Immersive Arts phase two: invite only — UKRI grant opportunity

Immersive Arts phase two: invite only — UKRI grant opportunity

The Immersive Arts phase two: invite only call is an unusually strategic UK funding route for teams building the creative and commercial infrastructure of immersive arts across the UK. It is not a standard open call. The scheme is running under UK Research and Innovation through the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with co-funding from the UK national arts development bodies. The stated total fund is £8.800 million, with a maximum award of £8.35 million (pre-indexation), and projects are expected to run for three years starting by 1 February 2027.

The opportunity is unusual in three ways:

• It is invite-only, so organisations cannot submit applications unless specifically invited.
• It is designed as a consortium-led programme rather than a single organisation award.
• Most funding is expected to be managed through devolved funding streams that support multiple artists and organisations at different readiness levels.

At a minimum, this is a sector-level call. It is about building a pipeline, not just one project.

Key details

What this opportunity is really funding

The official call positions this call as the continuation of Phase one of Immersive Arts and describes a three-year creative R&D programme that develops immersive technologies and creative practice in arts, culture and the wider creative economy. It is explicitly framed to deliver both artistic and economic outcomes: the call expects development of immersive content, strengthening collaboration between academia and industry, and generation of measurable impact across UK regions.

The call outlines four primary activity strands for the chosen consortium:

1. Run devolved funding programmes across the UK (minimum 55% of the total award).
2. Training and skills development for individuals and cultural/creative organisations.
3. Research and mapping to support adoption and economic growth in immersive arts.
4. Annual industry showcase for networking, visibility and distribution.

The funding model is also explicit about a staged pathway for devolved awards: approximately three levels of awards (Explore, Experiment, Expand), with indicative award sizes around £6,000, £24,000, and £60,000 respectively. The call notes that Phase one used a multi-round, staged pattern, and the new programme expects a similar logic to drive readiness and progression.

What that means is strategic: you are not applying only to be funded directly. You are applying to run a programme that builds and manages a distribution ecosystem, connects opportunities across regions, and supports follow-on commercial growth. If your team is set up for one-off projects only, this may not be your home.

Why the invite-only format matters

Many grant calls are open and can be entered by any eligible applicant. This one cannot. UKRI says clearly: you can only apply if you have been invited, and the start application link is sent by email. This changes how you should assess fit:

• There is likely prior engagement needed with the wider ecosystem.
• You need to build confidence that your consortium has a relationship with the sector architecture and the relevant funding partner networks.
• Competitive evaluation may be less about “is the idea good” and more about “is the consortium already demonstrably capable of delivering at scale and across regions.”

In practical terms, because it is invite-only, teams often need to treat this as a readiness and strategic positioning exercise first, not just a late-stage application writing exercise.

Who is eligible (and who is not)

From the official page, this is not a typical single-entity grant. The minimum requirement is a consortium with at least five partners, with distribution across the four UK nations and an additional England partner outside London.

Eligibility constraints from the published page are explicit on paper:

• you must be invited;
• you must be on a UK organisation eligible for UKRI funding;
• the consortium must include at least one partner per region pattern listed above;
• partners from cultural and creative organisations can be included;
• commercial partners can be part of the consortium mix, and specialist collaborators should be employed through a consortium organisation unless they are public contributors.

The call is therefore strongest for:

• established consortium-ready universities or arts institutions with UK-wide relationship capacity,
• organisations already connected to Creative Immersive ecosystems,
• groups that can coordinate complex delivery with governance, finance, reporting and devolved selection processes.

If your team is a single creator collective with no institutional infrastructure, this call may be a reach unless you already have a credible lead partner that can carry administrative and programme-level obligations.

A crucial practical point: although the call is open to organisations with “standard eligibility,” the requirement that all applications are invitation-only means many teams should prepare their evidence of readiness before they are in the application process.

What the scheme is expected to deliver (and where teams underperform)

The call expects a consortium that can deliver practical and measurable outcomes across the sector. There are four headline delivery outcomes, and failures often happen where teams underestimate the governance burden.

