Tagged / nerc

NERC – Scoping group for Earth system plastics

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Closing date: 16:00 on 4 April 2018

NERC invites applications to join a scoping group that will develop the science case for a potential large strategic research programme on Earth system plastics.

 

The overarching aim is to provide an understanding of the pathways and fate of plastics in the environment.

Potential research questions include:

  1. What is the nature and scale of plastic sources to the Earth system?
  2. What are the main pathways of plastics across the Earth system? What are the potential stocks and flows of plastic between terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems? What are the key physical, chemical and ecological mechanisms that control fate, behaviour, concentration, decomposition, distribution, and transport over various time scales?
  3. Across their entire life-cycle, how are different types of plastics modified physically, chemically and biologically? What environmental processes promote their degradation or fragmentation? At what point, if any, do plastics no longer interact with the environment and cease to present a risk to the biosphere?
  4. At which points in the cycle might interventions be effective, and which interventions are most appropriate? How can science and industry collaborate to deliver some of these interventions? What is the environmental impact of plastic alternatives?

The SPA will support research on pathways and fate of a range of plastic types, shapes and sizes to gain a comprehensive picture of the behaviour of plastics in the environment to ensure that effective interventions are developed.

Applications are invited from individuals wishing to join the scoping group that will develop the science case for consideration by NERC.

Please click here for further details on the background, details of the scoping group meeting, and how to apply via their online registration form by 16:00 4 April 2018.

Developing NERC’s omics strategy – Community workshop

BU research

2 May 2018 (Wednesday)
Birmingham

NERC is aiming to develop its current and future strategy for environmental omics research. To achieve this, they are holding a community workshop in Birmingham on 2 May 2018, with the support of a focused working group, to provide evidence and advice on the future direction of environmental omics and to provide recommendations on the capability of the community to deliver omics based research.

Objectives of the workshop

  • To engage the environmental community in:
    • exploring key research opportunities within environmental omics (now and in the future)
    • exploring external factors that influence and impact on environmental omics (now and in the future).
  • To help develop NERC’s strategy for environmental omics.
  • To help consider capabilities needed to support a future strategy and omics research.

Workshop outputs

The results from the workshop will be collated into a report with the help of the working group, which will then be used to inform NERC’s strategy for omics. This report will also be used to support the future NERC strategy for supporting omics capability through services or facilities.

How to attend

NERC aim to offer places to everyone who would like to attend but, due to limitations in the venue capacity, they will allocate numbers across institutions should all places become full.

If you wish to apply to attend this workshop, please complete the online registration form. The closing date for registration is 16:00 on 17 April 2018. Submission does not guarantee attendance.

Once registration is confirmed, you will be asked some questions to aid the organisation and structure of the workshop.  NERC will pay travel costs associated with attendance.

Please click here for full details of this opportunity.

NERC standard grants (July 18 deadline) – internal competition launched

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

NERC introduced demand management measures in 2012. These were revised in 2015 to reduce the number and size of applications from research organisations for NERC’s discovery science standard grant scheme. Full details can be found in the BU policy document for NERC demand management measures at: http://intranetsp.bournemouth.ac.uk/policy/BU Policy for NERC Demand Management Measures.docx.

As at March 2015, BU has been capped at one application per standard grant round. The measures only apply to NERC standard grants (including new investigators). An application counts towards an organisation, where the organisation is applying as the grant holding organisation (of the lead or component grant). This will be the organisation of the Principal Investigator of the lead or component grant.

BU process

As a result, BU has introduced a process for determining which application will be submitted to each NERC Standard Grant round. This will take the form of an internal competition, which will include peer review. The next available standard grant round is July 2018. The process for selecting an application for this round can be found in the process document here – the deadline for internal Expressions of Interest (EoI) which will be used to determine which application will be submitted is 28th March 2018.  The EoI form can be found here: I:\R&KEO\Public\NERC Demand Management 2018.

NERC have advised that where a research organisation submits more applications to any round than allowed under the cap, NERC will office-reject any excess applications, based purely on the time of submission through the Je-S system (last submitted = first rejected). However, as RKEO submit applications through Je-S on behalf of applicants, RKEO will not submit any applications that do not have prior agreement from the internal competition.

Following the internal competition, the Principal Investigator will have access to support from RKEO, and will work closely with the Research Facilitator and Funding Development Officers to develop the application. Access to external bid writers will also be available.

