Maritime Funding Opportunities

Note:
The majority of the funding opportunities listed are specifically targeted at maritime-related projects. However, some are general funding opportunities that, while not exclusively maritime, are still applicable to maritime research and innovation.

UK funding calls – Maritime

  • Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 7: Deployment trials (£3m-£15m), Pre-deployment trials (£750k-£6m) and Innovative feasibility studies (£100k-£1m). £121M in total Apply by 17 Jul 2026
  • Clean Transport Accelerator: Maritime: A six-month programme supporting SMEs developing innovative solutions for maritime decarbonisation. Up to six TRL 5–8 companies will receive tailored commercial support and apply for up to £30k to run a four‑month trial with partners. Apply by 28 July 2026
  • Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Alternative Fuels, Funding to each project up to £30 million. Apply by 16 September 2026
  • Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Electric Power, Funding to each project up to £30 million. Apply by 16 September 2026
  • Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure 2: Energy Efficiency, Funding to each project up to £30 million. Apply by 16 September 2026
  • Great British Energy (GBE) Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks. Round 1 by 31 Mar 2026; Round 2 by 30 Jun 2026, Round 3 by 30 Sep 2026, Round 4 by 10 dec 2026
  • Maritime and Last Mile Net Zero (MaLaMi) Round 3 Apply before 9 October 2026
  • Former LRF funded student, scholar or apprentice can apply Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) Network to Engineer a Safer Tomorrow (NEST) funding. Apply here

UK funding calls – applicable to maritime

  • Robotics Adoption Central Convening Body summer 2026: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for creating a central convening body to coordinate the robotics adoption hubs. Apply by 8 Jul 2026
  • AIRR compute opportunity: AI open access: Open to UK-based researchers and artificial intelligence (AI) developers from academia, industry, public sector or other organisations. Each project can apply for between 50,000 and 1,400,000 graphics processing unit (GPU) hours on the Isambard-AI supercomputer, to be used over a six or 12-month project. Apply by 17 Jul 2026
  • Accelerated Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 6 (AKT 6): UK registered academic institutions, RTOs or Catapults can apply for a share of up to £2.5 million to fund innovation projects with businesses. Apply by 15 Jul 2026
  • Consumer Led Flexibility for the Clean Energy Superpower Mission: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for pre-commercialisation projects. This funding is from the UKRI R&D Missions Accelerator Programme through the Clean Energy Superpower Mission. Apply by 26 Aug 2025
  • Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academic: UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £110 million to deliver ambitious research and innovation and develop future leaders. Apply by 4 Nov 2026
  • Pre-announcement: EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships 2027 co-delivered by business and academic partners, aim to create long-term prosperity for the UK Total fund £40M Find out more
  • Statements of Need in Research Infrastructure by EPSRC Open – no closing date
  • Strategic infrastructure outlines Minimum £400k award to purchase infrastructure including equipment, resources to improve UK scientific capability and enable cutting-edge research of high priority by EPSRC Open – no closing date
  • Rapid Projects Fund by EDRC (Energy Demand Research Centre) Find out more and apply
  • SMART: SCOTLAND grants for feasibility studies for SMEs conducting feasibility studies for high-risk, highly ambitious research and development (R&D) projects by Scottish Enterprise Find out more
  • Measurement for Business (M4B) Funding by NPL for UK SME to access NPL experts and facilities Find out more and apply
  • ICURe Explore programme cohorts Find out more
  • Highlands & Islands Enterprise Innovation Grants Find out more
  • Made Smarter Adoption and Innovation: Companies in manufacturing could receive support for digital transformation, such as advice and guidance, Training, Digital intern, Match funding up to £20k for purchase of hardware and software. Find out more
  • ESA Open Call for Proposals: Proof-of-concept Studies and Pilot Projects Find out more and apply
  • ESA Open Call for Proposals: Kick-starts Find out more and apply

UK tenders

UK finance/investment opportunities

  • Innovation Loans Expression of Interest: UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprises can submit an Expression of Interest for loans for close to market innovative projects with strong commercial potential. They must significantly improve the UK economy and drive societal benefit. No submission deadline. Find out more
  • Defence Innovation Loans FY25/26 Cycle 7: Loans of up to £1 million with a below market interest rate of 7.4% per annum to help convert your mature defence innovation into a strong business proposition for defence procurement. Find out more
  • British Business Bank Growth Guarantee Scheme support loan sizes of up to £2m and provides the lender with a 70% government-backed guarantee. Find out more
  • British Business Bank Investment Funds Find out more
  • British Business Bank Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans and debt finance from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. Find out more
  • British Business Bank Investment Fund for Wales offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25,000 to £100,000, debt finance from £100,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. Find out more

European funding calls – Maritime

European funding – applicable to maritime

Fellowships and posts

  • Green Future Fellowships Accelerated International Route by Royal Academy of Engineering Open until September 2027
  • Sector transition: UKRI policy fellowships 2026: spend 18 months as a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) core policy fellow, a Natural Hazards and Resilience policy fellow or a What Works Innovation fellow to inform policy to address pressing national and global challenges. Open until 10 Sep 2026
  • University Research Fellowship: To support the next generation of research leaders to undertake cutting-edge research. The objectives of the URF programme are to enable outstanding early career scientists with the potential to become leaders in their field. 2027 round open until 9 Sep 2026.

Partnership opportunities

Training opportunities

  • Discover Digital Transformation Training Programme by STFC Find out more
  • Training opportunities provided by Supplier Development Programme Find out more

Award opportunities