Call for GAIL seed funding

The Generative AI Laboratory (GAIL) invites applications from GAIL Fellows for a third round of seed funding, to support transformative research and novel collaborations exploring AI and its various applications.

GAIL seeks to push the frontiers of AI to create impact through a variety of mechanisms including societal benefit and economic growth. 


GAIL builds on the University’s world-class research in natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning - and the application of those techniques to a variety of fields such as healthcare, fintech, manufacturing and sustainable engineering – with consideration of the social, ethical, political and economic implications of their adoption.

Linus Zoll & Google DeepMind / Better Images of AI / Generative Image models / CC-BY 4.0

Kick-start

This round of seed funding is aimed at supporting new collaborations and innovative ideas, to build and develop a multidisciplinary community of researchers working at the cutting edge of AI. The funding is for GAIL Fellows across all three colleges of the University of Edinburgh.

We invite applications for short-term projects that could cover a range of activities from events to pilot research projects. Projects should align with the GAIL priorities to create a community of active researchers in generative AI and to establish a national and international profile.

We invite applications for short-term projects - 6 months or less. Projects should align with the GAIL priorities to create a community of active researchers in Generative AI and to establish a national and international profile.

Proposals

Please submit proposals by 5pm Friday 20 February 2026. Proposals will be assessed by a panel led by the Director of GAIL – Prof Subramanian Ramamoorthy, which will take advice from the different colleges.

We plan to inform successful applicants at the end of February and anticipate that projects/events will take place between 1 March and 31 May 2026. Successful applicants will be expected to deliver a final report in June 2026, and all funded projects will be featured on the GAIL website.

Frequently asked questions

 1. Who can apply? 

All current GAIL Fellows.

2. How do I apply? 

Please submit a maximum one-page proposal to the GAIL Head of Business and Operations, Kirsty Dillingham Gen.AILab@ed.ac.uk.

Proposals should specify:

(a) the project/event to be undertaken, objectives and novel/collaborative aspects of the project and how it aligns with the GAIL priorities;

(b) a description of the activity to be undertaken and resources needed;

(c) at least one tangible deliverable or artefact (e.g., meeting, demo, dataset, research proposal); and

(d) a budget for how the funds will be spent by 31 May 2026.

 3. What should I apply for?  

We will consider proposals for funding up to £2500 per project. All expenditure must be incurred by 31 July 2026 (funds cannot be carried forward into the next financial year). Proposals could be requesting funds to, for example:

  • organise a seminar series or a workshop, including travel for invited speakers
  • organise a hackathon or competition, to explore novel uses of AI
  • design, run and evaluate an experimental study using LLMs
  • scope out a multidisciplinary effort across the University
  • preliminary research to support proposal preparation for an external funding application
  • compensation for experiment participants
  • compilation of datasets
  • explore a possible commercialisation idea

Examples of previous projects include a workshop on efficient LLMs and the creation of datasets related to finance. These are just examples; we are happy to consider other ideas. However, bear in mind that some activities are not eligible such as consulting, staff costs, and conference fees. If you have any questions, please send an email to Gen.AILab@ed.ac.uk

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