UK Research and Innovation announced its Arctic frontier: shifts in science funding call on 10 November 2026, seeking an Arctic Ocean deployment combining surface and underwater autonomous systems, AI mission planning and rapid data delivery. The opportunity opens on 19 November; it is still upcoming.
Funding and application dates
UKRI’s funding finder lists a £780,000 total fund and an advertised award range of £500,000 to £780,000. Applications open at 9am UK time on 19 November 2026 and close at 4pm UK time on 2 February 2027.
The full call sets a £780,000 full economic cost ceiling. UKRI ordinarily covers 80%, with eligible international project co-lead costs funded at 100%. An expression of interest is mandatory by 4pm UK time on 3 December 2026.
What the Arctic mission will demonstrate
The planned mission involves at least seven autonomous platforms operating for six to eight weeks. NERC will provide four underwater gliders and up to three uncrewed surface vehicles through a central budget. Collaborative planning will use the BAS VOLT mission-planning system.
The successful team must work with the British Oceanographic Data Centre on a data management plan covering automated ingestion, quality control, metadata and near-real-time dissemination. For researchers working with AI and ML research outputs, the significance is the connection between mission decisions and usable observations. These are objectives for a future deployment; the call does not report completed mission results.
What it means for universities and research offices
The opportunity requires applicants to be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding. UKRI’s organisation eligibility guidance covers higher education providers, research institutes and other approved organisation types, so the institutional audience extends beyond universities.
UKRI’s research-office guidance requires designated administrators with submission permissions to be available before the closing date. The project lead cannot act as the organisation’s submitter for the same application. For research offices, that creates a separate institutional handoff alongside the scientific team’s preparation. The practical implication is to coordinate submission responsibility with the mission’s scientific, operational and data-stewardship work.
A separate call addresses vehicle development
UKRI’s Arctic frontier: accelerating innovation in ocean autonomy competition, published on 4 November, addresses technological barriers to marine autonomous operations. It lists a £1.2 million total fund and awards of £75,000 to £250,000, targeting progress from low to mid technology readiness levels. The distinction matters for research teams: that competition concerns technology development, while shifts in science concerns a coordinated observing deployment.
Sources
- UKRI: Arctic frontier: shifts in science. Checked 2026-11-14.
- UKRI Funding finder: science and AI results. Checked 2026-11-14.
- UKRI: Organisation eligibility. Checked 2026-11-14.
- UKRI: How research offices use the Funding Service. Checked 2026-11-14.
- UKRI: Arctic frontier: accelerating innovation in ocean autonomy. Checked 2026-11-14.