Appeals process

If an EoI is not selected to be submitted as an application, the Principal Investigator can appeal to Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Any appeals must be submitted within ten working days of the original decision. All appeals will be considered within ten working days of receipt.

RKEO Contacts

Please contact Rachel Clarke, RKEO Research Facilitator – clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk or Jo Garrad, RKEO Funding Development Manager – jgarrad@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to submit an expression of interest.

Funding opportunity – UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training in artificial intelligence

BU Challenges, BU research

The UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) is currently inviting outline proposals for new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) to develop the UK’s skills in artificial intelligence (AI).Funding to support 10-20 CDTs focused on areas relevant to AI across UKRI’s remit is available through this call.

Please visit this website for more information – http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/postgrad/focused/cdt/ukri-2018/

Closing date (outline proposals): 16:00 on 28 March 2018

Closing date (full proposals): TBC

NERC Call for ideas for strategic research

BU research, Guidance

NERC invites ideas for scientific advances that will, over time, contribute to addressing some of these major challenges of the 21st century: benefiting from natural resources, resilience to environmental hazards, and managing environmental change. The ideas will be used to inform the development of new strategic research investments through either highlight topics (HTs) or strategic programme areas (SPAs).

Ideas can be sent to NERC at any time and can come from any individual or group, and any part of the environmental science community (including researchers and those who use environmental science research). Ideas must be submitted using the template provided for either highlight topics or strategic programme areas; this should be up to two sides of A4 written in language that is clear to a broad section of the NERC community.

Once an idea is sent to NERC, the proposer relinquishes ownership of that idea and transfers it to NERC. NERC may choose to publish or share material received.

Please refer to the guidance below, which explains what they are looking for in more detail.

Guidance for developing and submitting ideas for strategic research (PDF, 231KB)

For further information, they have also compiled some frequently asked questions (FAQ), which cover the different aspects of the ideas process and role of SPAG.

FAQ for developing and submitting ideas for strategic research (PDF, 111KB)

You can download the appropriate template for submitting your ideas below.

Highlight topic idea template (Word, 48KB)

Strategic programme area idea template (Word, 49KB)

A summary of the ideas received by the 2016 and 2017 cut-offs is provided below.

Summary of the ideas 2016 cut-off (PDF, 124KB)

Summary of the ideas 2017 cut-off (PDF, 318KB)

Cut-off dates

Please note that timings are indicative only and so may change.

HT timetable

Cut-off date for HT ideas – 15 May 2018

New HTs announced, feedback on ideas available – November 2018

SPA timetable

Cut-off date for SPA ideas – 7 September 2017

Potential SPA(s) for further development announced, feedback on ideas available – February 2018

New SPA(s) announced – Autumn 2018

Contact

NERC encourages ideas from all parts of the environmental science community and NERC staff are available to discuss potential ideas and provide advice. If you have any queries on the process or would like advice on a potential idea please contact them at in the first instance, and they will put you in touch with a NERC colleague who can help.

NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships 2 (DTP2) call is open

Funding opportunities

Closing date (Notification of Intent): 16:00 on Wednesday 7 March 2018

Closing date (Proposals): 16:00 on Wednesday 16 May 2018

NERC invites proposals to host and deliver its second phase of investment in Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs).

DTPs provide excellent postgraduate research opportunities as well as varied professional and technical skills and personal development training. Training delivered through DTPs can be drawn from any part of the NERC science remit and research topics are chosen by students and supervisors. This training plays a key part in maintaining the breadth and diversity of our research base and in ensuring that as a community we are responsive to new ideas.

DTP students are trained in cohorts, and training is delivered in collaboration with both academic and end-user partners from a wide range of backgrounds to ensure students are equipped with the skills and experiences required across NERC’s diverse community, for the benefit of science, policy, the wider labour market, and the economy.

NERC expects to invest in between 10 and 20 DTPs through this call. Each DTP award will provide funding for five years of new student intakes (eight years of funding in total, from the start of the academic year 2019-20). Each DTP will be allocated between 12 and 24 studentships per year.

Each DTP will offer training across a range of scientific topics within the NERC remit and may include training at the interface between environmental sciences and other disciplines, where many major research challenges exist. It is anticipated that, collectively, the DTPs awarded through this call will cover the breadth of NERC’s remit. However, there is no expectation that a single DTP will cover the whole of NERC’s remit.

