Access to the EIDF

Last updated: 02 Feb 2026

EIDF access and charging

The route to accessing EIDF services is the same for every organisation and requires an application for a project on the EIDF Portal. As part of the project application, you need to add a pricing estimate used for invoicing if the application is accepted.

Access is granted on a project basis over a fixed period of time. You can, of course, request an extension and we will be happy to work with you on this.

Projects in all categories will pay the full estimate agreed with the EIDF. During the project duration, projects can change the use of their allocated budget on EIDF as follows:

• They are entitled to use their allocated budget on any EIDF services they have agreed access to, including moving budget between services.
• They can apply to the EIDF to gain access to services not previously agreed.
• They can add funds to their EIDF project to increase its allocated budget on EIDF.

The per-service prices charged may differ from the prices originally agreed as prices may change to reflect market conditions. Current prices will be shown on the EIDF Access page.

Value Added Tax (VAT) applies, except for budgets on research grants where the University of Edinburgh is a collaborator.

EIDF Portal: new project application.

Industry commercial access

We list below the price list for organisations that are either for-profit or non-public or both (prices are excluding VAT)

Data storage

Specialised compute

Virtual desktop

Value Added Tax (VAT) applies.

Each EIDF service has a different charging rate, which reflects the cost of purchasing the hardware, powering it and developing and operating that service. We reserve the right to change these prices in line with market conditions.

Please apply on the EIDF Portal and add a pricing estimate. 

EPCC develops and manages the EIDF and has over 100 technically skilled staff members that can provide consultancy at a daily rate to design, develop and set up software, data science infrastructure and artificial intelligence pipelines. Please contact our helpdesk below to initiate a conversation.

EIDF Portal: new project application.

EIDF Portal: submit a support request.

Email our Service Desk.

Academic and public body access

We list below the price list for organisations that are classed as both non-profit AND public; for UK-based organisations, all in the UKRI fundable organisations listing are included in this category (prices are excluding VAT). All prices are in GBP and billed per month.

Data storage

Specialised compute

Virtual desktop

Value Added Tax (VAT) applies.

Each EIDF service has a different charging rate, which reflects the cost of purchasing the hardware, powering it and developing and operating that service. We reserve the right to change these prices in line with market conditions.

Access to the EIDF requires an application with a pricing estimate. This estimate can be used on funding proposals once EIDF has agreed to your EIDF project application and we will hold your application pending funding awarded. Once we have confirmation of your awarded funding we will set up the EIDF project.

EPCC develops and manages the EIDF and has 100 technically skilled staff members that can be added to funding proposals and contracted as consultants to design, develop and set up software, data science infrastructure and artificial intelligence pipelines. Please contact our helpdesk below to initiate a conversation.

Please apply on the EIDF Portal and add a pricing estimate. 

UKRI-fundable organisations.

EIDF Portal: new project application.

EIDF Portal: submit a support request.

Email our Service Desk.

Projects involving an academic partner in the City Deal Region

Academic partners in the City Deal Region are as follows:

• The University of Edinburgh
• Heriot-Watt University
• Napier University
• Queen Margaret University

Projects involving an academic partner in the City Deal Region will pay the by use prices listed under Academic and public body access and benefit from a subscription-based, additional discount. The monthly subscription is based on the number of FTE of directly incurred personnel in the project.

• Subscription charge per directly incurred PhD students FTE on the project per month: £ 65.2763
• Subscription charge per directly incurred staff FTE on the project per month: £ 130.5525

For the 12-month period starting 1 August 2025 the annual subscription charge for Academic research projects will be £1,591.35 per researcher directly-incurred FTE (half that price for PhD students; access for MSc students is priced as a proportion of their overall course credits). This applies to all academics and researchers working in UK academic institutions, working with an academic partner based within the City Deal Region. These rates will increase with inflation on an annual basis.

For example, let’s assume a 12-month project, starting 1 August 2025, with 1.0 FTE directly incurred staff and requesting resources costing a total of £4,077.98 using unit prices listed in the Academic and Public Body above. The subscription charge is £1,566.63 and its net effect is a £2,349.95 discount on the final price. The final price is £1,566.63+£4,077.98–1.5*£1,566.63=£3,294.67 and the project will be allocated £4,077.98 of EIDF resources.

