Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Discovering the next generation of renewable energy technologies

Apply for a Network Plus to discover and develop the next generation of energy technologies.

Proposals must create coherence in an emerging research area to drive forward research in and supply.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding.

Proposals must focus on technology areas that already exist with some critical mass.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your Network Plus can be up to £500,000. We will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

Network Pluses from this funding opportunity can range in size from £250,000 to £500,000, lasting 24 to 30 months.

This opportunity will run on the UKRI Funding Service, our new funding platform, rather than via Je-S.

The expression of interest (EoI) stage is mandatory and full applications will only be accepted where an EoI has been submitted. The EoI will not be assessed.

Who can apply

Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

Our standard eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page.

We have introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Who is eligible to apply

Our standard eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit EPSRC’s eligibility page.

International applicants

Under the UKRI and Research Council of Norway Money Follows Cooperation agreement a project co-lead (international) (previously co-investigator) can be based in a Norwegian institution.

Resubmissions

We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder.

Find out more about EPSRC’s resubmissions policy.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

  • career breaks
  • support for people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Scope

To be eligible for the full funding opportunity you must have completed the EoI Smart Survey.

This is an opportunity to apply for new Network Plus funding to discover and develop the next generation of renewable energy technologies and put the UK at the forefront of these areas of technology.

The importance of renewable energy technologies has been shown by both the Net Zero Research and Innovation Framework and the Committee for Climate Change as a key component of the UK’s 2050 net zero target and has formed the backbone of our strategy in Energy & Decarbonisation for many years.

The Supergen programme is our Energy and Decarbonisation theme’s largest coordinated investment across several grants. The programme was set up in 2001 to deliver sustained and coordinated research on Sustainable PowER GENeration and supply.

To support this mission, as we move into the next phase of the programme, our focus is on accelerating the impact from known renewable power generation and supply technologies through the Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy, Bioenergy, and Energy Networks Hubs while also ensuring the UK is at the forefront of the next generation of renewable energy technologies.

This funding opportunity is intended to create coherence in emerging areas of renewable energy research to drive forward research in Sustainable PowER GENeration and supply to give the UK a lead in the next generation of these technologies.

This investment is a major component of our engineering net zero mission-inspired priority and is aimed at investing in the high risk and high reward research to discover and develop the next generation of renewable energy technologies.

This funding opportunity is intended to deliver outcomes that align to the priorities within UKRI’s ‘building a green future’ strategic theme, as well as the UK’s net zero research and innovation framework and the British Energy Security Strategy.

The next phase of the Supergen programme is intended to build a diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary research and innovation community working across UKRI, academia, business, government and the public and international partners to create lasting and sustainable benefits for all.

The purpose of each Network Plus will be to bring together a community and develop a research agenda for a proposed area in next generation renewable energy technologies and which provide an opportunity to secure UK leadership with greater levels of coordination and research activity.

Proposals should focus on technology areas that already exist with some critical mass. Each Network Plus will aim to create coherence in a research area that is currently absent and will thus enable a future bid to compete for Supergen hub funding and should include industry engagement in their planning. Two to three of these Network Plus investments may then be taken forward as the next generation of Supergen hubs (subject to funding).

Network Plus proposals should focus on an emerging area of renewable energy technology that will enhance UKRI’s Energy and Decarbonisation portfolio and ensure that next generation renewable technologies are more environmentally sustainable than previous approaches. Proposals from areas that are currently or have previously been part of the Supergen programme must therefore be substantially different to previously funded work or they will not be considered.

The current Supergen portfolio consists of three hubs: Offshore Renewable Energy, Bioenergy, Energy Networks and a Network Plus in energy storage.

Duration

The duration of this award is between two and two and a half years.

Projects must start by 1 July 2024.

Funding available

The FEC of your project can be up to £500,000

We will fund 80% of the FEC.

What we will fund

The main focus of these Network Plus grants is not to fund research. Each Network Plus will aim to create coherence in a research area. Key activities supported include:

  • salary costs for time spent on setting up and managing the network
  • travel and subsistence, including for members to meet to exchange ideas and expertise and to visit each other’s laboratories. Industrial collaborators should meet their own costs where possible
  • workshops
  • administrative support to help coordinate the network
  • communication costs and costs for additional equipment such as personal computers and web servers

Any research funded should only be to inform a future bid for Supergen hub funding.

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.

International collaboration

If your application includes international applicants, project partners or collaborators, visit UKRI’s trusted research and innovation for more information on effective international collaboration.

Find out about getting funding for international collaboration.

How to apply

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UKRI Funding Service. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply:

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

  1. Confirm you are the project lead.
  2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
  3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
  4. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
  5. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Watch our research office webinars about the new UKRI Funding Service.

Deadline

We must receive your application by 4.00pm UK time on 9 November 2023.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

We will not be returning applications for amendment. If an application is withdrawn prior to peer review or office rejected due to substantive errors in the application, it cannot be resubmitted to the opportunity.

Personal data

Processing personal data

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your funding service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Publication of outcomes

EPSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word count: maximum 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

  • opinion-formers
  • policymakers
  • the public
  • the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

  • context
  • the challenge the project addresses
  • aims and objectives
  • potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

  • project lead (PL)
  • project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
  • researcher co-lead (RcL)
  • specialist
  • grant manager
  • professional enabling staff
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • visiting researcher

Only list one individual as project lead.

We would normally expect no more than three project co-leads on a Network Plus application who will assist in the management of the network.

Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles.

