The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced that applications are now open for the 2026 MacRobert Award, the UK’s longest-running and most prestigious prize for engineering innovation.
For more than 55 years, the MacRobert Award has honoured the best of UK engineering that demonstrates outstanding innovation, commerciality and societal benefit.
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Originally founded by the MacRobert Trust, the award is now presented and run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, with support from the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Winners receive a £50,000 cash prize and the iconic MacRobert gold medal, together with national recognition, extensive media coverage and an exclusive celebratory weekend at Douneside House on the MacRobert estate in the heart of Aberdeenshire.
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Past winners have included the engineers behind innovations such as the Pegasus jet engine, catalytic converters, the roof of the Millennium Dome and intelligent prosthetic limbs.
The 2025 MacRobert Award was won by OrganOx for its breakthrough devices preserving livers and kidneys outside the body for extended periods of time. The device for livers is already significantly increasing transplant success, reducing healthcare costs and saving lives globally.
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Applications are open to innovations across all areas of engineering, applied science, technology and medicine – from ambitious start-ups to established industry leaders.
Applications close on 31 January 2026.
Further information can be found here.