FENCO-NET is a grouping of European organizations having responsibilities relating to the funding of national R&D programs in the field of fossil energy. FENCO- NET has agreed to publish a joint call on CO2 capture, transport and storage with the following topics:

1. Preventing unintended migration of CO2 from geological storage sites
2. CO2 onshore and offshore monitoring techniques
3. CO2 transport
4. New innovative CO2 capture technologies

UK, Greece, Poland and Norway have committed national funding for the joint call with approximately €300-600k each. It is expected that about 3-4 projects can be funded over a period of approximately 1.5 to 3 years period. The call will open for other FENCO-NET countries to join the projects at a later stage if national funding is confirmed. Applications to the joint call will require at least two partners from two member countries. The national financial contributions will be assigned to the project partners of that respective country only. Cross-border funding is not envisaged.

For more information please go here. The closing date for submission is 29^th May 2013.

ERA Chairs is a new measure to bridge the research and innovation divide in Europe. These grants are intended to help develop research excellence in EU Member States, Associated Countries and regions.

Universities or other eligible research institutions with currently low levels of participation in the Framework Programme, with a demonstrated potential and a concrete plan for research excellence, will be selected by the Commission to appoint outstanding research leaders: the "ERA Chairs" and his/her research team. This will permit these institutions to develop, in a particular field, the level of excellence required to successfully compete internationally and effectively widen participation.

For more information please go here. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 30^th May 2013

Proposals are invited by EPSRC for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will advance the case for Hydrogen as an energy vector. For each project application there should be a single submission with a single PI.

The deadline for applications is 1st August 2013 and more information can be found here">http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/2013/Pages/supergenhydrogenchallengecall.aspx">here.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change invites calls for proposals under its offshore wind component technologies development and demonstration scheme. The aim of this call is to reduce the cost of offshore wind energy by accelerating the commercialisation of devices and component technologies for offshore wind systems. The primary objectives are:

• to test and demonstrate component technologies for >5MW offshore wind turbines and associated technologies that could be incorporated into the offshore wind systems or farm designs;
• to provide support to tackle new challenges and innovation required to design and build components that go beyond current understanding and experience;
• generate learning and practical experience that can improve confidence in innovative offshore wind systems and help reduce future costs.

DECC welcomes individual and collaborative bids from businesses or consortia. The scheme is open to businesses or consortia across the EU, but grants are only available for projects primarily taking place in the UK. Applicants may not be public sector organisations. Universities are eligible to take part.

This call has a capital budget of up to £4 million. Awards are expected to be between £250,000 and £4m in size, and between two and six awards will be made. Awards are made on an ongoing basis and further information can be found here.

 

This programme is for scientists who want to develop collaborative research consortia between scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and a research institution in the UK.The overall aim of the scheme is to strengthen the research capacity of universities and research institution in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting the development of sustainable research networks.

The objectives are to:

• facilitate sustainable multidisciplinary partnerships between research groups in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK.
• strengthen research and training capacity in sub-Saharan African Institutions of Higher Education through the skill transfer between partner organisations of the research consortia.
• produce a cadre of young, talented researchers through integrated PhD scholarships and shared supervision of post-graduate students between the UK-based and African consortia members.
• evaluate the contributions of the Africa Initiative to supporting universities and institutions in Africa to develop sustainable research and research training capacity.

The scheme provides funding towards research expenses, travel and subsistence costs, (PhD) training, and limited funds for equipment.

Applications will be accepted in three research priority area - Water & sanitation; Renewable energy; Soil-related research

For more information please go here. The scheme opens on the 1^st November 2012

5th - 6th June 2013, Budapest, Hungary

Website 

The Research Councils UK’s energy programme, led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, invites participation of UK researchers in the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program integrated research projects. In particular, the RCEP will support the UK component of collaborative UK/US proposals to the NEUP’s solicitation for research into the simulation of neutron damage for high-dose exposure of advanced reactor materials.

