Support for Research Technical Professionals Offered by EPSRC
Funding will support strategic investments for support, training and development to promote and strengthen the research technical professional community in UK universities.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has launched a funding opportunity to support research technical professional (RTP) groups in the UK.
The fund will support strategic investments for systematic support, training and development to promote, enable and empower the RTP community in UK universities. These investments can be made in support of RTPs in both the physical and digital domains.
Proposals should have a strategic regional or national focus, and may be based around a group of institutions or a particular scientific field or technology.
The proposals should offer a combination of personal and community-based activities and investments. Applicants will need to describe how these investments will lead to the relevant RTP community gaining increased knowledge, skills and opportunities, and what the strategic benefit of this would be.
Applicants must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding. This includes:
- UK higher education institutions.
- Research council institutes.
- UK Research and Innovation-approved independent research organisations.
- Eligible public sector research establishments.
- Eligible research and technology organisations.
- NHS bodies with research capacity.
Applications are explicitly welcomed from RTPs who may apply as either principal investigator or co-investigator. Applicants must be resident in the UK and meet at least one of the conditions:
- Be employed at the submitting research organisation at a level equivalent to lecturer or above.
- Hold a fixed-term contract that extends beyond the duration of the proposed project, and the host research organisation is prepared to provide all the support normal for a permanent employee.
- Hold an EPSRC, Royal Society or Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship aimed at later career stages.
- Hold fellowships under other schemes (applicants should contact EPSRC to check eligibility, which is considered on a case-by-case basis).
A total of £6.5 million is available through this opportunity at 80% full Economic Cost (fEC).
Individual proposals should be in the range of £750,000 to £2 million. Awards should be up to four years in duration.
Outline applications should be submitted by the 27 June 2023 deadline.
(This report was the subject of a ResearchConnect Newsflash.)