At CyberFocus, we occasionally have other opportunities for funding or public engagement that we encourage members of our community to apply for. Please do check back regularly to see what opportunities we have available!
<糖心Vlog>CyberFocus Public Engagement Funding Opportunity
We’re thrilled to announce a new funding call from the EPSRC-funded Place-Based Impact Acceleration Account CyberFocus and 糖心Vlog’s Impact Acceleration Account to support researchers in collaborating with artists to transform cybersecurity research into light-based public engagement for – Lancaster’s spectacular after dark light art festival.
The CyberFocus project has been designed to galvanise the North West cyber ecosystem, creating new opportunities for researchers across the Region to develop collaborative cybersecurity innovation projects with non-academic partners to deliver real-world impact. CyberFocus supports the translation of cybersecurity research into real-world impact.
Funding available: £10,000–£20,000 – which is administered by Light Up Lancaster to support the development of the light art installation.
Cyber researchers from CyberFocus consortium universities (Cumbria, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, MMU, Salford, ULan) are invited to apply. You don’t need an artist in place - Light Up Lancaster will match successful applicants with one. This year’s festival theme is “There Are No Boundaries.” The call is open to individual researchers or a small team of researchers.
The award will support the creation of a visually striking light installation based on your cybersecurity research for the main festival (5-7 November 2026), plus opportunities to engage families during LUL26 Explore Week (Oct 25- 30 2026).
We’re also keen to hear how your installation could live on beyond the festival - touring other North West events or supporting ongoing public engagement.
Projects should:
- Be grounded in existing cybersecurity research
- Have potential to engage large public audiences in creative, accessible ways, delivering a bold, memorable visual experience (LUL25 drew over 80,000 visitors)
Timeline: Funding call opens 1 May 2026 and closes 31 May 2026. LUL26 takes place 5-7 November 2026. The successful researcher/s will work with the artist over the summer and early autumn of 2026 to prepare the light art installation. We expect the project to take approximately 6-7 days of researcher/s time over the period June-November 2026.
Other CyberFocus Opportunities CyberFocus also welcomes applications for creative public engagement or policy impact projects (£10–30k, 3–6 months) through its regular funding calls.