rather than a general invitation to add overseas collaborators.

Beyond formal eligibility, the realistic profile is a senior researcher with convening credibility across at least three of the named technology domains, backed by an institution willing to host a five-year national coordination function. The interview stage allows up to three team members, which tells you EPSRC expects a leadership group rather than a single principal investigator with a supporting cast.

One structural requirement shapes the team before you write anything: the network must operate an independent advisory board with an independent chair and at least 50 percent external membership. Line that up during the expression of interest phase, not after the award.

There is also a condition that will screen some applicants out on their own terms. Successful applicants must engage with UK government departments and with National Security and Defence communities throughout the award, and that engagement may require security checks. If that is incompatible with your institution’s position or your own, this is not the right call.

The Two-Stage Application Process

Stage one — expression of interest, due 11 September 2026. Submitted through the Citizen Space platform, not the Funding Service. It asks for the application title, a 500-word outline of the approach, project lead details and credentials, the names and institutions of core team members, and information on potential partners. Five hundred words is not much room to describe a whole-systems national vision, which is precisely the test.

Stage two — full application, due 13 October 2026. Submitted through the UKRI Funding Service by your research office. The components, with their limits:

• Vision and approach — 8 A4 pages maximum, single-spaced, 11pt Arial. Covers strategic vision and outcomes, and the delivery method for both the 18-month evidence phase and the 42-month network phase, including academic mapping, international benchmarking, horizon scanning, and strategic roadmapping.
• National importance — 300 words on UK strengths, opportunities, alignment with national priorities, and resilience.
• Governance — 500 words on management structures, leadership, advisory and oversight mechanisms, partnership management, and equality, diversity and inclusion provisions.
• Applicant and team capability — 1,650 words total: 1,150 in Resume for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format, plus 500 words of contextual information.
• Project partners — letters or emails of support, maximum 2 A4 pages per partner.
• Flexible fund plan — 1,000 words, if you are requesting one.
• Resources and cost justification — 1,000 words.
• Data management and sharing — 500 words, aligned to UKRI policy.
• Ethics and responsible research and innovation — no stated word limit.
• Compliance sections as applicable: animal involvement and the 3Rs, genetically modified organisms, human participation in health research, and Trusted Research and Innovation.

Barely five weeks separate the two deadlines, and the October window overlaps the start of the UK academic year. Partner letters are the usual bottleneck — request them the week you submit the expression of interest.

Assessment and What Reviewers Reward

An independent expert panel scores applications against the published criteria: vision and approach, governance, applicant and team capability, ethics and responsible research and innovation, resources and cost justification, flexible fund management where requested, and national importance. The most competitive proposals go to interview, expected 21 January 2027, with up to three team members attending. Every applicant receives feedback after the panel.

Two criteria carry unusual weight in a call like this. Governance is normally a formality; here it is a scored criterion with its own section, because EPSRC is handing a single team stewardship of a national conversation for five years. And national importance gets only 300 words, which means the argument has to be sharp — a specific claim about where UK computing capability is genuinely strong, where it is exposed, and what a coordinated vision changes.

Coordination with existing initiatives is a stated expectation rather than a nice-to-have. The network must engage with NeuMat on neuromorphic computing, the UK Microsystems Network, and eFutures, explicitly to avoid duplication. A proposal that does not name these and explain the division of labour looks either uninformed or territorial.

The award also carries delivery conditions worth designing into the proposal: a dedicated website launched within six months of the start date, a comprehensive equality, diversity and inclusion plan, and regular reporting on flexible fund expenditure.

Common Mistakes

Treating the expression of interest as a formality. It is a hard eligibility gate. There is no late route.

Writing a research proposal. Primary research and large-scale technology development are out of scope. The flexible fund’s exploratory activities are the exception, not a loophole.

Assembling a narrow team. A proposal rooted in one technology domain cannot deliver a whole-systems vision spanning architectures, materials, software, HPC, and distributed systems.

Leaving the advisory board vague. The 50 percent external membership and independent chair requirements are specific. Naming plausible candidates beats promising to recruit them.

Ignoring the incumbents. Silence on NeuMat, the UK Microsystems Network, and eFutures reads badly against an explicit instruction to coordinate.

Attempting a resubmission. Proposals previously rejected by EPSRC may not be resubmitted here.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many awards will be made? One. The total fund and the maximum award are both £2.8 million.

Can a non-UK institution lead? No. Project leads must be at UK research organisations with standard EPSRC eligibility. International participation is limited to project co-lead roles under the UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement.

Is the flexible fund compulsory? No. It is optional, and requesting one adds a 1,000-word plan and ongoing expenditure reporting.

Do I need matched funding? Beyond the standard 20% institutional contribution to full economic cost, no additional matched funding is required.

What if I need accessibility support? UKRI states that disability and accessibility support is available across both the application process and award management. Raise it with the opportunity contact early.

When would the work actually start? Between 1 April 2027 and 30 June 2027, following interviews expected on 21 January 2027.

Next Steps and Official Links

Register for the webinar on 3 September 2026, 3:00pm–4:30pm UK time — it falls eight days before the expression of interest deadline, which is late enough to be useful for refining a draft and too late to be where you start.

Work backwards from 11 September 2026. Confirm the project lead and core team, sketch the domain coverage against EPSRC’s named technology areas, identify advisory board candidates, and draft the 500-word approach outline. Then use the five weeks to October for partner letters, the eight-page vision document, and finance sign-off on the 20% contribution.

• Full opportunity page, including the Citizen Space expression of interest link and webinar registration: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/future-computing-paradigms-network-plus/
• Opportunity-specific questions: [email protected]
• UKRI Funding Service helpdesk: [email protected], or 01793 547490 (Monday to Thursday 8:30am–5:00pm, Friday 8:30am–4:30pm)

Always confirm dates, limits, and eligibility against the official UKRI page before submitting, as funders do amend live calls.