Research Software Maintenance Fund

The Software Sustainability Institute runs the Research Software Maintenance Fund, supported by the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure programme, offering £4.8 million to support and sustain key research software, ensuring it remains reliable and accessible. This initiative not only funds vital pieces of the research ecosystem but help us understand how we can effectively provide the support that research software needs to reduce technical debt and grow engagement. 

Funding from the Research Software Maintenance Fund can be used to support and maintain existing research software or sustain a team responsible for multiple software tools. However, it is not intended for developing entirely new software. 

Round 1 has now closed and successful projects have been announced. Round 2 will award up to £150k and a duration of up to 12 months per project. We expect to fund approximately 10 projects, subject to budget requests. 

We particularly welcome Expressions of Interest from the Humanities and Social Sciences domains. If you maintain research software that supports Humanities and Social Sciences research (tools, libraries, workflows) we strongly encourage you to apply. 

Applications can be submitted when there is an active round via our grant submission platform. 

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For specific questions related to the Research Software Maintenance Fund please contact grants@software.ac.uk