Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
, ,
Co-funders:
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ministry of Defence
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£45,000,000
Publication date:
24 July 2025
Opening date:
25 July 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
23 October 2025 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to deliver doctoral focal awards (previously centres for doctoral training), offering high quality, cohort-based doctoral education in nuclear skills for the UK civil and defence sectors to home students.
UKRI expect up to £45 million funding from the UK government to be available for this opportunity. Subject to the current government spending review, additional government funding may be available.
An intent to submit must be completed by 12 September 2025 4:00pm UK time.
The UK government will fund 100% of eligible costs listed in the opportunity. Estates and indirect costs will not be funded.
To apply to this funding opportunity as a project lead (PL) you must be based at an organisation which is eligible to receive UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding. Before applying
Who is eligible to apply
Organisations eligible to apply include:
* higher education institutions
* research council institutes
* eligible independent research organisations and Catapult centres
* public sector research establishments (PSREs)
PSREs wishing to be involved in an application are required to choose whether they wish to do so either as a project lead or project co-lead, where they will provide the principal base (host) for students, or as a project partner. An organisation cannot perform both roles within one application.
If your organisation is not currently listed as an eligible organisation you can .
Project lead and project co-leads
Organisations can only apply as the lead organisation on one submitted application but can be a collaborating organisation or project partner on any number of applications. The lead organisation will act as the training grant holder if you are successful.
Lead organisations will provide the principal base (host) for a minimum of one student per year of intake for this funding opportunity. Lead organisations may join with additional research organisations which will also host students throughout the duration of your training programme. These additional hosting organisations should be named as project co-leads on your application. You will be asked to provide an outline of where the studentships you have requested will be hosted within your application.
You are encouraged to engage effectively with other organisations to ensure delivery of a truly interdisciplinary training environment and experience for students.
The lead organisation does not have to be an organisation with doctoral research degree awarding powers, but an organisation with these powers must be present within your consortium.
Identification of the project lead should not be interpreted as recognition as the dominant partner or where the majority of studentships will be hosted. While only one project lead can be included on the UKRI Funding Service, UKRI welcomes applications that reflect flexible and joint leadership models.
In line with the, research technical professionals, research software engineers and who are integral to the development and management of the focal award are welcome as project co-leads.
Project partners
Organisations that are not eligible for UKRI funding may act as project partners on your application. Information regarding the nature of these collaborations must be included within your application in the Project partners section. Any organisation acting as a project partner may do so on any number of applications, as long as they are able to support them if funded.
Organisations which are eligible for UKRI funding but will not provide the principal base (host) for students during the award may be named as project partners in your application. An organisation cannot act as both a project lead (or co-lead) and a project partner in the same application.
We welcome applications to include a wide range of project partner organisations contributing to nuclear skills and research. This can include, but is not limited to:
* universities that are not leading or co-leading the proposal
* businesses of all scales
* public sector organisations, such as public sector research establishments and government at all levels, including devolved administrations
* third sector organisations
* other key stakeholders across the research and innovation landscape
To meet the strategic objectives of this funding, it is expected that the level of funding across focal awards will be 40% UK government investment, 40% from project partners and 20% from organisations hosting students. The balance of funding takes into account all relevant contributions and the full economic costing of delivering doctoral training. There is no requirement for this balance to be achieved at the point of application, but applicants will need a clear plan to maximise leverage from existing and new collaborations over the award’s lifetime towards this aim.
Your application must demonstrate that there is significant added value from any project partners you choose to form part of your consortium. This may include, but is not limited to:
* hosting, work experience or placements for students outside of academia
* training for students, programme staff, or both
* access to facilities, equipment, or both
* financial commitments to partially, or fully, fund additional studentships
* commitment to cover the costs of access to facilities or training that cannot otherwise be provided
* strategic links to an important stakeholder or user
* supporting employees into doctoral study
There is no limit to the total number of organisations you may include within your application. However, each member of the consortium must make meaningful contributions to the delivery of the training grant, as set out in your application.
For certain projects, it is expected that students and their supervisors in the Centre for Doctoral Training may be required to provide details to enable a (BPSS).
Equality, diversity and inclusion for applicants
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
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Scope
This opportunity will fund doctoral focal awards (formerly centres for doctoral training) to train the next generation of researchers and innovators in cutting-edge nuclear skills. This will lead graduates to careers in the UK nuclear sector, vital to maintaining national security, delivering a resilient future energy system, and boosting economic prosperity.
The (Nuclear Skills Plan) identified the need to quadruple the number of nuclear fission PhDs the UK produces to develop a pipeline of future subject matter experts with the skills required to underpin the UK domestic civil and defence nuclear sectors in coming years.
To this end, the funded doctoral focal awards will grow the number of specialist doctoral graduates to ensure the highest level of technical skills and knowledge is available to the nuclear sector. Securing the supply of these high-level skills in new technologies will play a major role in leading the technical delivery of both our civil and defence nuclear programmes and ensure that the UK remains a world leader in nuclear capability. The objective of this funding opportunity is to develop circa 500 PhD graduates over the funding period, with the skills, experience and industry connections to enter the UK nuclear workforce upon graduation.
