Turn research into real-world impact for the Forth and Tay offshore wind sector with up to £50,000 in funding
Key facts
Funding available
Project duration
Expected awards
Who can lead
Partner requirement
Expression of Interest (EOI) deadline
Full proposal deadline
Expected project start
About the SWIFT FlexiFund
SWIFT exists to support innovation and impact within the Forth and Tay offshore wind cluster.
We are a programme delivered by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Dundee, in partnership with Forth & Tay Offshore and are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
The SWIFT FlexiFund is our way of supporting shorter-term projects that respond to real challenges facing the Forth and Tay offshore wind sector and deliver real benefits for industry, communities and the wider region.
The FlexiFund aims to:
- Bring universities, businesses, public bodies, communities and other organisations together
- Help existing research make real-world impact
- Address a range of challenges facing the offshore wind sector
- Support testing, validation, knowledge exchange and adoption
- Strengthen regional offshore wind through practical tools, evidence and partnerships
What Funding is Available?
As an applicant the SWIFT FlexiFund, you may request up to £50,000 for a focused project lasting 6 to 12 months. The final award value and duration will be in line with the expected benefits and delivery plan of the project.
We expect to support around five projects through this funding call, subject to the quality of applications, available budget and the need to develop a balanced portfolio.
Funding is awarded to and managed by a UK research organisation. We encourage businesses, public-sector organisations, charities, community groups and other partners to be involved in projects and to contribute their support either financially or in-kind.
Priority Challenge Areas For Applications
As an applicant to the FlexiFund, you must address one of our priority challenge areas. When applying you should select the challenge area that best matches your proposed project.
Interdisciplinary proposals are welcome, and projects may address more than one area if you have a clear and coherent rationale. Priority areas are:
Investment and policy
Sustainable supply-chain and workforce development:
Subsea technologies
Platforms to enable large-scale production
Other emerging offshore wind challenges
What We Can Fund
A strong FlexiFund proposal should start with a clearly evidenced challenge or opportunity and demonstrate how existing research, evidence, technology, data, facilities, methods or expertise can be translated into practical use.
Your project should go beyond business-as-usual activity and identify the barriers that FlexiFund support will help overcome.
Examples of suitable activities:
- Feasibility, modelling, simulation, technical design or option studies
- Testing, validation, demonstration, facility access or early-stage prototype activity
- Standards, regulatory, consenting, policy or governance work
- Market, investment, finance, procurement, business-model or supply-chain analysis
- Knowledge exchange, placements or two-way secondments between academia and partners
- Partner-led workshops, co-design and stakeholder engagement directly supporting translation or uptake
- Interdisciplinary activity connecting engineering with environmental science, social science, finance, policy, planning, skills or regional development
Who is Eligible for FlexiFund?
To be eligible, your proposal must:
- Be led or co-led by an eligible academic or researcher at a UK higher education institution or UK research organisation;
- Include at least one non-academic partner, user or beneficiary relevant to offshore wind and the Forth and Tay region
- Focus on accelerating impact, application, testing or translation of existing research or capability
- Address a clearly identified industry, civic, environmental, policy, workforce, supply-chain or community need
- Demonstrate a credible primary benefit to the Forth and Tay offshore wind cluster or region
- Be possible within the stated project duration and SWIFT funding period;
- Request no more than £50,000
- Consider equality, diversity and inclusion, Responsible Research and Innovation, Trusted Research, environmental sustainability, ethics, data, intellectual property and commercial sensitivity
- Agree to provide proportionate financial, delivery and impact evidence if funded
What Project Costs Are Supported?
Eligible costs that we will support may include:
- Technical or professional services, project management and staff time
- Investigator time
- Travel, accommodation and subsistence
- Events, workshops, stakeholder engagement, facilitation and accessible participation
- Use of specialist facilities, laboratories, testing services, equipment access, software licences or data
- Materials, consumables, small components and prototype or demonstrator costs
- Secondment or placement-related costs
- Reasonable accessibility, interpretation or care costs
- Clearly justified external services or specialist support
Costs and activities we will not support include:
- Open-ended or fundamental research without a clear pathway to impact during the project
- Estate costs, indirect costs and general institutional overheads
- Business-as-usual operations
- Costs incurred before the start date or after the end date
- Costs already supported through another funding source
- Academic publication fees, academic conference attendance or conferences intended solely for academic audiences
- Patent registration, maintenance or other intellectual property protection costs
- PhD studentships or activities whose main purpose is student training
- Standard desktop, laptop or tablet computers
- Direct commercial subsidy or routine operating costs for external partners
- Equipment purchases at or above the relevant EPSRC/UKRI threshold, normally £10,000
How to Apply
First, complete the short FlexiFund Expression of Interest form.
The EOI will be used to assess eligibility, fit with the call, strength of the challenge, research base, partnership and potential place-based benefit.
Please submit your EOIs in Word or PDF format.
How We’ll Assess Your Expression of Interest
Strategic fit and relevance to Forth and Tay
Impact and additionality
Research base and translation opportunity
Partnership and co-creation
Feasibility
Responsible delivery
Applicant support and FAQs
We encourage you to contact the SWIFT team before the deadline if you have questions about eligibility, thematic fit, partner requirements, the application process or unusual budget items.
Questions intended for inclusion in our Frequently Asked Questions should be submitted by 31 August 2026.
We may still be answer questions submitted after the given date directly, but responses may not be added to the public FAQs.
We may also provide support with introductions or partner matching, but we cannot pre-assess or score an application.
Applicant support form
Confidentiality, privacy, IP and reporting
Your application may be shared with SWIFT staff, relevant university teams, independent reviewers, panel members and programme governance bodies for eligibility checking, assessment, due diligence, award management and reporting.
All applicants should avoid including unnecessary personal data and should clearly identify information that is confidential or commercially sensitive.
Applicants and partners are responsible for identifying relevant background intellectual property, data-sharing needs, confidentiality requirements and Trusted Research considerations. Shortlisted and successful teams may need to work with their institutional contracts, legal, finance, procurement, data protection, research integrity or commercialisation teams. Appropriate collaboration or award agreements must be completed before work and spending begin.
If successful, you will receive a formal award letter or equivalent agreement confirming the approved budget, start and end dates, reporting requirements and any conditions. Projects must not begin spending until written confirmation and all required finance and legal arrangements are complete.
If funded, your team will be expected to provide proportionate evidence of activities, outputs, partnerships, partner contributions, people engaged or trained, emerging outcomes, follow-on funding or investment, responsible innovation and place-based benefit. Successful projects will complete a final report and contribute material for a SWIFT case study, showcase or UKRI reporting where appropriate.