Applications Deadline: Monday, 5th October 2026, 17:00 BST
LOCATION: Multiple Regions
The Digital Science Catalyst Grant is an international initiative to support innovation in new software tools and technologies to advance research and create meaningful change. The program supports and invests in early-stage ideas in the novel use of technology with an award for the most promising ideas that aid science and further its impact on society.
ELIGIBILITY:
They want early-stage startups, research projects, and moonshot thinkers building agentic tools that:
Operate across multiple steps, planning, executing, and reviewing, rather than answering a single prompt.
Embed in the workflows researchers, institutions, and publishers already use
Carry audit trails, governance controls, and provenance so the people who rely on them can trust them.
Tackle a real problem across the research lifecycle: writing, discovery, evidence synthesis, peer review, funding decisions, or research integrity.
If you’re making AI safe to put in front of an institution, autonomous in service of researchers, with accountability built in, they want to hear from you.
Applying takes one short form and a few minutes.
Who can apply? Anyone with an early-stage idea: founders, research teams, students, and individuals. Your tool can be a prototype, a working product, or a well-formed concept. They fund early, so you do not need revenue or a finished build.
What to tell them? A clear description of the problem you are solving, your approach, why it fits an agentic, trustworthy workflow, and where you are today. If you have a demo or prototype, show them.
How they choose? Their judges score each application across seven areas: team, problem, solution, competitors, market, progress to date, and fit with Digital Science. Strong applicants are invited to a short interview with a live demo (where applicable) and a few questions.
BENEFIT:
The award. Up to £25,000, which can be split across more than one recipient.
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