Collection

Centre for Defence Enterprise funding competitions

Details of our current, future and past funding competitions and calls for proposals.

This collection was withdrawn on

The Centre for Defence Enterprise has been replaced by the Defence and Security Accelerator

The Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) funds novel, high-risk, high-potential-benefit research to develop capabilities for UK defence and security.

You can submit a CDE proposal for a research contract either to our enduring competition, or in response to the technical challenges in a specific themed competition.

See CDE terms and conditions and contract guidance.

CDE is part of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and funds only novel, high-risk, high-potential-benefit research. If your proposal is a product, or outside of CDE’s competition space, you should speak to the Defence Suppliers’ Service, or see other ways of how to sell to Dstl.

Current competitions

Details of themed competitions that are open now and CDE’s continuous enduring competition.

Past competitions

Details of themed competitions that are now closed.

Published 30 June 2014
Last updated 10 November 2016 + show all updates
  1. Future competitions moved to current competitions

  2. Future competition added: the future of aviation security.

  3. New themed competition added: seeing through the clouds.

  4. 'Detect and treat hearing loss and tinnitus' and 'synthetic biology for novel materials' themed competitions now open.

  5. Two new themed competitions added: 'synthetic biology for novel materials' and 'detect and treat hearing loss and tinnitus'.

  6. New competition added: autonomy and big data for defence.

  7. New competition added to future competitions: security for the internet of things.

  8. CDE themed competition document launched: understand and interact with cyberspace.

  9. Themed competition 'what's inside that building?' moved to current competitions. Competition is now live with competition document available.

  10. Two new themed competitions added with the UK Defence Solutions Centre: persistent surveillance from the air, and agile, immersive mission training.

  11. CDE themed competition: open-source big data insight is now open.

  12. New CDE themed competitions added: open-source big data insight; what's inside that building?; and understand and interact with cyberspace.

  13. CDE themed competition: joining advanced materials and structures (in future competitions) has been withdrawn from the current programme.

  14. First published.