Core questions

Vision and Approach

What are you hoping to achieve with and how will you deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

For the Vision, explain how your proposed work:

  • is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
  • has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
  • is timely given current trends, context and needs
  • impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment
  • enhances the UK’s capability in renewable energy to take steps towards meeting net zero 2050
  • brings together a disparate community that has the potential to form a Next Generation Supergen hub but currently lacks the necessary coherence across institutions, disciplines or sectors
  • enhances UKRI’s energy and decarbonisation portfolio

Within the Vision section we also expect you to:

  • identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be

For the Approach, explain how you have designed your work so that it:

  • is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
  • is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
  • if applicable, uses a clear and transparent methodology
  • if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
  • will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
  • describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
  • ensures that next generation renewable technologies are more environmentally sustainable than previous approaches

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

  • demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work
  • provide a project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar (additional one-page A4)
  • include a detailed and appropriate plan for how you will acquire and manage data (additional one-page A4)

Create a document that includes your responses to all criteria. The document should not be more than six sides of A4, single spaced and in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm. You may include images, graphs, tables. You can have an additional page for a diagrammatic workplan.

For the file name, use the unique funding service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Vision and Approach’.

Save this document as a single PDF file, no bigger than 8MB. Unless specifically requested, please do not include any personal data within the attachment.

If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word count: 1,500

Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

  • the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
  • the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
  • the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
  • contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

The word count for this section is 1,500 words, 1,000 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

We have introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

References

Word count: 1,000

List the references you have used to support your application.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.

You should not include any other information in this section.

We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.

If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Project partners: contributions

Word count: 1,000

Provide details about any project partners’ contributions using the template provided.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.

If you do have project partners, download and complete the project partner contributions template (DOCX, 52KB) then copy and paste the table within it into the text box. Ensure you have obtained prior agreement from project partners that, should you be offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the template.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation that is contributing to the application and will have an integral role in the proposed research. Project partners cannot normally receive funding directly from the grant. Two exceptions to this are:

  • where a project partner is providing services or equipment that will go through a formal procurement process audited by the host research organisation
  • the project partner can receive small amounts of funding from the grant, such as for travel and subsistence to attend project meetings. These will need to be requested and fully justified in the application

Section: Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Word count: 10

Question: Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the table in the previous ‘contributions’ section.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you do not have any project partners, simply add ‘N/A’ into the text box, mark this section as complete and move to the next section.

If you have named project partners in the previous ‘contributions’ section, enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box.

Each letter or email you provide should:

  • confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
  • clearly explain the value, relevance and possible benefits of the work to them
  • describe any additional value that they bring to the project
  • refer to the our guidance on project partners letters of support for further information Project partners letter of support

Unless specifically requested, do not include any personal data within the attachment. Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the table in the previous ‘contributions’ section ensuring it is no larger than 8MB.

For audit purposes, we require formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Do not provide letters of support from host and co-project lead research organisations.

Facilities

Word count: 250

Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.

For each requested facility you will need to provide the:

  • name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 35KB)
  • proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
  • confirmation you have their agreement where required

If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Resources and cost justification

Word count: 1,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
  • any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
  • any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • all resources that have been costed as ‘exceptions’

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word count: 500

What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

If you are collecting or using data, identify:

  • any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data
  • formal information standards with which your study will comply

Additional sub-questions (to be answered only if appropriate) will be included in the Funding Service. These will ask about numbers, species or strain, and justification about:

  • genetic and biological risk
  • research involving the use of animals
  • conducting research with animal overseas
  • research involving human participation
  • research involving human tissues or biological samples

Optional additional questions

Added Value

Word count: 500

What is the added value that this network will enable that would not be possible otherwise?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Using the text box below, demonstrate what the network will achieve, considering how it will do the following:

  • create new interdisciplinary research communities and topics
  • transform a disparate community that has the potential critical mass to form a Next Generation Supergen hub but currently lacks the necessary coherence across institutions, disciplines or sectors
  • provide a critical mass of researchers with a range of expertise and experience
  • create next generation renewable technologies are more environmentally sustainable than previous approaches
  • promote mobility between academe, universities and industry
  • achieve sustainability beyond the funding requested
  • embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in all activities throughout the lifetime of the network

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will not be assessing the EOI. This is only going to be used for:

  • remit checking
  • pre-approaching reviewers

We will assess your full application using the following process.

Peer review

We will invite peers to review your application independently, against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.

You will not be able to nominate reviewers for applications on the new UKRI Funding Service. Research councils will continue to select expert reviewers.

We are monitoring the requirement for applicant-nominated reviewers as we review policies and processes as part of the continued development of the new UKRI Funding Service.

Shortlisting

We will review the comments and scores for each application. Shortlisted applications will go to a panel who will make a funding recommendation.

If your application is shortlisted, you will have 14 days to respond to reviewers’ comments.

Panel

Following peer review, we will invite peers to use the evidence provided by reviewers and your applicant response to assess the quality of your application and rank it alongside other applications after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

We will make the final funding decision.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment (DORA) and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment criteria

The criteria we will assess your application against are:

  • vision of the project
  • approach to the project
  • applicant and team capability to deliver
  • added value of the network
  • resources requested to do the project
  • ethical and responsible research and innovation considerations of the project

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Contact details

Get help with your application

For help on costings and writing your application, contact your research office. Allow enough time for your organisation’s submission process.

Ask about this funding opportunity

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

  • Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email the UKRI Funding Service helpdesk on support@funding-service.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number.

Typical examples of confidential information include:

  • individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
  • declaration of interest
  • additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
  • conflict of interest for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Related Opportunities

Completion of the ‘Network Pluses in Energy to form next generation Supergen Hubs’ expression of interest is a mandatory part of the application process for this funding opportunity.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the you and your wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

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