National AI resource · UK
UK AI Research Resource: Innovator Route (Isambard-AI and Dawn)
Between 50,000 and 150,000 GPU hours over a six-month project period, with no funding attached; the page gives an indicative budget of 2,000,000 GPU hours across both systems.
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Closed / historical: UK AIRR Innovator: closed round Checked 13 November 2026.
Historical UK AI research and development call. UKRI marks this round closed; its deadline was 16 January 2026 at 16:00 UK time. Compare the currently checked Gateway route for smaller test projects.
Dawn remains in this historical call's name. Do not mistake the older call or its application instructions for a new open opportunity. Official source and next step
Check current status and next steps
Who can apply?
UK-registered businesses, research organisations, charities and non-profits; project leads need a contract longer than the project and, for academic-led projects, lecturer level or equivalent. Prior AIRR Gateway or Rapid Access experience is expected, or a probationary first month applies.
How do I take the next step?
Historical process for the closed round: submit an online form and supporting documents through the AIRR Portal and take part in distributed peer review; failing to supply reviews by the deadline leads to automatic rejection.
Recorded deadline
No future deadline is recorded here. That does not establish that a call is open, closed or continuously available.
Check the official programme before applying. A recorded region is not a decision about your eligibility, and an allocation is not guaranteed.
Evidence and limits
- The UKRI page lists the opportunity as closed: it opened on 6 November 2025 and closed at 4:00pm UK time on 16 January 2026, with projects starting between 23 February and 27 March 2026. Source
- The AIRR landing page lists compute providers as Isambard-AI at the University of Bristol and Zenith at the University of Cambridge, and was last updated on 28 September 2026. Source
Primary. Closed round; watch the UKRI page for any later round.
This page reuses the directory's recorded evidence and check date. A new page does not mean the programme has been checked again.
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Compare other routes
Other recorded programmes of this type, in directory order rather than a ranking:
- UK AI Research Resource: AI for Science compute opportunity · UK
- EuroHPC AI Factories Fast Lane access · EU
- BSC AI Factory access routes (MareNostrum 5) · ES
- United Kingdom policy register for recorded place context. The programme region remains a tag, not an eligibility decision.
- Other programmes with recorded region UK
- Other national ai resource routes
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- This record in the full programme directory