The EPSRC has issued this week a call for expressions of interest for Research in the wild 2012 under the Research Councils’ digital economy theme. The RCUK Digital Economy Theme supports research to rapidly realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural experiences, future society, and the economy.

‘Research in the Wild’ is about enabling researchers, in the digital economy, to expose and test their research ideas with potential beneficiaries – for example, the individual, business and/or society – in order to get closer to achieving a viable proposition with potential for transformational impact.

Up to £2M is available to fund several Research in the Wild projects in 2012. Proposals should focus on early stage directed research through to implementation, testing and iterative improvement of technologies or methods with potential beneficiaries. A user partner (public, private or third sector), who is engaged in the research from the start of the project, will be compulsory. Please see below for details:

This call focuses on:

• The applicant identifying a genuine problem and user need with the potential for transformational impact;
• Exposing potential research ideas to beneficiaries, and;
• Improving research ideas based on user input in order to get closer to achieving a viable proposition.

Applicants are invited to express their interest to apply for short-term funding to perform their Digital Economy ‘Research in the Wild’ in three challenge areas:

• Sustainable Society – Digital technologies can be used to make services more sustainable and enhance current systems (economic, environmental and social), in a way that is accessible, affordable, bespoke and popular.
• IT as a Utility – To realise the digital economy, digital infrastructure should be so simple, accessible and reliable it is invisible to the consumer.
• New Economic Models – New business models in a digital economy will create a more flexible, dynamic, resilient and individual-centred economy for the UK.

The full call document, which includes useful background information, details of the funding available, how to apply and assessment, can be viewed below.

Research in the Wild 2012 (PDF 85KB)

Proposals will go through an Expression of Interest stage before approximately 20 Full Proposals will be invited for submission. The closing date for Expression of Interest applications is 4pm on Wednesday the 18th April 2012.

For more information please visit the call page.