This is an open competitive call for new DTP awards and no existing NERC DTP awards will be automatically renewed. Existing NERC DTPs must follow the application process outlined here and submit both a notification of intent and a proposal through this call.

A town hall meeting will be held on 30 January 2018 in central London to give potential applicants the opportunity to discuss the call with NERC. Registration for this meeting has already closed and the final attendee list has been confirmed. A summary of the meeting will be published on the NERC website.

This call has been informed by the outcomes of the DTP mid-term evaluation 2016-17.

How to apply

This call includes a notification of intent stage.

Notification of intent

Notification of intent must be submitted using the online registration form. The closing date for notifications of intent is 16:00 on 7 March 2018.

Full proposals

Full proposals will only be accepted from those that have submitted a notification of intent via the online form and NERC must be informed of any changes to hosting partners following the submission of a notification of intent.

Proposals must use the form provided below and must be submitted via the research councils’ Je-S system by 16:00 on 16 May 2018.

Full proposal form (Word, 57KB)

For full details, please see the Announcement of Opportunity document below.

Announcement of Opportunity (PDF, 760KB)

Contact

NERC Research Careers

If you intend to submit to this call, please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

Free BBSRC Workshop on sustainable intensification

BU research, Guidance

 Sustainable Intensification Research NetworkVisit Defra websiteVisit Natural Environment Research Council website
Date:28 February and 1 March 2018
Venue:The Woodland Grange Hotel, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6RN

BBSRC, Defra and NERC, in partnership with the Sustainable Intensification Research Network (SIRN), are holding a workshop for researchers with interests in or expertise relevant to the sustainable intensification (SI) of agriculture. This workshop aims to build on the legacy of Defra’s Sustainable Intensification and provide opportunities to link with other current sustainable intensification activities. The aims of the workshop are:

  • To bring together the wider UK SI community with researchers involved in SIP to facilitate networking and the identification of opportunities for collaboration, building on the legacy of SIP.
  • To stimulate the development of high quality research proposals related to SI that address relevant research challenges and explore new ways of approaching SI.
  • To raise awareness of relevant Government and Research Council interests and potential funding opportunities.

There is no cost to attend the workshop, overnight accommodation (on 28 February 2018) and meals will be provided free of charge. Attendees will be expected to cover their own travel costs.

The workshop will include:

  • The legacy of SIP
  • Research challenges (and gaps) to address policy and practice needs for SI
  • Scientific opportunities to address those challenges
  • Defra and Research Council perspectives and priorities for SI research
  • Facilitated networking to explore collaborative opportunities
  • Subsequent access (limited to applications led by workshop participants) to modest funding opportunities from SIRN and Defra to facilitate the further development of collaborative proposals

The Sustainable Intensification Research Platform

The SIP is a Defra and Welsh Government funded initiative that was established to identify ways of increasing farm productivity, while reducing negative environmental impacts and enhancing ecosystem services. SIP is a multi-partner research programme including farmers, industry experts, academia, environmental organisations and policymakers. The Platform consists of three linked and transdisciplinary research projects designed to explore opportunities and risks for sustainable intensification at the farm and landscape scale. The SIP will end in November 2017 and through this workshop BBSRC, Defra, NERC and SIRN hope to help the SIP community and others to build on its legacy.   That legacy is a broad one, which includes data, tools, resources, experimental sites and capabilities, and a large and well-connected community of practice.

How to attend

This workshop is for research leaders currently working on or with interests relevant to SI.

Please fill in the from below and return to sustainable.agriculture@bbsrc.ac.uk by 5 January 2018, 4pm. If you have any questions, please use the above email address. Successful applicants will be informed by email during the week beginning 15 January 2018.

Expression of interest form for workshop participation (DOCX 147KB)You may need to download additional plug-ins to open this file.

Expression of interest form for workshop participation (ODT 130KB)You may need to download additional plug-ins to open this file.

NERC report: Emerging trends and threats to biodiversity in 2018

Guidance, Research news

Gene editing to eradicate unwanted animal populations, deep water lasers for trawling the sea, radiation threats from next-generation mobile phone networks and how to protect the 44% of the Earth’s surface covered by no-mans-land oceans.

Earth from space

These are among the 15 environmental challenges and trends cited by a diverse group of 24 researchers and experts tasked with identifying the as yet little-understood issues that could have a big impact on our natural world in the coming year.