UK applicants should discuss the call remit and engage closely with their US partners when preparing the proposal.

Before submitting a full proposal, UK applicants should contact the RCEP lead to discuss their intent to apply. RCEP will then provide a letter of support, which needs to be included in the full proposal submitted through the NEUP. Full proposals should be submitted by the lead US partner. UK partners are encouraged to include other UK stakeholders in their proposal.

The UK component must fall within the EPSRC remit and UK applicants must be eligible for EPSRC funding. Higher education institutions, some research council institutes and independent research organisations are eligible to apply.

EPSRC expects to contribute £1 million, likely for one project only. The deadline is the 12th June 2013 and more information can be found here.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy created Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) in 2009 to consolidate its university support under one programme.

The RCUK Energy Programme would like to encourage the participation of UK researchers in this programme. In particular the RCEP will support the UK component of proposals including US/UK collaboration to the NEUP's Integrated Research Projects solicitation.

The area of collaboration in this NEUP call focuses on the: Simulation of Neutron Damage for High Dose Exposure of Advanced Reactor Materials.

Proposals should be submitted by the US partner according to NEUP processes. The RCEP will input into the peer review process and will ultimately fund based on the NEUPs funding recommendation.

For more information please go here. The closing date is the 12^th June 2013

The Directorate-General for Research and Innovation invites proposals for the study on renewable energy and research and innovation capacity of sub-Saharan Africa. Tenderers will undertake a feasibility study on renewable energy and research and innovation capacity of sub-Saharan Africa before putting forward any targeted R&I renewable energy topics for cooperation. It will enable the formulation of a clear strategy on whether and how to undertake a research and innovation programme that would be equitable and beneficial to the region in the area of renewable energy.

The total budget is €1 million without VAT for a period of 18 months.

For more information please go here. The closing date is the 13^th June 2013.

The Technology Strategy Board, Welsh Government and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest jointly up to £1m to establish new Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) in the area of power electronics.

They are looking to support a cohort of up to 12 KTPs UK-wide for this thematic KTP competition, with up to three of these coming from companies based in Wales. Power electronics is considered key to enabling a resilient energy system for a future UK energy mix which will include a larger percentage of renewables, connectivity to a European supergrid, community energy systems, and electric vehicle charging.

This targeted call for KTPs aims to stimulate and support supply chain innovation in power electronics and the energy sector. It is part of a £5.4m programme and is running in parallel with a £4.4m Technology Strategy Board investment in power electronics. Typical annual project costs could be in the region of £60k with a third of this being contributed by the company, in the case of an SME.

This targeted call will encourage knowledge-sharing across projects, and will facilitate effective links to the UK research base, including the developing EPSRC National Centre for Power Electronics. This will give the businesses involved access to knowledge and expertise held by a range of academic groups with different perspectives on the high-level challenges facing the industry.

KTP applicants can link their projects to the Technology Strategy Board technical feasibility or collaborative R&D competition strands where appropriate. Those organisations applying to both competitions must make sure that their proposals can stand alone and are not dependent on both applications being successful.

The brief can be downloaded here, the deadline for applications is the 19th June 2013.

The European Parliament invites proposals for expertise to the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on regulatory and policy issues in the fields of industry, ICT, research and innovation and energy and climate change. Expertise shall be provided in the form of briefings and studies as well as attendance at committee meetings and presentations by lead experts or the organisation of workshops.

Tenders may be submitted for one or more of the following lots:

• industrial policy;
• digital agenda and ICT;
• research and innovation policy;
• energy and climate change policies.

All persons working on the contract must have at least five years of professional or academic experience, and project leaders must have at least 10 years of experience. Senior researchers must have at least seven years of experience. The tenderer must successfully have completed at least four scientific contracts in the past five years as well as having a relevant publishing record and knowledge of EU institutional framework and decision-making process.

Funding is worth €500,000 over 12 months, renewable up to three times.

For more information please go here. The closing date is the 20^th June 2013.

