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Grants, Fellowships and Residencies in the UK

Currently 8 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the UK, across AI, arts, film, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Every entry is funded, no exposure-only calls. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.

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Open calls

  1. William Morris Art Futures Bursary

    House of Hackney, William Morris Gallery & IntoUniversity · London Boroughs of Hackney and Waltham Forest, UK · Deadline: 11 May 2026 · Award: Up to £10,000

    New bursary from House of Hackney and William Morris Gallery, in partnership with IntoUniversity, supporting the next generation of artists in the London Boroughs of Hackney and Waltham Forest. Provides up to £10,000 to 16 to 25 year olds with creative potential who face barriers to accessing education, training, materials or mentorship. Inspired by William Morris's values of art for all and the transformative power of creativity. Deadline 11 May 2026, 23:59.

  2. Cavendish Arts Science Fellowship 2026-2027 (Girton College, Cambridge)

    Cavendish Arts Science (Cavendish Laboratory) in partnership with Girton College, University of Cambridge · Cambridge, United Kingdom (residency in Cambridge for at least 6 months up to 1 year) · Deadline: 16 May 2026 · Award: Stipend £10,000 (inclusive of taxes) plus rent-free accommodation and meals at Girton College during the residency, £10,000 production budget for new work, and up to £3,000 travel budget. Total cash and in-kind value approximately £23,000 plus accommodation and meals.

    Annual fellowship for one artist to develop new work-in-progress through engagement with physicists at the Cavendish Laboratory and researchers in adjacent fields. Open internationally; not confined to any single aesthetic, theme, or medium. Artists with no previous experience working with scientists or in scientific environments are explicitly encouraged to apply. The brief favours adventurous artists exploring alternative ways of knowing the world and working with communities not privileged in mainstream science. Past Fellows include Logan Dandridge, Ain Bailey, Robert Ssempijja, Akeelah Bertram, and Thulani Rachia, with practices spanning experimental film, sound, dance, and immersive technology. Strong fit for critical-AI / data / surveillance / sensory-translation practices framed as artistic-scientific dialogue. Application by online form only. Deadline 16 May 2026 at 11am BST. Free to apply.

  3. Understanding Society Data Research Fellowships (May 2026 call)

    Understanding Society (Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex) · United Kingdom (HEI, research/policy institute, or third-sector organisation; University of Essex excluded) · Deadline: 27 May 2026 · Award: Up to £70,000 per fellowship for staff costs and dissemination-related activities (no indirects). Salary, NI and pension funded at 100% for research-only contracts; for research-and-teaching contracts the fellowship funds backfill at the most junior lecturer point. Third-sector applicants additionally get £5,000 of an academic collaborator's salary covered.

    Funding programme run by Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study based at ISER, University of Essex, enabling researchers to take time out to work on projects using the Study's data. The May 2026 round welcomes applications under three themes: (1) public engagement, defined as two-way activities such as public events/festivals of science with active dialogue, patient and public involvement, public dialogue, and co-production of research with local communities; (2) environment, climate change and energy use, drawing on newly released attitudinal, behavioural, administrative and smart data; (3) exploiting the unique value of the Study (large nationally representative longitudinal household survey, ethnic minority and immigrant boost samples, biomarker and genetic data). Eligibility: any researcher based at a UK HEI, research/policy institute, or third-sector organisation (University of Essex excluded; previously successful applicants excluded). Early career researchers (under 3 years post-PhD) must identify a mentor at their host institution; third-sector applicants must identify an academic collaborator. Application requires a signed Head of Department statement, project plan (max 2 pages), 2-page CV, cost estimate from the host HEI's finance office, and dissemination plan. Practical support also provided by the Study team on data, analysis plans, and impact strategies. Free to submit. Deadline 5pm on 27 May 2026; shortlist mid-June, interviews late June, decisions late June, kick-off October 2026.

  4. Serpentine: Future Art Ecosystems R&D Fellowship - Art x Convergence (2026-2027)

    Serpentine Arts Technologies (Future Art Ecosystems) · London, United Kingdom (low-residency hybrid; three in-person weekend intensives in London required) · Deadline: 07 Jun 2026 · Award: £10,000 award per fellow (4 fellows: individuals or collectives), plus travel and accommodation support for the three London intensives, plus specialist seminars, workshops and structured peer learning through the cohort.