This was the ninth NERC-funded Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation & Biological Diversity, led by William Sutherland, Professor of Conservation Biology at Cambridge University, and published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

The annual report looks at new developments and threats that authors believe could present risks and opportunities in the coming year. The international team reviewed 117 potential emerging issues, whittling down to the 15 they believe may have the biggest impact – positive or negative – but are the least well-known.

Click here to see what the 15 emerging issues for 2018 were identified as.

Doctoral training partnerships funding call (DTP2) – Town hall meeting

BU research, Funding opportunities, student research

When: 30 January 2018
Where: London

On 19 October 2017, NERC announced that its second round of investment in doctoral training partnerships (DTP2) would be made through a fully open competitive call. This decision was made following the outcomes of the mid-term evaluation of NERC’s existing DTPs in 2016-17.

The DTP evaluation concluded that this mechanism of delivering PhD studentships provides valuable training and that NERC should continue to support PhD studentships in this way. A fully open competitive call will ensure that they build on the success of existing investments while enabling innovation and change within the DTP community. It will ensure that all eligible organisations are able to compete for access to NERC studentships based on excellence, determined by a robust and consistent assessment process.

The DTP2 call will be launched in early January 2018, at which point an announcement of opportunity will be published on the NERC website. To ensure clear communication regarding the scope and expectations of this call, NERC will be holding a town hall meeting for interested parties to discuss the call in more detail with NERC staff and to network with potential DTP partners. The meeting will take place once the call has been launched.

The event

The purpose of the town hall meeting is to provide an opportunity for those interested in applying to the DTP2 call to receive detailed guidance about the scope and requirements of the call, raise any questions with NERC staff and network with prospective DTP partners. The meeting will commence with a presentation from NERC staff, followed by a plenary question and answer session, and will conclude with an open session to include lunch and networking.

Those expressing an interest in attending will be invited to propose questions to be addressed at the meeting – this will enable NERC staff to tailor the content of presentations and ensure that they address as many commonly asked questions as possible. Common queries raised following the publication of the call will also be addressed at the meeting.

Following the presentations and Q&A, the meeting will be unstructured, providing an opportunity for attendees to network with one another and discuss potential partnerships, as well as to talk further with NERC staff regarding specific questions.

Attendance at this meeting is not a pre-requisite for submission of a DTP2 proposal. A summary report of the meeting will be published on the NERC website as soon as possible after the event.

How to apply

To express your interest in attending the meeting, you must complete the online registration form.

The closing date for registration is 16:00 on 1 December 2017.

There are a limited number of places available and so the submission of an application is not a guarantee of a place at the meeting. If the event is oversubscribed, NERC will limit the number of attendees per organisation to allow for even representation from across the NERC community – this will be done in discussion with the individuals and organisation, as appropriate. Those applicants offered a place will receive a formal invitation confirming attendance once all applications have been processed. NERC will aim to confirm the final list of attendees by early January 2018.

Contact

NERC Research Careers

Commissioning process for NERC DTP2 confirmed

BU research, Funding opportunities

NERC will commission its second round of Doctoral Training Partnership investment (DTP2) through a fully open competitive call, to be launched in January 2018.

The announcement of opportunity, containing full details of the call, is currently under development and will be published in January 2018. To ensure a fair and transparent process, NERC will not answer individual queries about the DTP2 call in advance of the announcement of opportunity being published.

A town hall meeting will be held in central London on Tuesday 30 January 2018 to provide an opportunity to discuss the call. Details of how to register your interest in attending the town hall meeting will be announced in due course.

For more information on NERC DTPs, and the outcomes of the recent DTP evaluation, please see the information available on the NERC website.

 

NERC Council – membership vacancies

BU research, Research news

NERC is looking to appoint up to twelve new council members with relevance expertise and experience.  Applications are encouraged from suitably qualified people with a broad range of expertise and experience in research and innovation across higher education, industry and commerce, policy and/or civil society, reflecting different characteristics and professional backgrounds.

Further information and details of how to apply are available at: https://www.ukri.org/news/appointments-to-the-councils-of-uk-research-and-innovation/

The closing date for applications is 12:00pm mid-day on Monday 13 November 2017.

