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UK Droughts & Water Scarcity

Announcement of Opportunity

Closing date for outline proposals: 16:00 on 3 May 2013

Closing date for full proposals: 16:00 on 21 August 2013 (TBC)

The UK Droughts & Water Scarcity research programme is a five-year interdisciplinary, £12m+ NERC research programme in collaboration with ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC and AHRC. The programme's research will be UK-focused, and will contribute to NERC's natural hazards and climate system strategic science themes.

The objective of the programme is to support improved decision-making in relation to droughts and water scarcity by providing research identifying, predicting and responding to the interrelationships between their multiple drivers and impacts.

This call for proposals invites applications from interdisciplinary consortia to respond to one of three work packages. A second phase of funding will follow which will fund programme management, coordination and knowledge synthesis activities, and will be available only to those funded in the first funding round.

The programme aims to deliver evidence to inform adaptation and management decisions before, during and after drought events, and in the context of increasing concerns about water security. It has the following goals:

1. Characterise the drivers and nature of droughts and water scarcity, including the environmental, social and cultural factors that influence their occurrence, severity and impact.
    
2. Examine the multiple and inter-linked impacts of UK droughts and water scarcity on the environment, agriculture, infrastructure, society and culture, and the trade-offs between them.
    
3. Develop methods to support decision-making for drought and water scarcity planning and management, and to assess opportunities (including community and public responses) to reduce their occurrence and severity.

In order to manage demand and to reduce the burden on applicants and reviewers, the call is initially for outline proposals. These will be reviewed by an independent assessment panel. It is anticipated that projects will last between three and four years.

Outline proposals must be submitted using the form provided below, and should be sent by email to droughts@nerc.ac.uk by 16:00 on Friday 3 May 2013. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Outline bid form (361KB)

Only applicants that have been invited to submit a full proposal following the outline bid stage will be eligible to do so.

Full details of the call can be found in the Announcement of Opportunity document below. Applicants are advised to read this thoroughly before applying.

Announcement of Opportunity (222KB)

For further information about this announcement of opportunity please contact the Droughts Programme Team.