    Inaugural Future Art Ecosystems (FAE) R&D Fellowship from Serpentine Arts Technologies, supporting individual practitioners and ecosystem development in art and advanced technologies. Four fellows (individuals or collectives) selected. Open to artists, curators, technologists, organisers and producers working at the intersection of art and advanced technologies. International applicants welcome provided they can attend the three in-person London intensives. Inaugural theme: Art x Convergence, framed as a prompt to explore how AI is reshaping cultural and societal systems and to develop new frameworks for embodiment, robotics, legal constructs, markets and planetary organisation in light of AI's capacity to pursue goals, model environments and act in the world. Fellows pursue a defined research question connected to their practice or a project in development, supported through professional and specialist mentorship, network development, cohort exchange, and public-facing process sharing. FAE was initiated by Victoria Ivanova in 2019; programme led by Tommie Introna, Tsige Tafesse, and Kay Watson. Info sessions online on 15 May and 22 May 2026. Application deadline midnight BST 7 June 2026. Free to apply.

  5. AWS Imagine Grant UK & Ireland 2026: Pathfinder Award (Frontier AI)

    Amazon Web Services (AWS Imagine Grant Program) · United Kingdom & Ireland (registered nonprofit charities only) · Deadline: 12 Jun 2026 · Award: Up to $100,000 USD unrestricted cash + up to $50,000 USD in AWS Promotional Credits + AWS technical and training support

    UK & Ireland Pathfinder track of the 2026 AWS Imagine Grant. For registered nonprofit charities with strong data practices, in the planning phase of incorporating frontier AI (generative AI, agentic AI, autonomous systems) as a core workload during the grant term. Up to $100K cash + $50K AWS credits, plus AWS technical and training support. Round One closes 12 June 2026; notifications 14 July; Round Two open 10 August to 2 October 2026. Eligibility: registered nonprofit charities based in the UK or Ireland. NOTE: this is a charities-only programme and is not open to individual artists, researchers, or for-profit studios.

  6. Peckham Digital: Programme Open Call 2026

    Peckham Digital · Peckham, London, United Kingdom (in-person festival 22 to 25 October 2026) · Deadline: 14 Jun 2026 · Award: Paid: facilitators and speakers compensated at Artist Union England pay rates (contingent on Peckham Digital's own funding application; if funding is not received the festival will not go ahead)

    Open call for the 5th edition of Peckham Digital, a festival celebrating creative computing. This call is for the PROGRAMME track: artists, creative technologists and creative coders to facilitate workshops, present talks, provide demos, or deliver performances (the separate Artwork Open Call covers exhibition pieces). Emerging applicants explicitly welcomed; over half of past Peckham Digital artists had this as their first paid professional exhibition. Selected facilitators/speakers paid at Artist Union England rates. Workshop facilitators are asked whether their software will be open-source. Application requires: type of contribution (demo/workshop/talk/performance/other), 200-word description (text or video), 250-word facilitator statement on experience, 200 words on professional development impact, sample images or video, technical requirements, and any access needs. Equal Opportunities form also requested. Important caveat: festival is contingent on Peckham Digital's own funding being confirmed; if their funding application is not successful the festival will not go ahead.

  7. Peckham Digital: Artwork Open Call 2026

    Peckham Digital · Peckham, London, United Kingdom (in-person festival 22 to 25 October 2026) · Deadline: 14 Jun 2026 · Award: Paid: each selected artist receives a fee (contingent on Peckham Digital's own funding application; outcome expected early July 2026; if funding is not received the festival will not go ahead). Submission to the open call is free.

    Open call for the 5th edition of Peckham Digital, a festival celebrating creative computing in all its shapes and forms. This call is for the ARTWORK EXHIBITION track only (the separate Programme Open Call covers talks, workshops, demos, performances and films). Looking for artists, creative technologists, creative coders and performers to exhibit artworks. Emerging applicants and early-career creative technologists explicitly welcomed; over half of past Peckham Digital artists had this as their first paid professional exhibition. Submission to the open call is free; selected artists receive a fee. Important caveat: festival is contingent on Peckham Digital's own funding being confirmed (decision expected early July 2026); if funding is not received the festival will not go ahead. Read the Application Guidelines before submitting.

  8. The White Pube Creatives Grant

    The White Pube · United Kingdom · Deadline: Rolling / undated · Award: £500 (no strings attached)

    Monthly £500 grant for a different working-class creative practitioner based in the UK. Open to anyone making stuff: art, writing, performance, sound, music, craft, comedy, games. Money can be used for time, materials, equipment, research, subscriptions, development, travel, or rent and bills. Apply by emailing funding@thewhitepube.com with a brief intro, contact and a work sample. Rolling, no deadlines, no reporting expected. Non-recipients stay in consideration for future months without re-applying.

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