Opportunity status:
Upcoming
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£15,000,000
Maximum award:
£15,000,000
Publication date:
21 August 2025
Opening date:
5 September 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
14 October 2025 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to host and manage the Catalysis Centre for the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) UK programme. In partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). You will deliver innovation in digitisation technologies and the exploitation of digitised Natural Science Collections data.
This is a closed funding opportunity, for application by invitation only.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your proposal can be up to £15 million to cover the ten-year duration of the programme (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2036). AHRC will fund 100% of the FEC.
Who can apply
This is a closed funding opportunity, for application by invitation only, owing to the conditions required for successful delivery of the programme within the time and budget available.
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
Who is eligible to apply
Only those invited to apply are eligible.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
UKRI can offer during the application and assessment process.
What we're looking for
Aim
This is a funding opportunity for the team who will partner with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to deliver the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) UK research infrastructure programme. This infrastructure will unlock the enormous potential of Natural Science Collections (NSCs) to support research on climate change and biodiversity loss, deliver a step change in the capability and capacity of the UK collections sector, and drive economic growth through technological innovation.
The aim of this funding opportunity is to create a Catalysis Centre that will turbo-charge research and innovation in human and planet centred data science by:
* accelerating digitisation rates through innovations in workflows and technologies (including AI and robotics), ensuring the programme generates digital NSC data at the scale and pace required
* delivering a step-change in the exploitation of NSC data for research through innovating in new technologies and tools that make use of collections data (including AI; LLMs and Knowledge Graphs)
* leveraging the potential economic and commercial opportunities of NSC data to drive economic growth
The grant holder will be required to work closely with us to explore and capitalise on the opportunities to ensure that the DiSSCo programme contributes to the ambition of the – especially around recommendation 13. As a central programme function it will be responsible for ensuring that the programme as a whole is responsive to the strategic priorities of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the UK government.
Scope
This funding opportunity is for a single ten-year grant, spanning the duration of the DiSSCo UK programme.
It is expected that for the first part of the grant, the primary focus of the Catalysis Centre will be on accelerating digitisation rates, with the exploitation of NSC data and leveraging of potential economic and commercial opportunities to ramp up in later years. However, all three activities should coexist at some level across the duration of the programme.
It is anticipated that not all of the funding will be awarded in the initial grant, and that a proportion of the £15.3 million available will be retained by AHRC and allocated to support activities in later years. This will allow the Centre to be responsive to changing needs and opportunities, and to bring in additional partners. Such funds may either be allocated as Additional Funding Streams directly to the Catalysis Centre or disbursed via competitive grant funding opportunities run by AHRC.
The funding will enable the recipient to establish a core team, building off existing capabilities and previous pilot activities to ensure a rapid start. The core team will then expand as the programme develops. Roles supported through this funding opportunity can be constructed so that they allow time for other activities, though the proportion of the role that encompasses out-of-scope activities cannot be funded through this opportunity.
The funding will also support compute and hardware costs associated with the innovation and operationalisation of digitisation technologies. These systems should be developed in close association with the DiSSCo UK Infrastructure Centre, to ensure alignment with the infrastructure technology stack.
The compute costs may also include the necessary resources to enable the use of knowledge graphs and training associated large language models. It is acknowledged that these knowledge graphs typically have larger running costs, especially when new large datasets are added. These costs will need to be carefully managed alongside access to services to ensure cost effective and efficient use of Centre resources.
Other smaller costs might include prototyping and operationalising the robotics hardware, including some travel and subsistence to support and maintain the systems at digitisation hubs.
The Catalysis Centre will operate in an agile and flexible way – working closely with the Infrastructure Centre, Central Programme Delivery Hub and Digitisation Hubs to operationalise its innovations and respond to the needs of the programme. It will also work closely with academic and industry partners to ensure innovation is aligned with strategic and economic needs and opportunities. Details of how this will work in practice should be outlined in the application.
Although the centre will be hosted at and led by the Natural History Museum (NHM), it is envisaged that certain projects and other research and innovation related activities will take place at other organisations across the DiSSCo UK consortium and the wider UK research sector. The application should outline how the involvement of other organisations beyond the NHM will be facilitated over the course of the programme, while also retaining a critical mass of people and activities at the centre itself.
Occasional consultancy may also be needed, especially around commercialisation activities, to navigate the challenges of growth and fundraising support. These may also be included as eligible costs.
The application should outline a clear and detailed programme of work and activities for the first two to three years of the grant, an indicative outline plan for the two to three years following that, and a set of broader strategic objectives for the remainder of the programme. The application should also outline the set of principles that it will use to decide on activities throughout the period of the award.
Commercialisation and additional funding
One of the three key objectives of the Catalysis Centre will be to leverage the potential economic and commercial opportunities of NSC data to drive economic growth. It is expected that the Centre will proactively explore opportunities to generate income through the development and provision of services to relevant commercial and public sector organisations and to international cultural institutions. Such activities may supplement the direct grant funding received from AHRC – delivering value back to the Catalysis Centre and ultimately the custodians of UK collections.
It is also expected that the Centre should look to leverage additional funding, from UKRI or other funders to bolster research and innovation activity and increase capacity.
We expect most of the programme outputs will be made openly available for researchers and other end users where appropriate. Where there is a case for commercialisable outputs, we will work with the grant holder to develop an IP framework in line with UKRI policy.
Duration
The maximum duration of this award is ten years, and this grant will end by 31 March 2036. There will be a gateway review in 2027/28, and likely two additional reviews at later stages in the programme, with continued funding conditional on approval. In the event of programme funding being discontinued, we will work with the grant holder to manage continued service provision where possible. Beyond the end of the ten-year programme grant, we will work with the grant holder to develop a sustainable funding model for the infrastructure.
Please note that the planned start date of 1April 2026 is subject to business case approvals, and the actual earliest start date could be later.
Funding available
The FEC of your project can be up to £15.3 million.
AHRC will fund 100% of the FEC.
The funding for the Catalysis Centre is weighted more heavily towards the later years of the programme, and this will be reflected in a non-standard payment profile when the grant is set up. Only around £3 million of the total funding will be available over the first three years of the programme, and this availability of funds should be factored into the planning of roles and activities.
Supporting skills and talent
Where applicable, we encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See, including where you can find additional support.
How to apply
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
This funding opportunity is by invitation only. When received, please click on the invitation link to start your application.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
* provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
* insert each new image on a new line
* use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
* sentences or paragraphs of text
* tables
* excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
* * *
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
* references are easily identifiable by the assessors
* references are formatted as appropriate to your research
* persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our .
Deadline
AHRC must receive your application by 14 October 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
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 .
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
* individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
* declaration of interest
* additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
* conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Institutional matched funding
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institution(s) hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond any 20% FEC contribution. UKRI advises reviewers and panel members not to consider the level of matched host institution funding as a factor on which to base funding recommendations. Any project partners are expected to contribute to the project, either with cash or in-kind contributions.
Publication of outcomes
AHRC as part of UKRI, will .
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the .
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
* opinion-formers
* policymakers
* the public
* the wider research community
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* research and innovation associate
* technician
* visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.