The objective of this funding opportunity is to train people who will be eligible to work in the UK nuclear sector upon completion of their doctorate and be eligible to obtain BPSS clearance. Therefore, awards funded through this opportunity can only support students who are eligible for home fee status.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is leading the delivery of the opportunity. However, the scope crosses the remits of all relevant UKRI councils, including Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Applications are welcomed in all areas relevant to nuclear skills across the breadth of the nuclear lifecycle and to meet national and international defence commitments. While not an exclusive list, the nuclear industry skills required over the coming decades will include:
* fuel cycle specialists to research and develop higher enriched nuclear fuels along with the post irradiation evaluation of these fuels, including high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel production methodologies, scale-up and HALEU behaviour during storage, transport and deconversion
* graphite technology, including understanding its behaviour under high temperature and pressure, recycling from existing advanced gas-cooler reactors (AGRs) into new reactors and developing a UK supply chain
* designers and operators of small modular reactors, advanced modular reactors, generation IV reactors and submarine propulsion technology. This includes modelling the through life substantiation of the integrity of advanced reactor component parts and integration of advanced reactors with non-electrical use cases and thermal hydraulics of advanced reactor systems
* understanding of the interconnection of nuclear energy with the UK grid
* delivery of operational nuclear reactors will also require specialists in nuclear waste management, radiation protection, monitoring the behaviour and effects of radiation on the environment, decommissioning and remediation (including bioremediation) of contaminated environments
* environmental impact specialists to evaluate the overall environmental footprint of nuclear energy, technology and waste, including their impact on air, water, land, the subsurface and natural ecosystems
* nuclear safety and security specialists, to secure the widespread adoption of nuclear technology across civil and defence applications
To meet these needs, we expect the UKRI-supported portfolio to include developing skilled people including in the following areas:
* nuclear and analytical chemistry
* physics and theory including computational physics, reactor physics and environmental physics
* metallurgy
* materials science and modelling
* composite materials evaluation
* environmental radioactivity
* radioecology and radiochemistry
* spectroscopy
* microscopy
* casting rare earth metals
* thin wall manufacturing
* mechanical design
* electrical and electronic engineering, including high voltage analogue and embedded software and firmware
* engineering analysis
* energy system modelling
* data science
* computer science
* computer modelling and simulation of seismic and human factors
* robotics for nuclear applications
* sensor technology and autonomous systems
* nuclear waste storage and disposal
Taken together, this opportunity will address the government’s priorities from the, including those outlined in the, and. Further information on these priorities is in the Background section.
We welcome applications from new centres, as well as applications that expand on existing investments such as EPSRC centres for doctoral training.
The expectations for the skills and training provided by each award are:
* to support four student cohorts of at least 10 students on a four-year doctorate, bringing together a critical mass of academic and industrial supervisors of internationally recognised research excellence with a track record of doctoral supervision. Given leverage expectations in this opportunity, we expect many proposals will support more than the minimum cohort size
* to develop a cohort approach to doctoral education including peer-to-peer learning, both within and across cohorts. This cohort approach to education should be provided throughout the lifetime of students’ doctorate training programmes. Students may also work as a cohort to address research challenges
* to nurture a diverse and inclusive research environment to support people in achieving world class research
* to provide opportunities for significant, challenging, and original research projects leading to the award of a doctoral-level degree in accordance with a university’s standard regulations. Universities are free to choose the type of research doctoral qualification that is offered to students, for example PhD or EngD. Centres may choose to offer all students the same type of qualification or a mixture, and to consider innovative approaches to delivering, awarding and assessing doctoral degrees. Students should also expect that doctoral projects are designed or planned in such a way that (barring exceptional circumstances) they are able to submit their thesis within their four-year funded period or part-time equivalent
* to deliver a formal, assessable programme of taught coursework, which should develop and enhance, for example, technical disciplinary and multidisciplinary knowledge, as well as broadening skills including, for example, project management, entrepreneurship and commercialisation
* to embed a culture of responsible research and innovation, environmental sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion, trusted research approaches and support for student wellbeing to the highest standard. Successful applications will be required to develop detailed plans and processes demonstrating how these essential elements will be embedded in their centre
* to co-create and co-deliver awards with industry and other stakeholders in the nuclear and related sectors, alongside significant co-investment by those stakeholders, in line with the 40:40:20 funding balance outlined in the Who can apply section. The level of cash and in-kind contributions and model of engagement should be appropriate to, for example, research and development intensity of the sector or size of the companies or other partners involved
* relatedly, to provide opportunities for students to engage with industrial and government stakeholders, for example in the form of joint supervision and industrial placements. This should extend beyond the co-creation of doctoral projects and include the support for co-working and mobility between academia, industry, government and internationally. The training should maximise the impact from this investment and grow capacity in this area for the benefit of the nation. When pursuing industrial placements, the management team will need to ensure students are given sufficient time to complete their doctoral studies
* as appropriate, to provide innovative approaches to doctoral study. This may include support for students who are based in non-academic organisations for the majority of their time, either receiving a stipend or by contributing to their salary. Where beneficial for the research area, student or project partner, we expect applicants to build on routes such as engineering doctorates and the innovative approaches in EPSRC centres for doctoral training, doctoral training partnership mobility pilots, or other recent UKRI training investments
* to create opportunities for supervisors and students to identify and align synergies between individual doctoral projects so that the sum of the activity is greater than its component parts
* to support mechanisms, where appropriate, by which students can reach out to the broader research community, user community and wider public
* to add value to the UK’s existing landscape in nuclear technology by working with other large investments to develop an integrated network of research, innovation and skills capability
* to provide appropriate access to a wide range of equipment, facilities and e-infrastructure, for example, software and high-performance computing. Students should benefit from the environment and accessibility of infrastructure at the hosting institutions and partners. If appropriate to their research, students should also have access to large facilities and UKRI national research facilities, including the
Duration
The duration of this award is 90 months.
