Frontier AI: SME Champions, Phase 1

Select one main theme from the specific themes list in the ‘Scope’ section of this competition. You cannot choose more than one. Theme 1 AI Enabled Health and Life Sciences Theme 2 Advanced Materials with AI Theme 3 Secure AI for National Security and Defence (NS&D) Theme 4 AI safety and assurance technologies

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option: Yes No We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare. Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance .

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project? We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date. You must select one option: Yes No In the process of being applied for Not applicable

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance . You must select one option: Yes No

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles , including: a list of any dual use (both military and non-military) applications to your research a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List If your proposed work does not relat

What is your intellectual property (IP) position, what is your freedom to operate, and how will you make the innovation defensible? Explain, using evidence where possible: background IP and control: what you own and control that underpins the innovation including ownership and any third party rights and constraints foreground IP: what new protectable assets will be created in this project and how you will capture and retain them defensibility map: how advantage will be sustained FTO, licensing and IP risks: key third party IP, open‑source, data licensing, standards constraints and your plan to

What is the need or opportunity, what technical work will you undertake to address it, how will you validate it, and what outputs will you deliver? Provide evidence where possible of the: need and state of the art innovation focus and technical objectives development plan and methodology: what you will build, for example, model, algorithm, system component, demonstrator and the methods you will use, including major technical uncertainties and risks validation plan outputs and progression: tangible outputs delivered by project end prototype, demonstrator, results, documentation and how this pos

Who is in the project team and what are their roles? Explain: the roles, skills and experience of all members of the project team that are relevant to the approach you will be taking any examples of exceptional performance that demonstrate the team’s ability to successfully deliver research and development requirements evidence of previous delivery of comparable innovation, research activity or technical development relevant to the project any experience within the team of developing novel AI technologies, advanced machine learning methods or frontier AI systems, where relevant the resources,

What does the market or markets you are targeting look like? Describe: the target markets for the project outcomes and any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist the current UK position in targeting these markets the size and ma

How are you going to grow your business and increase long term productivity as a result of the project? Explain: your current position in the markets and supply or value chains outlined, and whether you will be extending or establishing your market position your target customers or end users, and the value to them, for example, why they would use or buy your product your route to market how you are going to profit from the innovation, including increased revenues or cost reduction how the innovation will affect your productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term how you will prot

What impact might this project have outside the project team? Describe and, where possible, measure the economic benefits from the project such as productivity increases and import substitution, to: external parties customers others in the supply chain broader industry the UK economy Describe and, where possible, measure: any expected impact on government priorities any expected environmental impacts, either positive or negative any expected regional impacts of the project Describe any expected social impacts, either positive or negative, on, for example: quality of life social inclusion or ex

How will you manage your project effectively? Explain: the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome the management reporting lines your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones Your answer can be up to 400 words long. You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no

What are the main risks for this project? Explain: the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks how you will mitigate these risks any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this Your answer can be up to 400 words long. You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your project towards commercialisation? What impact would this award have on the organisations involved? Explain: what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved what other routes of investment or means of support you have already engaged with and why they were not suitable how any existing or potential investment or support will be use

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer? In terms of your project goals, explain: your total eligible project costs the grant you are requesting how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise Your answer can be up to 400 words long.