Note that the final price is the highest of either the subscription charge or the discounted price. In a different example, let’s asssume a 12-month project, starting 1 August 2025, with 1.0 FTE directly incurred staff and requesting resources costing a total of £777.98 using unit prices listed in the Academic and Public Body above. The subscription charge is £1,566.63, the final price is £1,566.63 and the project will be allocated £1,566.63 of EIDF resources.

Value Added Tax (VAT) applies, except for budgets on research grants where the University of Edinburgh is a collaborator.

EPCC develops and manages the EIDF and has 100 technically skilled staff members that can be added to funding proposals and contracted as consultants to design, develop and set up software, data science infrastructure and artificial intelligence pipelines. Please contact our helpdesk below to initiate a conversation.

Please apply on the EIDF Portal and seek to agree with us a costing prior to application to your funder.

EIDF Portal: new project application.

EIDF Portal: submit a support request.

Email our Service Desk.

Publishing data for research

EIDF aims to become a repository for research datasets. Therefore it offers long-term publishing of datasets that EIDF users and the public can access for future research and innovation projects. The condition is that the data be made freely available for open reuse. The EIDF Data Publishing service is free to deposit up to hundreds of terabytes.

Please see the data management section of the service catalogue.

Please apply for the “EIDF Data Publishing” service on the EIDF Portal. 

EIDF Portal: new project application.

Data management services catalogue.

Resource units

Where we measure things for cost purposes we use the following units:

• Storage on EIDF is currently granted in units of GiB, where 1 GiB is 1,048,576 kB.

Definitions

Access is paid for with the exception of the EIDF Data Publishing Service and EIDF Data Catalogue; see above. Reduced prices are available to employees from the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Napier University or Queen Margaret University, UKRI-fundable organisations and organisations classified as both “public body” and “non-profit” under the European Commission’s definitions. For the latter, the organisation must be considered both a public body and non-profit as per the definitions by the latest version of the European Commission’s Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment copied below.

“Public body” means an entity established as a public body by national law, or an international organisation.

“Established as a public body by national law” means:

• incorporated as a public body in the act of creation or recognised as a public body by national law and
• governed by public law (both conditions must be fulfilled).

Criteria such as:

• mission or activity in the general interest (public service mission)
• the fact that the shares are owned by a public body (even if ownership reaches up to 100% of the share capital)
• public financing
• state supervision and control

do NOT constitute sufficient evidence to qualify an entity as a public body, if the above two conditions are not met.

Public bodies may however act and be subject to private law for some or most of their activities, provided that, concerning their existence and their functioning, they are subject to public law.

The two statuses (private entity and public body) are mutually exclusive, meaning that you can only be validated as one or the other.

“Non-profit entity” means an entity that is non-profit making by its legal form or legal purpose (e.g. charitable organisations), or that has a legal or statutory obligation not to distribute profits to its shareholders or members.

All profits have to be reinvested in the same activity of the entity.

Decisions on (not) distributing profits made by the managing board, associates, stakeholders, members, or representatives and/or practices adopted by the entity to not distribute profits and/or the absence of profits achieved are not sufficient proof of the non-profit nature. The obligation not to distribute profits and/or the impossibility to distribute profits must be based on law and/or the act of establishment/articles of association/statutes, etc.

Whether the owners/founders of the entity are non-profit and whether the profits are allocated to non-profit (or for profit) entities is irrelevant.

These two statuses must be declared by an organisation that registers with the European Commission to bid for funding as per its model application form where they must register a LEAR and they must provide the following using the templates in LEV And LEAR Messages:

• Public entities must provide a copy of the resolution, law, decree, decision (or other official document) which establishes them as a “public body”.
• Non-profit entities must provide a copy of the statutes, resolution, law, decree, decision (or other official document) which establishes them as “non-profit organisation”.

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.

Model application form.

LEV And LEAR Messages.