UKRI must receive your application by 16:00 on 6 April 2022.
Applications must be made through the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.
When adding your proposal, you should go to ‘documents’, select ‘new document’, then select:
- ‘create new document’
- council: ‘EPSRC’
- document type: ‘standard proposal’
- scheme: ‘standard’
- funding opportunity: ‘Energy Demand Champion’ on the ‘project details’ page
- start date: September 2022.
After completing the application, click ‘submit document’. This will send your application to your host organisation’s administration office.
Your host organisation’s administration office is required to complete the submission process. You should allow sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process between submitting your proposal to them and the opportunity closing date.
Please note that the timeframe for the Energy Demand Research Champion and Energy Demand Research Centre has fixed ‘start by’ and ‘end by’ dates. If your specific circumstances might lead to difficulty in adhering to these dates, please outline a mitigation plan in your proposal, which could include having a ‘co-champion’.
Documents to include
As well as the Je-S application form, you must submit the following documents:
- case for support (maximum 10 sides of A4)
- work plan (maximum one side of A4)
- institutional letter of support (maximum one side of A4)
- justification of resources (maximum two sides of A4)
- CV (maximum of two sides of A4 per person).
You should attach your documents as PDFs to avoid errors. They should be completed in single-spaced Arial 11 point font (or a similar-sized sans serif typeface) with 2cm margins.
Case for support
This is the main body of your proposal. You must include the following sections:
- a detailed vision for the role of champion, including the objectives and long-term goals you will address in line with the requirements of this funding opportunity
- a detailed description and justification of all the activities you will undertake to deliver the objectives of this funding opportunity, including how you will learn from and evolve existing infrastructures within the energy demand community
- evidence of your skills, expertise and experience, including examples of prior successes and lessons learnt from running complex or interdisciplinary projects
- a description of your proposed work plan for the funding period, including how you plan to work with the UKRI office during this time (for example, through regular meetings and collaboration on the plans for the Energy Demand Research Centre)
- clear, demonstrable links to a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, industry, policymakers and users within the energy demand community. Please include examples of previous engagement and its impacts
- details on how equality, diversity and inclusion will be placed at the core of the proposed programme.
Your case for support should be a self-contained description of your proposed work, with relevant background and references. It should not depend on additional information such as the inclusion of external links.
Assessors are advised to base their assessment on the information contained within the application and are under no obligation to access any such links. This means that links should not be used to provide critical information.
Work plan
Your work programme should be illustrated with a simple diagrammatic work plan such as a Gantt chart (maximum one side of A4). This should clearly set out a timeline for activities and delivery milestones.
Institutional letter of support
You must include an institutional letter of support from the pro-vice chancellor for research (or equivalent role) at the lead research organisation, confirming its commitment (and any partner research organisation’s commitment) to your application.
The letter should identify:
- the key characteristics and skills that the institution feels demonstrate your ability to succeed as a research leader
- the level of support that the host institution will offer you as part of its standard career development package
- additional support to help you succeed in this funding opportunity, for example, dedicated admin support, mentoring.
Justification of resources
Your justification of resources should state that the resources you are requesting are appropriate to undertake the activity described in your case for support. It should also explain why they are appropriate, taking into account the nature and complexity of your proposal.
It should not simply list the resources required, as this has already been done in the Je-S form.
Where you do not provide an explanation for an item that requires justification, it will not be funded.
CV
You must include a CV for the principal investigator and another one for the co-champion if this is a joint application.
This should contain, as appropriate:
- contact details
- qualifications (including subject and class)
- academic and professional posts held since graduation
- academic responsibilities
- experience of project management
- a summary list of the most relevant and recent publications.
Read our advice on writing proposals.
Ethical information
UKRI will not fund a project if it believes that there are ethical concerns that have been overlooked or not appropriately accounted for. All relevant parts of the ethical information section must be completed.
Read further guidance on completing the Je-S form. UKRI guidance can be found under ‘additional information’.
