Expressions of interest: UK-Canada compute mission

Overview

We are inviting expressions of interest to participate in a compute-focused visit to Canada. This visit is organised by the FCDO, DSIT and UKRI, and its programme will offer privileged access to Canadian stakeholders to deepening R&I collaborations. 

Application deadline is 23:59 GMT 12 January 2026.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are inviting UK AI compute and High-performance computing stakeholders to express an interest to participate in a mission to Canada. Successful applicants will have an opportunity to build networks with Canadian researchers and institutions, explore future joint R&D collaboration, and support DSIT to identify collaborative research opportunities with Canadian stakeholders in AI computing and HPC. 

The visit will take place the week commencing 23 February. Exact dates and programme will be confirmed with successful applicants. Please note successful applicants will be required to travel to Canada in person.

The programme will include visits to Canadian research organisations, networking opportunities with Canadian stakeholders and policymakers, presentations from experts and industry leaders, and workshops with Canadian experts and government representatives on collaboration opportunities.

The programme will place emphasis on exploring collaborations with Canada in the following areas of computing research:

• Sustainable computing practices, which could include efficient and resilient codes, access mechanisms, anddevelopment of workflows
• Development of large-scale heterogeneous codes and applications
• Challenge driven approaches to computational research for AI for Science
• Talent exchange and community building activities

Key dates

• Thursday 18 December: Application window opens
• Monday 12 January 23:59 GMT: Application window closes
• Week commencing 19 January: outcomes communicated to applicants
• Week commencing 16 February: pre-visit virtual workshop
• Week commencing 23 February: visit to Canada

Eligibility

To be eligible for this opportunity you must be a researcher or staff member involved in key national UK AI computing and HPC initiatives. Successful applicants will be expected to represent their institution's views and research interests, not just their own.

We will only be able to support a delegation of around 8, so we encourage organisations to coordinate internally and submit one consolidated expression of interest.

Successful applicants will be expected to engage in visit pre-planning, actively participate in workshop discussions during the visit, and engage in follow-up activities including contributing to any outcome reports.

We encourage applications from across the UK geography and from diverse backgrounds.

Costs

Successful applicants will be eligible for funding to cover part of the costs of the trip, including flights and accommodation. Further detail will be provided to successful applicants.

How to apply

Expressions of interest must be submitted via this form. Applications from eligible stakeholders must be received by 23:59 GMT Monday 12 January 2026. Outcomes will be communicated to applicants week commencing Monday 19 January 2025. 

Contact details

Should you have any questions about this opportunity, please compute@dsit.gov.uk. If you had issues filling in the form, please contact northamerica@ukri.org 

Additional background

In January 2024, the governments of the UK and Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signalling a joint intention to collaborate on the following topics in AI compute:

• Access to AI computing capacity: exploring opportunities to support researchers and industry with the secure and affordable access to the compute capacity needed to use and train AI systems
• Sustainability in compute infrastructure: exploring joint opportunities and meaningful ways to reduce the environmental impacts of computing infrastructure
• Collaborative AI research projects: examining opportunities for collaborations on areas of shared strategic importance such as climate research and biomedicine
• Development of AI talent: sharing information on initiatives related to skills development and advanced AI training that can accelerate workforce development

This visit will offer an opportunity to explore collaboration potential further.