Aim
This funding opportunity aims to enable the metamaterials community in delivering impact through the design and development of 3D metamaterials at the nanoscale. The proposed programme of work should support and underpin technologies and systems that address critical national and global approaches to environmental sustainability.
For this funding opportunity, we define ‘3D nano-scaled metamaterials’ as materials with an engineered three dimensional (3D), submicron-structure that imparts properties markedly different from the properties of the bulk constituents.
Scope
Funding is available to create a research hub focused on developing 3D Nanoscale Metamaterials for a Sustainable Future. The hub should cover fundamental materials discovery through to routes to translation and manufacturing, with aims to deliver a step change in our understanding of how to design and build this class of materials from end to end.
It is expected that consideration is embedded as to how the materials developed enable technologies and systems that address national and global environmental sustainability challenges.
The 3D Nanoscale Metamaterials Hub for a Sustainable Future will deliver a programme of innovative research in the engineering and physical sciences, addressing the challenges in designing, developing, innovating, and translating 3D nano-scaled metamaterials. The primary focus of the investment will be on the development and progression of 3D metamaterials science and engineering, complementing and refreshing our existing portfolio in the metamaterials space. Additionally, it should aim to deliver positive impact for the UK by developing materials to underpin an environmentally sustainable national future.
While it is expected that the bulk of the hub’s focus will be on the design, development, and scaling of 3D-metamaterials, exploitation of translational opportunities that originate from the hub’s work in end-to-end design, including aspects of manufacture and scale-up are expected. Secondary impact, through knowledge transfer and collaboration to support innovation in broader areas of nano-scaled materials or metamaterials scale-up and manufacturing, should also be delivered.
The hub will feature high quality, interdisciplinary research and strong engagement with end users. Stakeholder engagement should be commensurate with development of 3D metamaterials from end-to-end. Including where appropriate, manufacturing and industry stakeholders, translational end users from industry and academia and relevant non-specialist end users, as well as relevant specialists and experts from outside of EPSRC remit.
The hub will take a national leadership role in the field. In particular, they will embed approaches to systems thinking and materials circularity within research streams, actively promote equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, address requirements of trusted research and innovation and promote and build the skilled workforce required to deliver metamaterials that enable a sustainable future.
What is a hub?
Hubs are expected to deliver:
- high quality, multidisciplinary research
- a strong ethos of skills development for staff
- efficient management of hub operations
- a clear path to realising impact
The hub (or centre) will be a leader within the landscape, driving forward the national metamaterials research agenda and connecting with other players in the community, including users, policymakers, and other public investments (for example Catapults, other hubs and UKRI investments).
All investments should be structured to best support delivery of the proposed programme of work, accounting for expertise, collaboration, management, and infrastructure.
The hub may be located in a single eligible institution or comprise of a consortium of eligible organisations. In either model, programme management structures must support all partners and investigators to work cooperatively towards achieving an overall vision.
The lead or host institution is responsible for the oversight, core management and running of the total investment. Should a ‘hub and spoke’ model be used either virtually or geographically, management structures for both the ‘hub’ and ‘spokes’ are for the applicants to define but should include clear governance covering how it will be managed to maintain appropriate oversight and decision making.
Grant funding may be used for geographically-located activities based at collaborating institutions provided the collaborating institution meets our organisational eligibility requirements. Please note that if you are planning to assign budget to a separate institution, all application details must still come through a single application to EPSRC via the UKRI Funding Service. Funding will be assigned by EPSRC via the lead or host institution only.
In line with UKRI’s objective to build world class places through research and innovation, you should bring together the right people and organisations from places across the UK, to tackle the challenges relevant to your chosen research area. You should demonstrate in your application how your hub:
- comprises the relevant expertise
- offers or has access to appropriate infrastructure and facilities
- aligns with the strengths of places
- aligns with and supports industrial, government and civic ambitions or priorities
Overall approach
This funding opportunity is to support an innovative metamaterials research programme in engineering and the physical sciences, addressing the challenges in developing and commercialising early-stage 3D nano-scaled metamaterials.