This year the Diamond Jubilee scholarships are named in honour of the IET’s patron, Her Majesty the Queen, and aim to help address the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills shortage in the UK.

Students likely to achieve three A’s at A level, three A grade Advanced Highers or five A grade Highers and starting an IET accredited engineering or technology degree this autumn, will be eligible to receive £1,000 per year.

The IET’s Ambition awards also offer opportunities for engineering students to get financial support: undergraduate and postgraduate students can apply for IET scholarships worth up to £10,000.

For more information please go here. The final deadline for entry for the postgraduate scholarships is 4^th April 2013 and the deadline for the Diamond Jubilee scholarships and undergraduate scholarships is 27^th June 2013.

This call is to support a research programme covering the key research challenges in the decommissioning, immobilisation and management of nuclear waste for disposal to replace the Diamond activity when it comes to a close this year.

A scoping workshop was held in Sheffield on the 1^st May 2013 to identify the critical issues that need to be addressed, namely:

• Spent Fuel Storage
• PuO2 and Fuel residues
• Legacy Pond and Silo Sludges
• Structural Integrity
• Alternative resources

The workshop was attended by representative of the UK university departments active in this area, and by representatives from the NDA, Sellafield, HSE/ONR and NNL. Only attendees that were present at the workshop may lead a submission to this call, though researchers that were not present may be involved as CoIs.

Researchers that did not attend the workshop that are interested in engaging with the call should contact the project leaders directly, details are given in the call documents.

For more information please go here. The closing date is 27^th June 2013.

The research funding organisations of China (NSFC), France (ANR), Germany (DFG), The Netherlands (NWO) and the United Kingdom (ESRC) are delighted to launch a new multi-lateral collaboration consisting of a joint research programme on two basic societal challenges:

• The challenges of the Green Economy
• The challenges of Population Change

There will be a number of priority areas within these themes and researchers from these countries will be invited to submit proposals for joint projects in these areas. Researchers may have any disciplinary background within the social sciences and beyond, however, the proposal should be predominantly within the social sciences and applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria of their home funding agency. Projects will also need to involve a number of Chinese and European partners; full guidance will be announced in the call.

Further information about the priority areas will be made available by the end of June 2013 with the full call launched in September. The closing date of the call will be in early December 2013. If you have any further questions, please go here.

EPSRC, as part of the Research Councils UK Energy Programme, wishes to support collaborative research projects between the UK and China, in partnership with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of “Grid Scale Storage for Intermittency”. A scoping workshop was held in China in April to identify the following themes as priority areas for this call

• Advanced thermal and mechanical large scale energy storage from materials to devices
• Advanced electrochemical large scale storage from materials to devices
• Management, diagnosis and control of grid scale storage technologies
• Economics, policy and business models for grid scale storage
• Operation and control for balancing and stability of power systems with grid scale storage.

Proposals are invited from leading UK researchers wishing to develop contacts and joint projects with leading researchers eligible for NSFC support in China.

Up to £5M is available from EPSRC with matched equivalent resources from NSFC (up to 3M RMB per project). EPSRC expect to fund up to 5 projects through this call. The costs of the UK institutions will be met from EPSRC funds, and those for the Chinese partners will be met by NSFC.

For more information please go here. The closing date for applications is the 2^nd July 2013.

EUPHRESCO aims to increase cooperation and coordination of national phytosanitary (statutory plant health) research programmes at the EU level through networking of research funding activities.

The ERA-Net EUPHRESCO II second call relates to the topics of:

• EPITRIX: Epitrix (flea beetle) species, life cycles and detection method (Danish  partners)
• MONOCHAMUS: Monochamus spp., insect vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Transnational consortia involving both Danish and Slovenian research partners)
• WOOD CHIP: Diagnostics and risk management for plant health threats in wood chips and bark for bio-energy imported from other continents (Transnational consortia involving both Danish and UK research partners)

The submission deadline for Expressions of Interest ends on Monday 8th July 2013, 17:00 CET. More information on the call can be found here.