AI Scientist Call
Advanced Research and Invention AgencycontractFind a Tender ↗Ref ocds-h6vhtk-05cc96Procurement Act 2023SME suitableVCSE suitableclosed for bids
Estimated value
£417k
services
Awarded value
—
Suppliers
0
Lots
1
0 awarded
Published
14 Oct 2025
Deadline 14 Nov 2025
Description
To help guide and shape how ARIA thinks about AI Scientists, we are inviting proposals for a series of short exploratory projects, to be undertaken using AI Scientists. We are specifically looking for AI systems that are able to perform the full end-to-end workflow of scientific knowledge creation. This call will be backed by up to £3M and targets awards of up to £500K with a maximum duration of 9 months
Scope
- Reference
- ocds-h6vhtk-05cc96
- Total value
- £417,000 excluding VAT£500,000 including VATAbove the relevant threshold
- Commercial tool
- Standalone contract
- Contract dates
- 01 Jan 2026 to 30 Sept 2026
- Main category
- services
- CPV classifications
- 73110000
- Particular suitability
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Award criteria
Criteria the buyer will use to evaluate bids.
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Scientist System Capability & Automation | — | quality | — |
| Ambition, Clarity, and Suitability of the Research Problem | — | quality | — |
| Value for ARIA's Learning and Future Strategy | — | quality | — |
| Cost | — | cost | — |
Submission & procedure
- Enquiry deadline
- 07 Nov 2025, 11:59 pm
- Submission deadline
- 14 Nov 2025, 2:00 pm
- Submission address
- https://www.aria.org.uk/ai-scientist/funding ↗
- Electronic submission
- Yes
- Procedure
- Competitive flexible procedure