EPSRC is leading a call on behalf of the RCUK Energy Programme in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and invites expressions of interest from organisations (based in either developing countries or the UK) who wish to bid under a major new research call on understanding sustainable energy solutions in developing countries. Successful applicants will be invited to take part in a short development workshop to refine the priority research challenges around energy in the context of international development and help facilitate collaborative bids. This workshop will be held from 12-14 December in Nairobi, Kenya. The outputs of this workshop will be outline proposals that will undergo peer review immediately following the workshop, the successful outlines will then be invited to submit full proposals. Only attendees present at the development workshop (and those they are representing) will be eligible to submit full proposals to this call.
The UK Research Council’s Energy programme has allocated a budget of up to £5M to support research projects arising from this call. Depending on the quality of proposals received, up to an additional £7.5M of matching funding could be made available from DFID and DECC, bringing the total for this call up to a maximum of £12.5M. It is anticipated that up to three large-scale and ten smaller-scale proposals will be funded through this call.
Applicants will need to complete an Expression of Interest form by 12:00 on Friday 28 September 2012.
The expressions of interest will be assessed by a sifting panel in October 2012 and those that best meet the preliminary criteria outlined in this call will be invited to take part in the development workshop. Those invited to attend the workshop will be notified by 15 October 2012. Successful proposals from the workshop will be invited to full proposals by 21 December 2012. The deadline for the submission of full proposals will be 8 February 2013, and will be peer-reviewed in late February 2013 with the expectation that funding decisions will be made by the end of March 2013.
For more information and to complete the expression of interest form please visit the call page:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/open/Pages/energyandinternationaldevelopment.aspx