UKOMAIN Call for Proposals Round 1
Version: OMAIB-R1-v0.0
Last updated: 23 June 2025
Funding available: £160,000 total; up to £40,000 per project
Launch webinar: 11 July 2025, 14:00–15:00 BST (Register here)
The UK Open Multimodal AI Network (UKOMAIN) is pleased to announce the first funding call under the Open Multimodal AI Benchmark (OMAIB), a key mechanism for delivering UKOMAIN’s mission through open, interdisciplinary, and community-driven benchmarking to address Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges (TERCs). We define Multimodal AI broadly as the integration of any two or more types of data, not limited to texts and images.
OMAIB (pronounced “Oh-Maybe”) aims to support the development of multimodal benchmark datasets, tasks, evaluation protocols, and baseline models that reflect real-world complexity and encourage inclusive, interdisciplinary collaboration. We expect this first round to fund 4–8 well-scoped, cost-effective research projects, forming the foundation of a community-led benchmarking ecosystem.
Additional discussion and matchmaking opportunities will be offered during the Third Workshop on Multimodal AI in London on 16–17 September 2025.
UK-based academic researchers eligible for EPSRC funding may apply. Fixed-term researchers (e.g. PDRAs) are also eligible under certain conditions. We strongly encourage applications from:
UKOMAIN is funded by EPSRC (UKRI396).