The University Research Computing Accelerator Award is a central funding mechanism that covers the cost of important, non-grant-funded computational research that departmental budgets can't fund.

Academic staff and PhD students from all disciplines can apply for an Accelerator Award. Applications go through a review process and successful applications will be notified that their funds have been allocated.

Eligibility criteria

Your research is eligible for funding if it meets one of these criteria:

• initial proof-of-concept study, feasibility test, or pilot project
• short project critical for a grant preparation or fellowship application
  
• project linking consecutive grant applications or which have bridging requirements, e.g. between submitted and awarded grants (max three months)
  
• short PhD student project where the student has computational research experience and will be supported by their supervisor
  

You can submit multiple Accelerator Award applications in any given funding round.

If you are not on a permanent contract, your employment must not end earlier than the expected end date of your proposed research project.

Approximately 90% of this year's budget is still available for awards and must be allocated before 31st July. 

We have approval for a one-off, rapid review process for new Accelerator Awards proposals. Funds allocated will be available for use from August 2026 onwards.

Application deadline: 30 June 2026

Award decisions: mid-July 2026

Funding allocations: by end of July 2026

Accelerator Awards provide funding for HPC usage on Nimbus independently of grant-based funds. Master's or final year undergraduate student projects requiring research computing are eligible provided the application is submitted by their supervisor.

Apply Now

To apply, complete the Accelerator Award application form and you will be contacted with the outcome once the applications have been reviewed in mid-July.

Deadline

Currently we are accepting applications for the rapid round Accelerator Awards which is open until 30 June 2026. We will update this page with the next standard round of funding in due course.

To apply for the rapid round, complete the application form to let us know:

• About your research project and expected outcomes
• The compute and storage resources you need
  
• Your research software requirements
  
• Why your research can't be covered by your department's Research Computing allocation

Applications from PhD students have to be approved and submitted by their supervisor.

What to do if you need help

Please speak to your Research Computing Champion if you need help assessing the suitability of supercomputing for your research project.

For technical advice, please request Research Computing support via our TopDesk form or contact the Research Software Engineering team at research-software-engineering@bath.ac.uk.

The application and assessment workflow for the Research Computing Accelerator Award is currently under review to streamline the process and improve uptake.

Usually there is an application round once per semester. After the deadline has passed the Research Computing Resource Allocation Committee will review all applications and decide which projects to fund.

The committee consists of representatives from the University Faculties, the School of Management and Digital Data and Technology.

Assessment criteria

Applications eligible for support will be assessed against four criteria:

• Achievability of research goals
• Significance of research problem and expected outcomes
• Value for money
• Applicant's research track record from previous award applications

Funding outcome

We will email all applicants to let them know the outcome of their application once this has been decided.