UKDI Themed Competitions

Biosecurity Frontiers

Supports United Kingdom biosecurity teams with innovation in sensing, diagnostics, and preventive systems.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Biosecurity Frontiers competition is a UK-only themed call funded by the Cabinet Office through UK Defence Innovation, seeking innovative proposals to help deliver the ambitions of the 2023 UK Biological Security Strategy and the 2025 National Security Strategy. The programme defines biological security as protection from biological risks — whether naturally occurring, arising from accidental release of hazardous material, or from deliberate attack — affecting humans, animals, plants, or the environment. Three challenge areas are in scope: Challenge 1 covers biodetection and biosurveillance systems; Challenge 2 addresses AI-enabled diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines; and Challenge 3 targets non-pharmaceutical protective systems and supply-chain resilience. Total funding available is up to £2 million (excluding VAT), with 5 to 7 proposals expected to be awarded in the region of £100,000 to £500,000 each, though the funder reserves the right to fund outside this range. The submission deadline was 12:00 midday BST on 10 June 2026.

The competition is open exclusively to UK-based innovators. Eligible applicants include academic institutions, individuals (sole traders), SMEs, and large companies. International companies must have a UK-registered business at Companies House and must carry out all project development within the UK. Proposals are submitted via the UKDI Online Submission Service. The competition was first published on 15 April 2026 and updated on 11 May 2026 to add a FAQ; eligibility was clarified to UK-only on 24 April 2026. A collaboration survey was active with entries needed by 4 June 2026 to facilitate potential teaming.

Winning proposals will demonstrate that the proposed technology or system directly addresses one of the three stated biological security challenges, is feasible for development within the contracted period, and offers a clear path to deployment by UK government or defence stakeholders. Teams combining novel biological detection or AI diagnostic capabilities with supply-chain or protective system expertise across challenge boundaries may have an advantage, as the funder is distributing awards across all three areas.