Projects must start no earlier than 1 April 2026 and no later than 1 October 2026.
Funding available
We expect up to £45 million funding from the UK government to be available for this opportunity. Subject to the current government spending review, additional government funding may be available.
UKRI will fund 100% of eligible costs. Eligible costs vary between UKRI training grants, so please check the lists below for full details.
All costs (including stipends and fees) requested in applications should be calculated at your chosen October 2025 rates with no addition made to consider inflation over the length of the funding period. This includes the appropriate fee rate for your institution(s) and any enhanced stipend rates above the UKRI minimum, described below. UKRI will include an allowance for fee and stipend indexation at the final funding stage.
What we will fund
We will fund studentship costs for the equivalent of 32 students over four cohorts. Additional support must be provided from non-UKRI sources to achieve the minimum required student numbers (40 students across four cohorts).
UKRI funding for studentship costs includes the following.
Tuition fees
Fees charged to UKRI cannot be higher than the fee charged by the university for home funded students on similar programmes. UKRI’s standard cap on international students does not apply to this opportunity. All students must be eligible for home fee status.
Stipends
The stipends must be at least at the minimum rates published by UKRI. We will not cover additional college fees. Applicants are encouraged to request funding for enhanced stipends, where justified, to attract UK home students in the context of the area of research and training and UK skills need.
Support for students from non-academic settings
Support would include students based for the majority of their time in a company, or other non-academic organisation, either receiving a stipend or employed. Applicants proposing more innovative options such as contributions to salaries are encouraged to contact EPSRC before submission, to discuss the best route to fund this. Among other issues, applicants must ensure at all times that training grant funding is compliant with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
Research training support grant (RTSG)
This covers items for individual students such as travel, consumables, and facility access where this is linked to conducting the research of the project, or specialised training such as a summer school only being attended by a student due to their project.
Leverage
Where applicants are able to leverage more than 50% of studentship costs from non-UKRI sources, UKRI will allow research organisations to do this in this opportunity notwithstanding training grant condition 4.5.
We will also fund other costs including:
* leadership and management costs
* start-up costs for new focal awards
* the development of training which forms part of the cohort training package, for example, a course taken by a whole cohort or offered as a module as part of a student’s training package
* support for diversity and mobility of career paths, to include the accommodation of doctoral students at different career stages, and people employed in the nuclear or related sectors who would benefit from doctoral education. Tailored support for individual students through enhanced stipends or continuing to be employed, along with research training support can be requested
* wider career development experience for students
* innovative routes for student recruitment including activities aimed at attracting UK home students, widening the participation of underrepresented groups in doctoral study or both
What we will not fund
Equipment over £25,000 in value (including VAT) is not available through this funding opportunity. Smaller items of equipment (individually under £25,000) can be included under RTSG or other costs, as appropriate.
Costs associated with student supervision may not be included.
Estates and indirect costs are not eligible costs.
Supporting skills and talent
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.
, including where applicants can find additional support.
Intent to submit
A mandatory intent to submit must be completed by 12 September 2025 4:00pm UK time. This will enable UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to prepare for the assessment process. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) intend to publish the details of the project lead, lead institution and the summary provided of each intent to submit. Please submit your intention to submit a full application to this funding opportunity via .
Full application
We are running this funding opportunity on the new 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.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
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
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 funding opportunity, that 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 policy on the .
Match funding
There is no specific match funding assessment criterion. However, UKRI will advise panel members to consider applicants’ plans to meet the 40:40:20 expectations over the lifetime of the focal award under the partnerships and governance criterion.
Following the assessment process, UKRI and the UK government will monitor institutional funding on successful awards. This will take into account the full economic cost of delivering doctoral training, beyond solely eligible costs in this opportunity.
To achieve the 40:40:20 balance, project partners are expected to contribute to the project, either with cash or in-kind contributions. Funding for additional or co-funded studentships, co-created with project partners, is especially welcome.
Deadline
EPSRC must receive your application by 23 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
EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
All documents submitted to this funding opportunity will also be made available to MOD and DESNZ.
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 our .
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 .
Publication of outcomes
EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcome of this funding opportunity on .
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
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
* context
* the challenge the project addresses
* aims and objectives
* potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* technician
* visiting researcher
* researcher co-lead (RcL)
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.