AISI Challenge Fund
Overview
The AI Security Institute (AISI) collaborates with leading researchers to foster cutting-edge solutions that address the most pressing challenges in AI security and safety.
Overview
As AI technologies rapidly evolve, collaboration with the research community is essential to safely develop the next generation of AI tools, evaluations, and mitigations.
The Challenge Fund will award grants of up to £200,000 per project to address pressing, unresolved questions in AI safety and security. Researchers worldwide can access grants for innovative research in fields such as cyber-attacks and AI misuse.
The fund will focus on supporting research tackling four critical AI security challenges. As AI integrates into financial markets, healthcare, and energy grids, failures or misuse could cause systemic disruptions and security risks. AI systems are also increasingly targeted for manipulation, with bad actors attempting to bypass safeguards and exploit advanced capabilities. This funding will support research to strengthen protections and reduce these risks.
The AISI Challenge Fund aims to:
- Stimulate high-quality research aligned with AISI’s strategic focus areas;
- Foster innovation by funding novel, cutting-edge research projects;
- Bridge the gap between AISI, researchers and academia to accelerate the development of safe and secure AI solutions.
The Fund is designed to support a diverse range of projects that contribute to the broader field of safe and secure AI development. While they are particularly interested in research areas outlined here, they also welcome proposals that explore other innovative topics relevant to the safe and secure development of AI systems.
Priority Research Areas
- Safeguards
- Control
- Alignments
- Societal Resilience
What are they looking for?
The AISI Challenge Fund encourages researchers affiliated with eligible academic institutions, research bodies and non-profit organisations to submit their solution in response to the following Challenge Statement.
"We are seeking applications focused on proposals that address AISI’s research priorities: safeguards, control, alignment, and societal resilience as set out in our AISI’s Priority Research Areas document."
Proposals should demonstrate clear pathways to impact and offer research that would not otherwise occur without this funding.
What will AISI provide?
The Fund will award grants ranging from £50,000 to £200,000 per project.
As the first ever government-backed AI institute, working with AISI also offers a unique opportunity to translate research on safe AI development and/or deployment into real-world impact. By collaborating with us, you will:
- Work with AISI experts: Work alongside leading experts in safe and secure development and/or deployment of AI systems;
- Make a meaningful impact: Your research could be applied to real world model testing and support technical advice for AI policy and international AI governance;
- Gain valuable experience: Contribute to the development and/or deployment of safe, secure and beneficial AI systems;
- Receive additional support: On a case-by-case basis we may be able to provide funding to support the research collaboration.
Eligible applicants
- Researchers based at UK and international academic institutions and non-profit organisations, subject to due diligence requirements.
Eligible scope
The Challenge Fund is broadly constructed to fund a wide range of projects which contribute to the overall field of safe AI development and/or deployment. Please see AISI’s Priority Research Areas document for topics they are particularly interested in.
Eligibility criteria
Host organisation
- Academic institutions
- An institution that is eligible to receive funding from the research funding agency of the country in which it is based (e.g. eligible for Research Council funding in the UK, eligible for NSF/NIH funding in the USA, eligible for ERC funding in the EU, etc.).
- Non-profit organisations
- An organisation that is a legal entity operated for a collective, public or social benefit and is registered as such in the country in which it is based (e.g. registered with the Charities Commission in the UK, registered as a 501(c)(3) in the USA, etc.).