The hub’s research programme should:
- draw on advances in underlying science and technology
- focus on the design and development of new and existing 3D nano-scaled metamaterials
- explicitly consider the pathway to manufacture, including production, scale up and integration within the wider system
- enable the design and development of metamaterials that are inherently sustainable within their applications, by embedding systems-thinking and consideration of materials circularity
- explicitly consider and develop relevant skills across the research community, supporting a talent and materials pipeline
- provide national leadership in the development and promotion of 3D nano-scaled metamaterials across academia, industry and policy
Funding opportunity objectives
The objectives are to:
- deliver a programme of high quality, multidisciplinary research addressing the challenges in designing, translating and manufacturing 3D nano-scaled metamaterials
- create strategic advantage by driving forward the national 3D nanoscale metamaterials research agenda
- deliver metamaterials with potential to impact our delivery of an environmentally sustainable future, while remaining open to exploiting opportunities for translational impact across other domains
- embed careful consideration of environmental sustainability and materials circularity in all proposed project outputs and outcomes, research approaches and programme operations throughout the lifetime of the programme
- engage with diverse and relevant partners to ensure that research is co-created and co-delivered with appropriate scale up opportunities and end-users
- collaborate with the broader metamaterials community to lead, build and promote the necessary skills base to establish the UK at the forefront of a metamaterials innovation pipeline
- embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and accessibility within hub operations and activities by developing and delivering an EDI action plan, led by the hub EDI lead, which takes into account the specific EDI context and challenges within the hub’s research area and community
- work with the broader metamaterials’ community to promote metamaterials science and its potential impact across research, policy and public domains
Technology and skills pipelines
This hub is expected to provide leadership and development of both the science and technology pipelines associated with 3D nano-scaled metamaterials as well as the skills development pipeline.
In relation to the science and technology pipeline, we expect hub proposals to:
- address fundamental scientific understanding behind designing, building, characterising and translating novel 3D metamaterials
- engage in fundamental fabrication and manufacturing research to support scale up requirements
- support the delivery of mission-focused research, including collaboration and co-creation of programmes with appropriate industry of all sizes throughout the lifetime of the grant
- show they have, access to the required infrastructure and facilities to deliver their research programmes
In relation to the skills pipeline, we expect hub proposals to:
- develop a clear picture of the skills needs for the 3D metamaterials area and a proactive plan for addressing these using the resources provided within and surrounding the hub
For illustrative purposes only, skills development could include programs of work such as:
- workshops or training courses
- early career networks
- industrial, academic or policy-based secondments
- discipline hopping support
Materials to support a sustainable future
Under this programme we expect the hub to be aiming to deliver materials with properties which support the development and deployment of technologies and solutions that increase the speed and deliverability of net zero futures, or to shift us away from environmentally detrimental industries and processes to more sustainable and circular alternatives.
The word ‘sustainability’ is often applied to three broad areas: social, economic and environmental. In this funding opportunity the emphasis is on environmental sustainability, though hubs may wish to consider aspects of social and economic sustainability as part of their programme or the approach to Responsible Research and Innovation.
Environmental sustainability may include consideration of such broad areas as:
- reducing carbon emissions
- protecting and enhancing the natural environment and biodiversity
- waste or pollution elimination
- resource efficiency and circular economy
Hubs or centres may choose how they focus the approach, for example, this may be through focus on particular material types (within nano-scaled 3D metamaterials) with potential to deliver across a spectrum of impact areas, or by aiming to address a specific impact area, or via a combination or other approaches of your choosing. Below is a non-exhaustive list of high-level impact areas you could consider addressing:
- Energy Systems
- Agrifood Systems
- Computing and Electronics Systems
Environmental sustainability is complex and there are often conflicting drivers. Hubs will need to take a whole systems approach to enable consideration of the trade-offs, risks and mitigations associated with different approaches and ensure research outcomes are used to support industry and government partners to make informed choices and mitigate unintended consequences.
Environmental sustainability and materials circularity
We expect hub proposals to consider and build in whole-life-cycle considerations at all stages of the research and innovation process. By this, we mean that hub activities must consider:
- major challenges where 3D metamaterials have the potential to help deliver technologies and systems which improve our environmental sustainability, orienting their research towards delivery of such materials and impacts
- the inherent sustainability of the materials created, including consideration of materials circularity, extending useful life, reuse and end of life recycling and recovery
- environmental sustainability of all hub operations, including consideration of how to minimise the negative environmental impact of running the hub. You should seek opportunities to influence others and leave a legacy of environmental sustainability within the broader operations of your academic and industry partners.
