2nd Flexible funding projects from the NFCS NetworkPlus
About the NFCS NetworkPlus
The National Federated Compute Services NetworkPlus (NFCS) brings together national, regional, and institutional large-scale computing resources to improve efficiency, reduce barriers to entry, and strengthen UK research. It aims to deliver a national federated compute service covering both computation and data federation.
This 2nd Flexible Funding Call is designed to support projects that: a) collect relevant evidence and documentation to contribute to the development of the federation roadmaps b) contribute to building the community around NFCS.
The programme is built around three pillars:
Community
Technology
Governance
This 2nd Flexible Funding Call is designed to support projects that:
Collect relevant evidence and documentation to contribute to the
Contribute to building the community around NFCS.
Proposals will be expected to identify which of the three pillars of the NetworkPlus they will address. While the scope for this call remains essentially the same as the first call we will prioritise projects that are clearly distinct and address gaps in the coverage of those projects funded by the first round. These priorities align with the following themes:
Cybersecurity in relation to federation
Integration with extant and emergent international and transnational federated DRIs
Business case/s for smaller systems funded and run by research organisations to participate in federation
Management of sensitive data in federation
Access, allocation and resource management, modelling and policy
Proposals which include partnerships within the disciplinary spheres of BBSRC, MRC/NIHR/ESRC, will be encouraged, to complement the existing programme funded in the 1st Call.
The 1st Flexible Funding Call produced 13 funded projects working on areas across the three pillars. Please review the list of projects in progress before preparing your proposal in order to avoid duplication: nfcs-networkplus.ac.uk
Applicants are strongly recommended to engage with the NetworkPlus lead team, as early as possible, prior to final submission for feedback to ensure good alignment with the scope of the call.
Community
Identifying user stories
Establishing standards and common language
KPI development
Industrial engagement
Skills gap analysis and training opportunities
Roadmap co-development through events
Technology
Identity & access management (IAM)
Secure APIs for HPC, HTC, data & AI
Privacy and data protection compliance
Federated resource management and accounting
Distributed workflows
Federation-enabling software and architectures
Governance
Technical and organisational governance models
Sustainable business models
Surveys of best practice in the UK and internationally
Exceptional proposals above £120k may be considered.
Open to UK higher education institutions, research council institutes, and independent research organisations eligible for UKRI funding. UKRI eligibility guidance
Eligible costs
The project budget will support:
Running and supporting events to generate new communities of practice
Running and supporting events to gather evidence of existing practice
Work to survey and compile information on existing practice
Work to collate, analyse and document evidence for submission to the roadmap development
Limited hardware and software costs for technical evaluation studies
Work to set up, complete, and document technical evaluation studies Eligible costs will include:
Staff time
Facilities hire and catering
Travel and subsistence to support participation in community building events for project team members. Travel bursaries for participants can be considered on a needs basis
Design and production of educational, training or promotional material
Eligible costs will NOT include dissemination of research outcomes at international conferences
Exceptional proposals above £120k may be considered.
Relevance to federation/data roadmaps or community building
EDI and skills development
Impact on balance of NFCS portfolio
Degree of collaboration or community engagement
Suitability of team to deliver
Project management
Value for money
Submission process
Complete the application form and include letters of support.
Email to John Masih (j.masih@qmul.ac.uk) by 5 October 2025, 00:00 BST. Late applications will not be considered.
