Applications open for Manchester Prize (United Kingdom)

The first Manchester Prize is seeking innovation from UK-led teams with breakthrough ideas for overcoming challenges in the fields of energy, environment and infrastructure.

Challenge Statement

• The first Manchester Prize will be awarded to the most innovative and impactful AI solution which demonstrates social benefit by overcoming challenges in the fields of energy, environment and infrastructure.
• Solutions could include:
  • Reducing energy costs for consumers by using AI to model household energy use and identify targeted interventions, such as retrofitting and replacement.
  • Supporting emergency service response by bringing together a range of spatial data about the road and built environment to improve last mile routing.
  • Improving the response to extreme weather conditions by using AI and earth observation data to predict areas vulnerable to flooding, or to support better real-time spatial data of events such as wildfires and flash floods.
  • Reducing disruption to public services through predictive modelling of infrastructure resilience, with automated scheduling of maintenance, such as deploying teams to fix potholes or other traffic obstructions.
  • Enhancing food security by using earth observation and soil data to monitor and improve farming productivity and crop yield.
  • Improving efficiency and reducing resource consumption in manufacturing by using AI to optimise or automate energy-intensive processes.
• They encourage solutions that demonstrate advances in technical capabilities such as generalisation, uncertainty quantification, interpretability, data-efficient AI and physics-based AI – but other approaches are welcome too.

Prize Information

• The Manchester Prize provides a range of support to finalists, designed to give each team the greatest possible chance of success, and to enable them to develop their solutions as rapidly as possible, regardless of whether they win the grand prize.
  • Money
    • Up to ten teams will be selected as finalists in April 2024, and receive £100,000 each.
    • One team will be awarded the grand prize in March 2025, and receive £1,000,000.
    • Funding must be used on research and development related to your proposal, but you do not need to provide evidence of match funding, it is not a loan, they do not take any equity and you do not sign away rights to your intellectual property.
  • Compute
    • Throughout the finalist phase, teams will have access to a package of free compute to help develop their solutions. Further information on this will be announced during the entrant phase.
  • Match-making with partners
    • They will work with teams during the finalist phase to identify and convene key stakeholders in match-making sessions. Finalists will be given the opportunity to connect with problem holders and potential adopters in the public and private sectors, and investors at match-making events.
  • Data access
    • They will support finalists to identify, access and use open datasets. In the entry form, they ask entrants to specify what kind of data their proposal could benefit from. The type of support they can offer in the finalist phase will depend on the type of data requested, but may include putting innovators in contact with organisations who generate and host data and can provide guidance on its use.

Eligibility Criteria

• Challenge prizes are designed to be open to a wide range of organisations and individuals. What matters is the quality of your solution – not your profile or track record.
• For your team to be eligible to enter the Manchester Prize, you must meet these requirements:
  • Eligible entrants: Entries can come from individuals, companies and other types of organisation (e.g. non profits, charities, research and technology organisations). In the case of individuals, the lead entrant must be at least 18 years of age.
  • Consortia entries: Teams may enter as consortia of any combination of the above, but must nominate one individual or organisation as the lead entrant. The lead entrant will enter into contracts and receive funding from the Manchester Prize. Organisations and individuals other than the lead entrant can be based outside of the UK.
  • Geographical scope: The lead entrant must be based in the United Kingdom, and be able to receive funds into a UK bank account in the name of the lead entrant.
• In addition to these requirements, teams will be subject to due diligence checks, and teams which are made up of individuals will need to have registered a legal UK entity and have a business bank account in place prior to receiving any finalist award.
• You may submit as many entries as you wish, but only one entry per lead organisation or individual will be selected as a finalist.

For more information, visit Manchester Prize.