There are many different definitions of a circular economy. At its heart, UKRI considers it to be about:
- producing less
- keeping the products, materials, and resources we do use and produce in circulation at their highest value for as long as possible.
- recovering resources after use
Circularity is not always the most environmentally sustainable option, where this is the case, we expect hubs to take the environmentally sustainable approach.
Industrial engagement and project partners
We expect a hub team to have a track-record of collaborating with users and for the hub proposals to demonstrate, where appropriate, cash and in-kind support from relevant and diverse sectors.
While there is no required level for cash and in-kind contributions at the point of application, we expect that throughout the lifetime of the hub, the number of project partners will increase.
To ensure that research outcomes from the hubs can be maximally exploited by academia outside of the metamaterials space and industry, we are looking for clear evidence of genuine, substantive partnerships, with co-creation and co-delivery of projects and activities, in addition to financial contributions.
Under plans for industrial engagement we expect the hub to:
- promote ‘industrial pull’ for 3D nano-scaled metamaterials and metamaterials more generally
- ensure early-stage manufacturing research is appropriately contextualised to promote the next steps in manufacturing processes
- utilise its collaborations to ensure, where appropriate, alignment of research and manufacturing approaches with current capabilities in relevant supply chains
Equality, diversity and inclusion
As leaders in the community, hubs are expected to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all their activities throughout the lifetime of the hub. If funded, this will include identifying specific EDI challenges and barriers in their own environment and developing a strategy to address these in concert with the Metamaterials Network, with reference to our published expectations for EDI.
Hubs must ensure they request appropriate resources to develop and deliver their EDI strategy effectively. This must include at least one costed staff post with responsibility for EDI (the hub EDI lead). The EDI lead should not be the only hub staff member interested in delivering excellent equality, diversity and inclusion within the hub, such considerations should be embedded within the ethos of all its activities.
We do not specify any particular full-time equivalent (FTE), salary level or career stage for this post. Hubs may decide what is most appropriate for their programme, while giving due consideration to flexible working.
Duration
The duration of this award is a minimum of 36 months, and a maximum of 60.
Funding available
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £12.1875 million.
EPSRC will fund 80% of the FEC (£9.75 million). £12.1875 million is the 100% FEC figure.
What we will fund
Equipment (up to £400,000 per item)
Quotes for equipment do not need to be included in your application, but please retain quotes for equipment costing more than £138,000 as we may ask for these at post-panel stage before releasing funds.
Learn about EPSRC’s approach to equipment funding.
Flexible funds
Flexible funding can be requested to support delivery of the Hub. These funds must be distributed externally to the grant. There are no specific rules on what flexible funds may be used on, some examples of use are: secondments, feasibility studies, small ‘working with industry’ projects, outreach and engagement, research culture projects.
Flexible funds can be allocated to researchers at any organisation currently eligible for EPSRC funding. You will need to think carefully about how any budget for external distribution will be commissioned, and how you will ensure processes for the allocation of funds are fair and transparent.
Please note that any activities commissioned using the flexible funds will be restricted to our current research organisation eligibility but will not be bound by standard EPSRC investigator eligibility criterion. It is the project lead’s responsibility to ensure ongoing governance to ensure correct usage and accountability of the funds.
We would expect some examples of the types of projects at the application stage, but as research challenges are expected to evolve throughout the hub lifetime it is not expected that opportunities are set. Ideas for flexible funding approaches should be co-created and collaborative in nature.
The sum awarded under the heading of ‘flexible funds’ can include both directly incurred and directly allocated expenditure. These funds must be reported on the final expenditure statement (FES) as awarded on the offer letter and a breakdown of the expenditure must be submitted along with the FES. Flexible funds are funded at 80% FEC by us.
What we will not fund
Proposals where the majority of novelty is aligned to other areas or types of metamaterials such as:
- metasurfaces
- 4D metamaterials
- metafluids
- 2D metamaterials
- nanoscale materials that would not be classed as ‘metamaterials’
Proposals must demonstrably lie primarily within the remit of EPSRC and must be within the scope of this funding opportunity. Any proposals that we deem out of remit or scope may be rejected without reference to review.
Studentships
Studentships are outside the remit of this funding opportunity.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where you can find additional support.
