Innovate UK: Robotics Adoption Programme skills development

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest a minimum of £2.5 million from the UKRI and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

The aim of this competition is to create and deliver course content and materials that will support skills, talent and training in robotics. This will bridge the skills gap to address the lack of skilled workers able to specify, procure, integrate, operate and maintain robotics. This competition is part of a £52 million Robotics Adoption Programme. It is designed to complement and feed into a new network of Robotics Adoption Hubs. The competition to run the Robotics Adoption Hubs is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

For this competition, robotics is defined broadly. It includes drones operating on land, sea and air; autonomous plant and service robots; and industrial robots or automated machinery that use sensors, actuators and control software. Robotics does not include systems that are only software based.

Opportunities could include but are not limited to:

• apprenticeships and internships
• upskilling and reskilling of existing workforce
• technical courses and vocational training
• undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development (CPD)
• schools engagement

Eligibility

Your project must:

• have a grant funding request of between £100,000 and £500,000
• start by 1 August 2026
• end by 31 January 2027
• last between three and six months

For more details and the full eligibility criteria, please click here.