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Security of Supply of Mineral Resources

Announcement of Opportunity:
Catalyst Grants

Closing date: 16:00 on 11 April 2013

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are inviting bids for Catalyst Grants to the programme Security of Supply of Mineral Resources.

This £7m, five-year programme will provide the research capacity and evidence base to reduce, not increase, supply risk of E-tech elements[1], governed by the imperative to decrease environmental impact.

The programme has two science goals:

1. Understand E-tech element cycling and concentration in natural systems.
2. Understand how to predict and mitigate the environmental effects of extraction and recovery of E-tech elements.

These goals will be achieved through coordinated research projects targeting novel research into high priority E-tech elements, their environmental context and wider implications of their extraction and recovery. The programme will develop an interdisciplinary community building on UK strengths, linking to industry and related international activities.

This first call is for Catalyst Grants (£50-£100k per grant for nine months) to create the interdisciplinary community and scope the science areas ready to respond to a later Research Grant call as part of the next phase of the programme.

Applications must be made through Je-S and the deadline is 16:00 on Thursday 11 April 2013.

Please see the Announcement of Opportunity below and refer to the Science & Implementation Plan for full details.

Announcement of Opportunity (217KB)

For further information about this Announcement of Opportunity please contact:

Lucy Hopewell
Tel: 01793 411920

1. E-tech elements are defined in this programme as those which are essential for the environmental technologies and applications that will allow for cleaner energy and more efficient energy usage.