Manchester Prize
A landmark challenge prize representing a decade-long UK commitment to AI for public good innovation.
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Manchester Prize (image generated by AI).
The Manchester Prize is an initiative of the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Established in 2023, the Prize represents a decade-long commitment by government to support cutting edge innovations which use AI for the public good and tackle some of society’s biggest shared challenges.
Manchester Prize: round 2
The second Manchester Prize will focus on AI for Clean Energy Systems.
Up to 10 finalist teams will receive:
- £100,000 each
- a generous package of non-financial support
- £60,000 in compute credit to develop their innovations
One finalist team will win the £1 million grand prize in early 2026.
Round 2: how to enter
Round two is open from 19 November to 17 January 2025. To enter and for more information visit www.manchesterprize.org.
Round 2: the challenge statement
The second Manchester Prize will be awarded to the most innovative and impactful AI solution enabling the UK to accelerate progress towards a net zero energy system.
Solutions should demonstrate use of AI that:
- accelerates the UK’s adoption of clean energy technologies at scale;
- enable efficient or low-cost operations of clean energy systems;
- and/or significantly reduce energy demand or optimise energy usage.
The winning solution will demonstrate not only technical innovation but also an evidenced road map to near-term (2030) adoption and scale.
Solutions could include:
- predicting supply and demand to support smart load management in the grid, allowing for better integration of renewables while minimising transmission constraints
- optimising energy consumption in commercial spaces, for example, through semi-autonomous control of data centres
- maximising renewable energy capture and storage, by leveraging AI to discover new materials and design superior solar panels and wind turbines
- ensuring a stable and resilient energy supply, and easing grid stress, by using AI to optimise and coordinate local energy assets, such as heat pumps and batteries
- accelerating energy infrastructure projects while minimising environmental and societal impact through AI solutions that support feasibility studies or site plan development
- empowering people in their energy transition with solutions that provide AI-powered insights, and tailored interventions and support
We encourage solutions that demonstrate advances in technical capabilities such as:
- generalisation
- uncertainty quantification
- interpretability
- data-efficient
- AI
- physics-based AI
Winners will be judged according to the criteria of innovation, impact, long-term viability, feasibility, and safety ethics, and sustainability.
Round one
The first Manchester Prize, that runs from December 2023 to March 2025, sought innovation from UK-led teams with breakthrough ideas for overcoming challenges in the fields of energy, environment and infrastructure.
Round one finalists were announced on 21 May 2024, and the £1 million winner will be announced in April 2025.
Updates to this page
Published 7 December 2023Last updated 19 November 2024 + show all updates
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Manchester Prize Round 2 is open for applications.
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Round 1 successful finalists announced.
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First published.