EPSRC Launches Adventurous Energy Research for a Sustainable Net Zero Call

The call will support high-risk discovery research that will enable decarbonisation of the UK economy and facilitate a sustainable transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions future.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has launched a call to support high-risk discovery research that will enable decarbonisation of the UK economy and facilitate a sustainable transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions future.

The focus of the call is on physical approaches and technologies for decarbonisation. The scope is limited to engineering and physical sciences-based solutions for:

  • Decarbonising transport
  • Heating and cooling
  • Industry
  • Agriculture
  • Electricity generation

Proposals should be compatible with a circular economy and concerned with developing energy materials, devices, fuels and technologies, sustainable for 2050 and beyond. Computational modelling undertaken for the purposes of developing such physical approaches to decarbonisation is considered in remit.

The call will specifically fund projects to investigate possible radical disruptive solutions that can deliver a net-zero, or net-negative future that is more timely, better value, more comfortable and more sustainable than is possible using existing approaches.

Projects must last for 24 months. It is hoped that the call will ultimately result in a portfolio of cutting-edge projects, each of which has demonstrated that an innovative, disruptive decarbonisation technology has the potential to deliver significant impact.

The project must be in the remit of EPSRC with at least 50% of the proposed work falling within the energy and decarbonisation domain. Applications are welcomed from:

  • Researchers working in the fundamental physical sciences who are looking to apply underpinning concepts to the development of scalable and sustainable energy technologies
  • Established energy researchers aiming to deliver transformative solutions to the challenges associated with decarbonisation

It is expected that the award will support a principal investigator (PI) only. If the grant crosses disciplinary boundaries, a co-investigator (Co-I) may be permitted if it is demonstrated that they are from a different discipline to the PI.

Applicants must be based in the UK and employed by an eligible research organisation. Due to anticipated high demand, organisations must limit the number of submissions. The number that may be submitted varies by institution based on the current number of investigators at the institution on relevant EPSRC grants. EPSRC has provided a detailed list of the number that may be submitted from each institution on the call webpage.

Up to £2 million of EPSRC funding will be available to fund individual projects. Individual projects may be up to £312,500 full economic cost, of which EPSRC will fund 80% (£250,000).

Applications should be submitted by the 8 July 2021 (16:00) deadline.