Devolved funding obligations

A major obligation is that at least 55% of the budget is reserved for devolved funding across at least two rounds, targeted across readiness levels. If this is your only concern, you will fail. You need to design a full model of how funds are allocated across multiple cohorts, how proposals are assessed, how fairness and diversity are maintained, and how outputs are tracked.

The call gives useful baseline references from Phase one: the model included Explore, Experiment, and Expand awards plus impact support for promising projects. That history signals that UKRI and co-funders expect a mature review, support and progression architecture.

Regional spread and ecosystem strengthening

The consortium must deliver opportunities across the four nations. The language in the call repeatedly emphasizes national spread, collaboration, network building and inclusivity. It also mentions alignment with research, cultural and commercial actors.

A common weak point is designing a programme that sounds regional in text but remains London-centric in implementation. Reviewers will be looking for credible reach, partner mix, and practical access points.

Skills and commercial impact pathways

Training and skills delivery is not a side activity. The call positions this as a core requirement. Teams should plan for entry-level training, progression pathways (e.g., from early-stage exploration to prototyping), and support structures that connect participants to commercial opportunities.

Research and knowledge transfer

The call asks for research and mapping in areas such as immersive production, market pathways, audience engagement, workforce training, net zero challenges, accessibility and growth models. This is a strong signal that they expect both practice and evidence.

Application mechanics: what you must plan for

UKRI has moved this call to the new UKRI Funding Service (not Je-S). Only the lead research organisation can submit. The application process includes standard institutional checks (research office, finance, host arrangements), and internal institutional deadlines matter because UKRI itself cannot usually adapt to late internal submissions.

The application process itself is not a simple “form with attachments” exercise. Sections and questions are assessed against published criteria, with clear word limits. This includes:

• Summary (550 words);
• Vision (1,000 words);
• Approach (7,500 words);
• Applicant and team capability to deliver (2,050 words, mostly R4RI structure);
• Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation;
• Resources and cost justification;
• Project partners and letters of support;
• EDI, sustainability, governance and monitoring expectations.

The process then runs a panel and interview. Expected interview date is 14 July 2026 according to published detail.

What you should do before pressing “start application”

1. Confirm whether your target lead organisation has a Funding Service account and is correctly configured.
2. Freeze consortium membership early because membership changes late in the process can create governance risk.
3. Create a project map showing how each consortium partner contributes to one of the core outcomes (training, devolved funding process, research, showcase).
4. Decide early how you will run the devolved award process and how criteria will avoid bias while still setting quality thresholds.
5. Decide your regional delivery strategy before funding assumptions.
6. Align all assumptions with internal finance, especially what is expected to be funded at UKRI standard cost rates (100% FEC for some devolved activity, 80% for non-exceptions).

The call also explicitly notes strict guidance around hyperlinks, references and image usage within applications. This is easy to overlook, but non-compliance can weaken credibility quickly.

Budget expectations and how to present cost logic

The page distinguishes full economic cost context and standard cost treatment, and highlights that full project cost depends on what proportion is funded at different rates. Rather than overfitting to an uncertain formula, applications should avoid pretending a simple linear conversion exists.

The call identifies a maximum UK allocation of £8.35 million for the consortium and points out that this must be handled as full economic cost depending on the mix of costs, with 80% FEC used for non-exceptional costs. This matters because financial architecture gets reviewed for realism and alignment.

Budget writing guidance should therefore:

• distinguish between costs for programme-level management and devolved award distribution,
• justify staffing and facilities needs,
• include evidence of costed partnerships where external in-kind contributions or partner resources meaningfully de-risk delivery,
• explain how costs support programme governance and impact monitoring.

Do not write the budget as a generic template. UKRI calls are typically scored less on abstract polish and more on whether the numbers map to your delivery model.

What reviewers are likely to score well against

The call lists assessment areas as vision, approach, team capability, ethics/Responsible Research, resources and costs, and partner quality. In practice, each area has a few common expectations:

Vision

Your vision section should translate sector ambition into a concise, credible route: what problem is being solved and who is changed by it. General aspiration is easy to read but hard to verify. Concrete impact language is easier to score.

