Seed Funding

PIONEERING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN NURSING

The AI Nurses Network seed funding scheme supports the development of innovative and translational nurse-led clinical research on artificial intelligence which needs financial support to transform into competitive applications for larger research funding. The network also offer student scholarships to nursing students opportunities to learn about AI to progress their careers. Our monthly newsletter also highlights other funding opportunities related to AI in healthcare. The newsletters are archived on our news and events webpage and shared on our LinkedIn group.

Seed funding call

Artificial intelligence in nursing

Our seed funding call welcomes proposals that showcase clinical research on artificial intelligence (AI) in nursing which identifies and tackles a clear health and care challenge. The call supports nurses to work together and with partners and communities with relevant expertise on applications covering the full spectrum clinical research and areas of AI from smaller, focused projects through to larger collaborations to address new or emerging health and care problems.

This can include but is not limited to:

research which develops and validates AI predictive models in healthcare,
deploys new or existing AI tools in professional practice, and
examines the benefits, limitations or risks of AI in nursing.

Funding call criteria

Artificial intelligence in nursing

The seed fund encourages applications from all areas of nursing that break disciplinary silos and integrate various types of clinical research activities into the proposed programme of work.

Award-winners should use the seed-funding to work towards a significant research grant application, submitted to a major UKRI funding body e.g., National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Medical Research Council (MRC), Innovate UK, or a charity funder.

Setting out your pathway to a research grant application that is sustainable, scalable and will generate impact is a core part of the AI Nurses seed funding application and will be carefully scrutinised by the panel. Successful projects will ensure the work has a viable forward trajectory (funding and delivery structure) beyond the funded period via the most appropriate means.

Funding available

The AI Nurses Network seed funding has two tiers of investment available up to £20,000 and we aim to support as many projects as possible. It is important that all applications include a breakdown of costs; value for money is one of the assessment criteria.

Tier 1 - Scoping project that seeks to undertake a small scale clinical research study focusing on AI in nursing.

This may be:

a type of rapid review (e.g., scoping, narrative, realist)
a primary study that collects or analyses data
a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) activity
the secondary analysis of an existing dataset

A maximum of £10,000 is available to support Tier 1 projects over a maximum of 6 months.

Tier 2 - Pilot project that seeks to undertake a more substantial clinical research study focusing on AI in nursing.

This may be:

a more in-depth and rigorous evidence synthesis (e.g., systematic review, qualitative evidence synthesis)
a primary study that collects or analyses data incorporating Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE)
the secondary analysis of an existing dataset

A maximum of £20,000 is available to support Tier 2 projects over a maximum of 6 months.

Application process

Artificial intelligence in nursing

Our seed funding call is now closed for 2025 and we awarded funding to three nurse-led research projects. You can read more about our funded projects here. We hope to reopen the next seed funding call mid/late 2026.

Please read through the seed funding guidelines before submitting your application. Seed funding guidelines will be available to download in due course. Proposals should be submitted by one lead applicant via the formal application form below. The seed funding application form will also be available to download from here in due course.

If you have any questions about the application process, please read through the seed funding guidelines or contact ainurses@kcl.ac.uk

Seed funding awardees 2025

Pioneering artificial intelligence in nursing

The nurses and their teams who were awarded funding from the inaugural AI Nurses Network seed funding call in April 2025 are outlined below.

Lead Nurse: Dr Sahar Konsari, Institution: Edinburgh Napier University

Project Title: The use of AI agents for lifestyle behaviour change in individuals with coronary heart disease

Lead Nurse: Jungyun Kim, Institution: Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Project Title: Exploring the Current and Future Role of AI in Nursing Workflows and Operational Efficiency: A Scoping Review

Lead Nurse: Dr Marion Waite, Oxford Brookes University and Pavana Pillai, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Project Title: Evaluating the usability and acceptability of a prototype AI-powered enhanced recovery pathway progress dashboard (AI-ERPP dashboard) for tracking postoperative recovery by registered nurses in an elective colorectal surgical ward: a multi-centre study

Dr Sahar Konsari

"We were able to use the seed funding from the AI Nurses Network to expand our research group of cardiac nurses at Edinburgh Napier University who are exploring how to build or use AI agents to support behaviour change in people with coronary hear disease."

Junyun Kim

"I was delighted to get some seed funding as I'm a member of the AI Nurses Network and it helped me expand my Masters research at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust where I work as a staff nurse to explore how AI can be used to streamline nurses workload and workflow."

Dr Marion Waite

"The funding we received from the AI Nurses Network was invaluable in supporting us to test our AI tool with nurses at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust Foundation Trust. It also expanded my collaborations at Oxford Brookes University so now I'm doing more research on AI in nursing."