Future Liquid Metal Engineering Hub (LiME) Launches Call for Feasibility Studies
The EPSRC Future Liquid Metal Engineering Hub (LiME) is a £10 million investment by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) with the long-term vision of transforming the global metallurgical industry by delivering a full metal circulation to address the global demand for metallic materials. It is based at Brunel University and works in collaboration with the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and Leeds and Imperial College London, and works towards the following two Grand Challenges:
To enhance the understanding of nucleation centred solidification science to underpin closed-loop recycling.
To develop recycling-friendly high performance metallic materials and sustainable metal processing technologies to enable closed-loop recycling.
LiME has launched this call to support low TRL (1-3) research feasibility projects that address one of the two Grand Challenges outlined above and that are complementary, but distinct to, the current research being conducted by the Hub.
The call is seeking radical ideas in the wider field of solidification science and technologies, covering a broad range of metallic materials (eg metals other than aluminium and magnesium) for applications in industries, preferably beyond the automotive sector. Applicants are invited to submit proposals that fit the following priority areas:
Understanding heterogeneous nucleation by experimental, modelling and simulation approaches.
Understanding the mechanisms of formation of solidified microstructures with fine grain size, uniform chemistry and reduced/eliminated cast defects.
Designing metallic materials tolerant to both inclusions and impurities to enable closed-loop recycling.
Development of sustainable solidification technologies to facilitate closed-loop recycling of metallic materials.
Feasibility studies should last for six months and provide proof-of-concept results for preparation of grant proposals to relevant funding bodies including EPSRC, Innovate UK, EU and industry.
This call is open to all UK academic institutions, except Brunel University London, where applicants must be eligible to hold an EPSRC grant.
The maximum funding available for each feasibility study is £30,000 at 80% of the Full Economic Cost (FEC). Funding is intended to primarily cover staff time of the PI and supporting researchers to conduct their feasibility study, with the remainder supporting consumables, facilities usage charges and travel expenses.
Feasibility study project applications should be submitted by the 12 September 2019 deadline.
More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.