Approach

Reviewers want a strategy that can actually run: staged funding logic, governance, partnerships, monitoring framework, and risk controls. “We have great ideas” is not a methodology.

Team capability

The call explicitly expects clear evidence of leadership, technical capability, and delivery experience relevant to immersive sectors. The R4RI-style framing is a strong clue: reviewers expect a team profile, not isolated CV fragments.

Ethics and RRI

Most teams underestimate the practical relevance of this section. Even where your main activities are non-sensitive, you need to address data, participation, and social/environmental implications in a concrete and honest way.

Costs and partners

Applicants usually lose points where partner roles are fuzzy. Clarify what each partner delivers: review functions, training delivery, mentorship, commercial pathways, and in-kind support.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake: Treating the call as a single-project grant

This is a recurring trap. The lead organisation must manage both programme-level delivery and a devolved distribution model. Build this into your narrative from the first page.

Mistake: Weak national spread

Given the four-nation expectation, reviewers expect concrete inclusion beyond nominal naming. Fix by setting measurable geographic commitments and partner responsibilities.

Mistake: Underestimating selection mechanics

It is not enough to say devolved awards will be fair. Explain process: application rounds, review method, conflict checks, scoring design, and escalation path.

Mistake: Ignoring internal institutional timelines

The page is explicit: internal deadlines and university research office processes can break timelines. Build in 2–4 weeks for internal checks before official close.

Mistake: Weakly justified team composition

Because the call is consortium-led, the consortium can be a liability if roles are unclear. Fix by assigning ownership of each outcome to named organisations or role clusters.

Practical fit guide (for institutions and consortia)

If your organisation is asking whether this is worth pursuing, ask these three questions:

1. Can we credibly lead a multi-nation delivery model over three years?
2. Do we already work with the UK immersive arts ecosystem or can we become the lead partner quickly?
3. Can we show transparent governance and budget discipline for both programme management and devolved grants?

If the answer to all three is yes, you may be strong enough to pursue an invite pathway. If the answer is no for two or more, you may still benefit by using the call as a strategic objective but not a direct target yet.

Frequently asked questions

Is this call still open?

As of the source snapshot on 2026-05-20, the opportunity is listed as open, with deadline 11 June 2026 (16:00 UK time). Always verify status on the official UKRI page before submitting.

Is there a fixed minimum award?

The call gives a minimum/maximum structure for funding activities and budget treatment rather than a uniform fixed award. It states maximum UK award to the lead consortium is £8.35 million and total fund is £8.8 million.

Can organisations outside England apply as lead?

Yes, if they meet UKRI eligibility and consortium formation requirements, including the explicit regional distribution rules.

Must the consortium be invited?

Yes. The official page is clear that only invited organisations can apply and the start application link is only sent by UKRI.

How do we start if not sure about the invitation?

The path is usually to engage early with the ecosystem and your partner network, then monitor official funding updates and any partner communication mechanisms. Since the page requires invitation, this call is less about speculative submissions and more about readiness and visibility.

What should we do first if invited?

Open the Funding Service setup, line up consortium agreement terms, define governance and devolved award process in parallel, and prepare the section-level evidence before final submission.

What happens after submission?

The call describes a two-stage assessment: panel review followed by interview. A decision process then follows with feedback.

Official links and source grounding

Use only the official sources below for submission-critical details:

• Immersive Arts phase two: invite only – UKRI
• UKRI Funding Service guidance for applicants
• UKRI co-funder privacy notices and application support pages linked from the opportunity page
• Arts Council England
• Arts Council Northern Ireland
• Arts Council Wales
• Creative Scotland

If this is for your team, build the application package with a governance-first structure: consortium map, devolved funding process, skills development plan, and clearly separated cost logic. This call is demanding, but it is also precisely the kind of challenge where good institutions can create durable impact if they align structure and ambition before they write the narrative.