2026 Pump Priming Call

The National EdgeAI Hub is excited to announced its 2026 pump priming call aiming to encourage research into Edge AI applications from non-technical perspectives. This initiative seeks to engage disciplines such as social sciences, medical sciences, and related fields to explore the societal, ethical, and practical implications of deploying AI at the edge. By supporting such projects, the Hub aims to broaden the impact of Edge AI beyond technical innovation, fostering insights into human, organisational, and domain contexts where these technologies can deliver meaningful benefits.

We are looking to fund projects lasting up to 12 months with £10k.

We strongly encourage applicants to develop proposals that foster interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together expertise from diverse fields. Interdisciplinary approaches are essential for addressing the technical, societal, and ethical dimensions of Edge AI adoption and impact. In addition, we actively promote collaboration between academia and industry, as well as partnerships with public sector and civil society organisations. These collaborations help ensure that research is both innovative and practically relevant, enabling real-world application, knowledge exchange, and pathways to impact.

This call invites proposals to the three stands below.
Strand 1: Technology adoption and acceptance
Strand 2: Benefits realisation and technology assessment and impact
Strand 3: Responsible innovation

Applications must be submitted via email after the 1st of May 2026 and before the deadline 1st of June 2026.

For more information please visit the call’s page.