Scope
Materials science drives much of what the engineering and physical sciences community can deliver for both the UK economy and the government missions. As highlighted in the UK Industrial Strategy 2025, advanced materials are pivotal in driving innovation, strengthening supply chains, and enabling sustainable growth across key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy, digital technologies and defence.
However, many of the materials that underpin these technologies, particularly in clean energy, are classified as critical minerals as identified in the UK’s 2024 Criticality Assessment. Materials research plays a central role in the critical minerals agenda, enabling discovery, substitution, and more efficient use of these scarce and strategically important elements. By supporting research into novel advanced materials, we can help reduce reliance on geopolitically sensitive sources and strengthen and diversify supply chains.
More broadly, the success of all advanced materials innovation, regardless of application, relies on a deep understanding of materials’ properties and performance. For end users to confidently adopt new materials, they must know how these materials behave under different conditions and in diverse environments. This makes characterisation and metrology essential to the UK’s national materials capability. Accelerating the development and deployment of advanced materials depends on our ability to rapidly and accurately assess their properties and performance.
Therefore, EPSRC is seeking to support applications through our standard research grant scheme in the following two areas:
- advanced materials solutions for critical minerals
- in-situ and in-operando materials metrology and characterisation
Applications may focus on either area individually but must align with the relevant remit outlined for each.
Advanced materials solutions for critical minerals
Applications should clearly demonstrate one or both of the following:
- the development of novel advanced materials that reduce or replace the need for critical minerals in existing systems
- approaches to working with impurities in materials design and fabrication, including research into the properties and performance of recycled materials, defects, and how we can use them
Applications may focus on any part of the materials length scale spectrum, from fundamental investigations at the molecular or atomic level to innovations in bulk materials and system-level integration.
Applicants must explicitly state in their summary which critical mineral(s) their research addresses and where their proposed work has potential application, referencing those critical minerals listed in Table 1 of the UK 2024 Criticality Assessment (PDF, 28MB).
Projects are expected to be predominantly within the remit of EPSRC. However, we also expect you to consider design, manufacture and scale-up where appropriate. Considerations such as life cycle analysis, social acceptability and engaging with end users can also be included as appropriate.
You should be mindful of the need to ensure future materials are sustainable in themselves and where appropriate should consider this as part of your research.
Applications that purely focus on material extraction, recovery or recycling techniques, are out of scope for this highlight notice. However, you may still apply to the ESPRC standard grant opportunity as usual.
In-situ and in-operando materials metrology and characterisation
Applications should clearly demonstrate all of the following:
- the development of in-operando or in-situ materials measurement that enables real-time characterisation of materials during processing or use
- the creation of techniques that support faster, more efficient end-to-end materials development and deployment
- the inclusion of relevant end-user partners or co-leads, where appropriate, to ensure the research is informed by real-world needs and applications
Projects may also include:
- the integration of novel automation, digital techniques, or advanced data processing and verification methods to enhance materials characterisation workflows
Projects are expected to be predominantly within the remit of EPSRC. However, we also expect you to consider design, manufacture and scale-up where appropriate . Technical expertise and experts should be appropriately represented and acknowledged in the composition of the application and the team.
Duration
There is no limit on the length of your project.
Funding available
There is no limit on the value of the grant.
We will fund 80% FEC of the grant.
What we will fund
Please refer to our EPSRC standard research grant, Nov 2023: responsive mode opportunity page for details on what we will fund.
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 applicants can find additional support.