Interviews will be held in December 2017 / January 2018

NERC Industrial Innovation Fellowships

Funding opportunities

This call opens on Je-S 25 August 2017.  Closing on 19 September 2017

In response to the industrial strategy, Research Councils UK (RCUK) (UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)) has developed a fellowship programme to be supported through the National Productivity Investment Fund. Targeted at early career researchers (ECRs), RCUK / UKRI Industrial Innovation Fellowships will be a step change in the support provided by the research councils to the research leaders of the future, enabling some of the UK’s most talented researchers to undertake major new innovation oriented and intellectual endeavours.

For applicants within NERC’s science remit, NERC will be delivering these fellowships through Industrial Innovation Fellowships and Industrial Mobility Fellowships

RCUK (UKRI) 2017 Industrial Innovation Fellowships support the delivery of the industrial strategy by supporting early career researchers to explore interdisciplinary solutions as well as addressing focused sectoral needs to the economic benefit of the UK, both in the short term and long term. This scheme will ensure that the UK industrial sector has a supply of skilled researchers and will nurture future leaders in both industry and the research base.

Industrial Innovation Fellowships are three-and-a-half-year research fellowship awards where the award holder undertakes a programme of research clearly aligned with the objectives of the industrial strategy – and particularly the core challenge areas identified within the green paper – whilst maximising the impact of this research through working in collaboration with users of research.

It is anticipated that 24 Industrial Innovation Fellowships will be supported through this call and the successful applicants will commence their fellowships by 1 January 2018 at the latest.

Please see the Announcement of Opportunity document below for full details of the call including information concerning how to apply.

Announcement of Opportunity (PDF, 158KB)

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

NERC has prepared a FAQ document for this call – this document will be updated over the lifetime of the call so please check the latest edition before contacting NERC with your query.

Frequently asked questions (PDF, 102KB)

Contacts

For queries regarding the application process and administration of this opportunity, please contact:

David Roberts
01793 442644

If you are interested in applying, please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer immediately (given the short deadline).

Amends to NERC Research grant eligibility for New Investigators

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance

The eligibility for the NERC New Investigators scheme has been updated from three to five years of applicants first becoming eligible for NERC funding as a Principal Investigator. This applies from the January 2018 closing date. See: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/eligibility/

Grants and Fellowships Handbook – A new version of the NERC grants and fellowships handbook is now available on their website at: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/howtoapply/forms/grantshandbook/

 

2017 Industrial Innovation Fellowships and Industrial Mobility Fellowships

BU research, Funding opportunities

RCUK (UKRI) have announced that up to 24 Industrial Innovation Fellowships for Early Career Researchers will be supported as part of the National Productivity Fund.  NERC will be delivering the fellowships as Industrial Innovations Fellowships and Industrial Mobility Fellowships. Successful applicants will be expected to commence their fellowships by the 1st of January 2018 at the latest.

The Industrial Innovations fellowships are 3.5 year awards for a single named researcher.  The Industrial Mobility Fellowships are 6-12 month fellowships that enable ECRs to spend time exploring interdisciplinary solutions while placed within industry. Both fund must have research clearly aligned with one or more of the challenge areas of the governments Industrial Strategy of:

  • Clean energy;
  • Robotics and AI;
  • Satellites and space;
  • Leading edge healthcare and medicine;
  • Manufacturing and materials;
  • Biotechnology and synthetic biology;
  • Transformative digital technologies (including big data and analytics);
  • Quantum technologies;
  • Technologies for the creative industries;
  • Building a resilient economy.

A total fund of £8.86m is available for the Industrial Innovations Fellowships and there are no specific funding limits to applicants other than a restriction that no equipment cost may exceed £10k. Industrial Mobility Fellowships are anticipated to have budgets between £50k-100k depending on the duration of the award.

For further information, or to check the suitability of these funds, please contact your faculty Research Facilitator (Ehren Milner, emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk or Lisa Gale-Andrews,  lgaleandrews@bournemouth.ac.uk).

 

RCUK (UKRI) 2017 Industrial Fellowships

Funding opportunities

RCUK (UKRI) 2017 Industrial Fellowships – NERC closing date 19th September 2017.

In response to the Industrial Strategy, Research Councils UK (RCUK) (UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)) has developed a fellowship programme to be supported through the National Productivity Investment Fund. Targeted at early career researchers (ECRs), RCUK / UKRI Industrial Innovation Fellowships will be a step change in the support provided by the research councils to the research leaders of the future, enabling some of the UK’s most talented researchers to undertake major new innovation oriented and intellectual endeavours.

