Doctoral focal award: chip design and verification
- Funding
- Up to £6,000,000
- Deadline
- 2 December 2026
- Location
- UK-wide
- Applications
- Deadline: 2 December 2026
Overview
EPSRC is funding a doctoral focal award in chip design and verification. It pays for interdisciplinary, cohort-based doctoral training in very large-scale integration design, systems-on-chip, verification and advanced compute. The aim is to support the UK government AI Hardware Plan by building a pipeline of specialists in AI accelerators, hardware-software co-design and energy-efficient systems.
You can apply for up to £6 million. As a non-full economic cost award, UKRI will fund 100% of eligible costs. It will not fund estates or indirect costs. The money covers an initial two cohorts of students starting in September 2027, and further cohorts may be funded in future. The initial award runs for 66 months and must start no earlier than April 2027.
This suits UK research organisations eligible for EPSRC funding, such as universities, research council institutes, eligible independent research organisations and Catapult centres. Your programme must train cohorts of at least 10 students on a four-year doctorate. It must cover core skills including chip design with industry-standard EDA tools, compute architectures, photonics, compound semiconductors, and packaging and assembly.
Industry partners are central. You are expected to raise a cash contribution of at least 20% of total studentship costs, mainly from UK industry. Partners should also give access to EDA tools, IP libraries and compute resources. You will need an independent advisory board.
The opportunity is open now and closes on 2 December 2026 at 4:00pm UK time. One practical point: demand management applies, so your organisation can only be the lead on one application. Proposals without chip design, systems-on-chip, verification and advanced compute as their main focus are out of remit.
Official source: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/doctoral-focal-award-chip-design-and-verification/. Last checked by GrantMatch on 28 October 2026.
Requirements to check
Who can apply:
Key requirements:
- Non-full economic cost award: UKRI funds 100% of eligible costs; estates and indirect costs are not funded
- Minimum 20% cash contribution towards total studentship costs, expected from UK industry
- Cohorts of at least 10 students on a four-year doctorate
- Initial funding for two cohorts, with students starting in September 2027
- Initial award lasts 66 months; grant starts no earlier than April 2027 and students must complete by August 2032
- Each organisation can submit only one application as lead
- Independent oversight, including an advisory board, is required
- Must comply with UKRI training grant conditions, including subsidy control, trusted research and UK anchoring of foreground IP
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding. Eligible organisations include higher education institutions, research council institutes, eligible independent research organisations and Catapult centres, and public sector research establishments. Each organisation can lead only one application. The lead does not need doctoral degree awarding powers, but an organisation with these powers must be in your consortium. The lead must host at least one student per year of intake. Uninvited resubmissions are not accepted. International collaborators must be included as project partners.
This summary may not include every exclusion. Check the full eligibility rules, including who and what the funder will not support.
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Start freeWho is this for?
UK research organisations eligible for EPSRC funding that want to lead industry-linked doctoral training in chip design, systems-on-chip and verification.
Regions
No published award history for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Some funders do not publish their grants data.
Full details from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Apply for funding to establish a doctoral focal award in chip design. This supports interdisciplinary training in very large-scale integration design and systems-on-chip.You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding.
How to apply
Apply through the UKRI Funding Service using the Start application link on the opportunity page. Only one person can be named as project lead on the service, though joint leadership models are welcome. Any organisations hosting students must be named as collaborating organisations, and project partner details go in the 'Project partners' section. Submit by 4:00pm UK time on 2 December 2026.
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Create free accountLast updated: 9 November 2026