Phase 2 National Compute Resource: Expression of Interest

Overview

Expression of Interest for Phase 2 of the National Compute Resources (NCRs)

Background to NCRs

The UK Compute Roadmap sets out the requirement for a compute ecosystem that is diverse, user-centred, coherent and serves the needs of the UK’s research and innovation communities across a wide range of disciplines and use cases. As part of this national effort to develop an integrated compute ecosystem, UKRI will invest in National Compute Resources (NCRs). NCRs complement flagship investments in the Next National Supercomputing Service and AI Research Resource (AIRR). They will provide smaller scale services that ensure the UK has the necessary diversity of skills and technologies – and the expertise in specialised and novel solutions – to enable cutting-edge research and innovation, increase resilience, and allow for portability to new approaches.

The NCR model is an evolution of UKRI’s existing approaches to supporting compute that seeks to develop a critical mass portfolio of highly integrated and nationally significant compute capabilities that provide a consistent user experience based on access policies determined by UKRI. UKRI will develop a new model for community-specific user services to act as collective points of entry that facilitate access to NCRs. Further details will follow in due course.

Accordingly, NCRs will not focus on vertically integrated models of compute provision for specific research communities. Nonetheless, UKRI recognises the value of such approaches in specific circumstances and will facilitate any synergies from community-focussed compute services funded through other routes. NCRs will be expected to collaborate with other compute investments, user communities, DSIT and UKRI to advance our objective for an integrated ecosystem.

UKRI may directly procure and own hardware hosted and operated by selected sites under this model. The expectation is that the NCRs will be a long-term partnership with institutions that is decoupled from specific hardware investments. Further investment beyond this service cycle will be subject to future Spending Review outcomes and satisfactory service delivery.

Phased Implementation of NCRs

We anticipate a rolling programme of phased investment in high-performance computing capacity across UKRI. As the ecosystem develops, UKRI will identify unmet technological requirements and commission additional NCRs and other HPC investments where appropriate. At the current time, we are able to confirm:

• A competition for Phase 1 investment in Financial Year 2025/26 (Application form for host sites for the Phase One of UKRI National Compute Resources (NCRs) - Citizen Space) The phase 1 NCR call will rely on hosting entities leading on procurement of systems based on the scope outlined in the hosting competition text.
• This activity: An Expression of Interest (EOI) for future phased investment in Financial Year 2026/2027 (Phase 2). Hosting entities are also invited to submit expressions of interest for subsequent rounds of NCR opportunities via the engagement hub. A second NCR hosting competition is expected to launch in early 2026, to identify sites for investment in UKRI-wide NCRs. Submission of an EoI is not a mandatory step in order to be eligible for future competitions. However it is encouraged, as the received EoIs will give UKRI vital information and an evidence base for making decisions on the scope of that exercise.
• Planned EPSRC investment: EPSRC is planning to provide funding to establish at least one service focused on enabling engineering and physical sciences research, where these needs cannot be met by compute provision elsewhere or where more specific capacity or a vertically integrated approach is required. This investment will enable an evolution from EPSRC’s current tier 2 compute portfolio and provide complementarity to other compute investments. New EPSRC systems are expected to be operational by quarter 2/3 of 2026, with the exact timeline to be determined in a future funding opportunity. Potential host sites suitable for EPSRC investment are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest through this survey to inform planning for future funding or hosting opportunities.

Purposes of this Expression of Interest

This EOI survey is aiming to collect two strands of information: opportunities for future phases of large-scale computing investment through National Compute Resources, as well as potential compute investments that do not fit the NCR model, where architectures or systems may have to be specifically tailored for a particular research and innovation need.

Interest in hosting for 2026/27 NCR Phase 2 investments

This EOI forms the second part of a rolling programme to identify NCR hosting sites. As the ecosystem develops, UKRI will identify unmet technological requirements and commission additional NCRs.

The current anticipated budget per NCR in phase 2 would be up to £9.5 million to establish the service. Please note that the total funding available per NCR may not all be awarded to the hosting entity directly. The procurement process has not been defined and will be agreed between UKRI and the hosting entity.

Hosting entities will be provided with funds (expected to be up to £2 million per year) for service provision, power and other directly relevant costs necessary for user support. The hosting entity will be responsible for operating the service in line with the overall goals of the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure programme. Please note that UKRI will retain responsibility for the access policy defining usage of the system. Accordingly, the majority of computational time will be allocated according to UKRI’s policy.

The hosting entity will be responsible for ensuring the security and resilience of the service, meeting agreed service standards, and ensuring a high-quality experience for a wide range of users across the UK. Hosting entities will be expected to form part of a national network of NCRs and work collaboratively with other sites, including national supercomputing centres.

Interest in hosting future compute investments beyond NCRs

Via this EOI process, UKRI also wishes to gauge demand from sites interested in hosting a large-scale computing service that mainly serves a particular discipline-specific need. The value of vertically-integrated models of compute provision is recognised in certain cases to complement the NCR model. This EOI exercise will facilitate scoping of these needs across Research Councils.

EPSRC is planning to invest in HPC capacity that meets the needs of engineering and physical sciences research communities, complementing other services meeting needs across UKRI remit. A funding opportunity is being planned for later in the year, for spend during financial year 2026/27. The EOI process will inform the planning for that EPSRC funding opportunity.

Expression of interest process

The deadline for submitting an Expression of interest is 20 November 2025.

EOIs submitted through this survey will be used to support planning for compute provision across UKRI, including for future phases of NCR investment, and may therefore be shared across Research Councils or DSIT. This may involve follow up on an individual basis to request further detail that will enable planning or scoping. However, the submission of an EOI at this stage will be fully decoupled from any future funding or hosting opportunities.

The EOIs received will not undergo a formal review for quality or fit to the scope of future activities, but feedback may be provided to applicants where appropriate. UKRI will use the applicant’s contact details to share updates about future hosting or funding opportunities.

Through this survey, a potential hosting entity can submit:

• An EOI to host a UKRI NCR
• An EOI to host an service that is focused on the needs of a particular research and innovation community or communities
• A single EOI that could fit both of the above options
• Multiple EOIs covering different options. However, for future competitions it is likely that institutions will not be permitted to submit multiple bids relating to the same space or facility.

It is expected that applicants for future hosting or funding opportunities will need to meet certain requirements, which will be specified further in the relevant opportunities. For this EOI, potential host entities can be any type of organisation within the UK, and can be a single organisation or a partnership/consortium of organisations. This EOI process will not be assessed. However, the information gathered will allow UKRI to further our understanding of potential demand for future funding opportunities.

In line with the Phase 1 NCR call, we anticipate that future host site applicants will need to demonstrate that they:

• Meet the requirements for the proposed system, e.g. provide assurance of suitable accommodation, power and direct liquid cooling infrastructure.
• Meet ISO 27001 information security management for a supercomputing environment or demonstrate where site already complies and a plan to gain accreditation within the timeframe of the service.
• Can provide accommodation within a secure UK facility. This facility should meet an enhanced Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) profile tailored for supercomputing environments—covering areas such as access control, security monitoring, staff training, and incident response planning.
• Are able to provide a team of skilled staff to support this initiative, including user and software support, training, and community outreach.
• Have suitable experience in hosting and operating high quality large-scale compute services for research and/or innovation users.