PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT OF CALLS FOR RESEARCH PROJECT FUNDING

An exciting and unique opportunity to be part of a major new hydrogen research programme in the UK.

Download the pre-announcement

16/06/2023 Update: Please keep an eye out on these webpages for a forthcoming announcement about flexible funding via the UK-HyRES Hub.

Subject to review, UK-HyRES plans to issue three calls to fund new innovative and impactful hydrogen research projects. There is a £4.7M (Full Economic Cost, FEC) flexible budget for these projects, with the the first call in May 2023. This is a pre-announcement to encourage early project development.

Projects should:

1. be based at organisations (usually universities) that are eligible for EPSRC funding,

2. normally involve multi-disciplinary investigator teams mainly in engineering and the physical sciences though involvement of research elements in the social sciences will be strongly encouraged where appropriate,

3. involve substantive co-funding, co-creation and co-management with one or more industry, business, policy, civic and third-sector partners normally in the UK,

4. normally align with one or more key research areas identified during the Co-ordination phase of UK-HyRES (see workshop reports) (fuel cells and blue hydrogen are outside the remit of the Hub, see Call), align with national policy including the Hydrogen Strategy,

5. have clearly articulated positive and sustainable impacts in key areas such as carbon emissions to Net Zero, energy security, cost competitiveness, wealth creation and social acceptance, last up to 3 years, with maximum funding per project of about £425k FEC (shorter projects, funded pro rata, may include ”sprints” of 3-6 months duration),

6. have an end date by 30 April 2027,

7. have clearly articulated plans to embed principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Responsible and Ethical Research and Innovation and Development of Early Career Researchers and consider research collaboration outside UK-HyRES including with the HI-ACT Hydrogen Systems Integration Hub.

Proposal review

Project proposals will be assessed anonymously (“double blind”). Separate capacity and capability statements provided by the research teams will be assessed independently in order to inform funding decisions. An expert panel will rank and make a final decision about which projects will be funded. As well as research excellence, the panel will ensure that projects cover the breadth of the UK-HyRES remit.

Applicant benefits

Successful projects will benefit from strong support from the Hub’s management teams, constructive reviews, networking with Hub partners and opportunities to shape and take part in the Hub’s annual congresses and other events.