For applicants within NERC’s science remit, NERC will be delivering these fellowships through Industrial Innovation Fellowships and Industrial Mobility Fellowships

Three-and-a-half-year awards to support early career researchers in exploring interdisciplinary solutions as well as addressing focused sectoral needs, both in the short term and long term, to the economic benefit of the UK.

NERC invites proposals for mobility fellowship awards of between 6-12 months in duration aligned with the objectives of the Industrial Strategy.

If you have any queries concerning these programmes, please contact fellowships@nerc.ac.uk

If you wish to apply for a fellowship then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

NERC Early Career Researcher evaluation survey

BU research, PG research, Research communication

NERC is undertaking an evaluation of its support for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to be completed in 2017. This evaluation is the first of its kind to be undertaken by NERC to gain a better understanding of the challenges and issues facing ECRs during this crucial period for their career development.

The outcomes of this evaluation will determine whether current NERC strategy and activities are effective at maintaining a healthy research base for the environmental sciences, and ensuring the training and opportunities available for NERC ECRs are appropriate for facilitating success in the broad range of careers they enter.

The evidence to inform this evaluation will be collected through an online survey developed by market research specialists, DJS Research, NERC, and its advisory boards. The audience for this survey is primarily ECRs within NERC’s remit but it also provides the opportunity for employers of ECRs and other key stakeholders to provide feedback. This survey will be complemented by case study interviews to provide further information concerning the insights arising from the survey and explore in greater depth the challenges facing ECRs.

The online survey will run from 3 August to 2 October 2017 and NERC intends to publish the findings of this evaluation in December 2017.

If you have any queries concerning the ECR Evaluation, please contact researchcareers@nerc.ac.uk

UK Parliament survey – supporting diversity in academic engagement

BU research, Research news

Are you an academic researcher?

Could you help the UK Parliament understand the barriers for academics in working with them, particularly those academics from more diverse backgrounds?

NERC have created a survey – please complete the short survey now and help NERC to support as many academics as possible to engage with Parliament.

The UK Parliament is committed to working with as diverse a range of people as possible.  NERC have been working for a few years to inform and engage academic researchers in the work of Parliament through training and other activities.  NERC are aware that some groups of academics engage with Parliament more than others, and would like to find out why.

NERC have just launched an online survey about the barriers to engaging with Parliament for academics. The survey is 14 questions long and should take around 5 minutes to complete. NERC would welcome contributions from anyone with something to tell them, although they are particularly interested in hearing from academics from groups who engage less with Parliament; women, academics from BAME backgrounds and academic with disabilities.

The survey closes on Friday 18th August 2017.  The results from this survey will lead to activities focused on meeting some of the barriers identified and supporting a wider range of academics to engage with the business of Parliament.

Building resilience to natural disasters using financial instruments – Networking Event &Funding Call

BU research, Funding opportunities

Call closes: 16:00 on 26 September 2017

ESRC and UK Aid (DFID) logoNERC, the Department for International Development, and the Economic & Social Research Council invite proposals to address the topic building resilience to natural disasters using financial instruments. Funding is available to apply existing environmental and social science research to inform the design, development, refinement and validation of financing instruments to help developing countries respond and recover from extreme weather and natural disasters.

The overarching goal of these projects is to have impact on the developing world. To achieve this, projects must work with practitioner project partners who have a role in the design, development and application of innovative financing mechanisms for developing countries (eg non-governmental organisations, policymakers, disaster risk management actors, insurance companies).

NERC funding for this call will form part of the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) commitment, and proposals should demonstrate their primary purpose is to promote the economic development and welfare of countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development’s Development Assistance Committee list of ODA recipients.

The programme will support both:

  • feasibility studies of up to £100,000 (at 100% full economic cost) and up to six months in duration
  • longer projects of up to £350,000 (at 100% full economic cost) and up to 24 months in duration.

Successful projects are expected to start no later than 1 January 2018.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

Networking and brokerage event

In order to bring together academics and potential project partners, a one-day networking event will be held at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London on 28 July 2017. For further information and details of how to register your interest in attending this event, please see the networking event page.

Please note that attendance at this networking event is not a pre-requisite for the submission of proposals to this call.

Further information

Further information on this call and details of how to submit a proposal will be available to download shortly.

Contact

Lisa Bettington
Programme Manager – Innovation
01793 411630