Get funding to develop and exploit knowledge assets
Find funding to develop early stage knowledge assets towards adoption or commercialisation.
Knowledge Assets Grant Fund
Funding type: grant
Who can apply: UK government public sector organisations with an Accounting Officer responsible for upholding Managing Public Money (MPM).
This includes:
- UK central government departments
- arm’s-length bodies
- public sector research establishments
It excludes:
- local government organisations
- NHS secondary and tertiary care sectors (such as NHS trusts)
- publicly owned commercial organisations
Total funding: £5 million this financial year
Maximum award: up to £250,000 (3 different grant values available)
| Competition opens | Application deadline |
|---|---|
| 3 January 2024 | 11am on 14 March 2024 (AI themed, see below) |
| 22 March 2024 | 11am on 6 June 2024 |
The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund supports organisations across the public sector in the UK to explore exciting new uses of datasets, technology, intellectual property, ideas, and expertise.
Funding is available for use in supporting the development, repurposing, commercialisation or expanded use of public sector knowledge assets.
Themed funding rounds
The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund runs alternating general and themed callscalls. . During bi-annual themed calls, on-theme applications will be prioritised, however non-themed projects are still welcomed.
Our upcoming themed call will run from 3 January 2024 to 11am on the 14th14 March 2024 and give priority to proposals that fall under the theme of Artificial Intelligence.
GOTT is looking to fund projects that enable transformative changes through the development and use of Knowledge Assets in the wider public or private sector.
Projects in scope comprise both the development of new AI algorithms or software and the application of existing solutions in areas which have not been considered before in the public sector.
This could include, but is not limited to, the use and development of AI technologies such as:
*
- Machine Learning
* - Deep Learning
* - Natural Language Processing
* - Computer Vision
* - Robotics
* - Expert Systems
* - Artificial Creativity
Projects could include the responsible use of AI such as by getting the most out of text or image data, improving business processes, workflows and decision making. We are also interested in technical AI projects that further develop or use existing knowledge assets that can be applied to provide solutions to new problems. Projects funded should develop the asset’s use beyond ‘business as usual’ purposes and should have the potential for adoption in other areas of government or for commercialisation.
Themed funding events
Staff from all eligible organisations are invited to register for our briefing webinar on 15 November, 12pm to learn more about our AI themed funding round.
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Types of funding you can apply for
There are 3 bands of funding you can apply for:
- Explore Grant (up to and including £25,000)
- Expand Grant (£25,001 to £100,000)
- Extend Grant (£100,001 to £250,000)
The size of the grant for each band is determined by the amount of information requested to meet the criteria for that band.
The bandings do not reflect the stage of development of your project. For example, you can apply for an Explore Grant to help you take an already well-developed project in a new direction.
How to apply
Find out about each band and if your organisation or project is eligible for funding:
Applications for funding are administered by our partners at Innovate UK.
UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S)
Funding type: early stage venture capital funding
Who can apply: emerging spin-out companies based on knowledge assets from UK public sector organisations. Read more about the UKI2S investment criteria.
Total funding: £13.9 million investment for public sector knowledge assets
Maximum investment: no limit (pre-seed to series A funding and beyond)
Deadline: N/A
UKI2S is an early-stage investment fund backed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and other public bodies. Together, they are supporting the most ambitious UK innovators at seed and beyond to:
- create new companies and facilitate sustainable growth
- enhance the health and security of society
- deliver economic gains from the UK public funding
UKI2S works closely with GOTT to provide investment capital to exploit the UK’s public knowledge assets.
How to apply
Last updated
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Date removed for past deadline of KAGF and links updated to reflect application portal for new funding round.
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Added information about themed funding rounds and changed the opening date for the next competition to 3 January 2024.
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Removed previous funding round deadlines, as this has now passed. Also removed details on themed autumn call as this has now passed, and the next call for funding is not themed.
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Updated links for new competition
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removed past deadline
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amendment to numbering
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Further detail given on themed calls
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Information added regarding priority themes and different opening dates
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Change to include eligible and ineligible organisations
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Change to detail that commercial organisations have been excluded
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Future application deadlines have been added for the Knowledge Asset Grant Fund. Eligibility information has been added to the Knowledge Asset Grant Fund as from the 8 June 2023 NHS Trusts will no longer be in scope.
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The next phase of the Knowledge Assets Grant Fund competition is now open.
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Added competition opening dates for 2023.
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Added new deadlines for Knowledge Assets Grant Fund
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First published.