Second Manchester Prize
Awards up to £1 million to the best UK AI solution for clean energy and net zero.
Up to ten shortlisted teams each receive £100,000 in seed funding plus up to £60,000 of compute credits and support during a roughly nine-month development phase; one of them then wins a £1 million grand prize, judged on innovation, impact, feasibility, long-term viability, and safety/ethics. The lead applicant must be a UK-incorporated organisation (company, non-profit, charity or university), ap…
The prize looks for AI solutions that speed the UK's shift to a net-zero energy system — accelerating adoption of clean energy technologies, cutting the cost of running clean energy systems, or reducing and optimising energy demand. Winning solutions need a credible route to real-world adoption by 2030, not just a working prototype. Entries can come from any sector as long as the underlying innovation is genuinely new AI, not just a new business model.
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see how to apply
Sign up free to see how they score you
Sign up free to see the timeline
Sign up free to see where teams trip up
Guides for this application
All guides →How to Write a Grant Proposal Reviewers Can Score
Learn how to write a grant proposal around reviewer criteria, evidence, work packages, budget logic, and commercialization for deeptech and R&D funding.
DocumentsGrant Pitch Deck Example: Slides, Storyline, and Video Script
See a grant pitch deck example with slide outline, EIC-style pitch logic, demo-video script, and grant-vs-investor deck differences.
Find grantsStartup Grant Application Process: From Search to Submission
Step-by-step startup grant application process covering grant search, eligibility screening, documents, budgets, portals, review timelines, and submission.
More from DSIT
All grants from this funder →AI Growth Lab
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
Regulatory engagement for AI use cases in legal services.
Critical Minerals Accelerator
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
£25 million to scale up UK extraction, processing and recycling of critical minerals.
International Bilateral Fund - Call 3
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
Funding for UK-led space projects with international partners.
National Space Innovation Programme - Call 3
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
Co-funded R&D for UK space technologies, applications and services
Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund (TRIF) Pilot
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
Capital grants for large-scale UK life sciences R&D investments.
LSIMF Round 7
🇬🇧DSIT · United Kingdom
Supports United Kingdom life science manufacturing teams through LSIMF grants for facility and process innovation.
Similar grants
Browse the directory →
EIC Pathfinder Challenges
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Funds European consortia developing breakthrough solutions across AI, climate, energy, materials, medical, and quantum fields.
UK-Singapore CRD 2026
🇬🇧Innovate UK · United Kingdom
Funding for UK-Singapore industrial research collaborations.
FWF Wittgenstein Award
🇦🇹FWF · Austria
Supports internationally recognized researchers in Austria through high-impact, curiosity-driven research fellowships.
EIC Transition Open
🇪🇺EIC · European Union
Supports European deep-tech ventures advancing laboratory research toward validated prototypes and near-market technologies.
Venture Catalyst Challenge
🇬🇧Imperial Enterprise · United Kingdom
Funds accelerator and pitch support for deep-tech teams at Imperial College through an equity-free venture challenge.
University Discovery Fund — Pre-Seed
🇬🇧Cambridge Enterprise · United Kingdom
Funds early-stage university-linked science ventures through philanthropic capital to strengthen real-world implementation.