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Radioactivity & the Environment

Announcement of Opportunity: Outline bid proposals

Closing date for outline bid proposals: 16:00 on 13 November 2012

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Environment Agency (EA) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are inviting research proposals for the Radioactivity & the Environment (RATE) programme.

RATE is an £8m research programme which will address areas of research within the field of radioactivity and the environment that are currently underrepresented in the UK, while also building capacity in the field.

The high level goal of the RATE programme is to rebuild UK capacity in radioactivity and the environment, such that in the near future a major contribution to enhancement of environmental protection and a safeguarding of human health from releases of radioactivity from nuclear power plants, waste repositories and legacy-contaminated sites can be made.

The programme will help to deliver the environment, pollution & human health (EPHH) theme of NERC's strategy, will contribute to the Research Councils UK's Energy Programme and should inform future priorities for nuclear waste disposal and regulating radioactivity in the environment.

This call is for consortium projects with linked PhD studentships, which will address the core aims of the programme. It is anticipated that up to three consortium projects, with up to twenty linked PhD studentships, will be funded through this call. The PhD studentships will assist with building capacity and training within the field of radioactivity in the environment.

Consortium projects will be expected to interact with the following Global Challenge Networks: Env-Rad-Net[1] and Geo-Rep-Net[2], funded by the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Applicants should note that all those intending to submit a proposal to this call are required to submit an outline bid for each project.

Each consortium project must seek to address at least two of the following high priority science and technology areas for the RATE programme:

  • biogeochemical coupling, including deep multiphase transport processes;
  • learning from natural radioactive analogues and made-made contaminated environments (natural laboratories);
  • innovative approaches leading to greater understanding of ecosystem/food chain radionuclide uptake processes or key radionuclide's relevant to waste disposal facilities and contaminated land;
  • improved understanding of effects of chronic exposure on plants and animals; and
  • model building/testing, demonstration of scientific robustness, and quantification of uncertainty.

The RATE programme is also interested in supporting technological innovation to deliver the science priorities listed above:

  • technological innovation for rock mass characterisation at a range of spatial scales.

Further detail on these science and technology priorities and the following capacity building priorities can be found in the RATE Science Plan.

RATE Science Plan (83KB)

Proposed consortium projects may be up to five years in duration. Proposals should be multidisciplinary and multi-institutional.

When submitting proposals, applicants are advised to pay particular attention to the following areas prioritised for building capacity through the RATE programme:

  • Geosciences (including geochemistry, geology, geophysics, geomicrobiology) because of strong competition with other industries and under capacity.
  • Environmental radioactivity and radioecology (including radioanalytical skills, radiochemistry, field radioecology and modelling) because of significant under capacity.
  • Multidisciplinary research, particularly involving the training of PhD students through multidisciplinary projects.

Proposals for this call are invited from eligible UK researchers; see NERC Research Grants Handbook for eligibility criteria.

One outline bid submission is required for each proposed project; this should be submitted by the lead Principal Investigator to cover the whole project.

At the outline bid stage individuals can be named on any number of proposals submitted. However at the full bid stage standard NERC rules will apply; ie individuals are limited to involvement in no more than two proposals submitted to this call, only one of these may be as the lead Principal Investigator.

Completed outline bids must be submitted to the programme email address: rate@nerc.ac.uk by 16:00 on 13 November 2012.

For all outline bid proposals, the Principal Investigator must submit a completed outline bid proforma.

Outline bid proforma (430KB)

Announcement of Opportunity (287KB)

Full Pathways to Impact and Data Management plans are not required at the outline bid stage, but will be required for full proposals.

Applicants should be informed at the end of November 2012 if they are to be invited to proceed to the full proposal stage, at which time more detail will be provided on full proposal requirements.

All applicants having submitted a successful outline bid for their project will be invited to submit a full proposal. Full proposals must be submitted using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.

Closing date for full proposals: 5 February 2013

For further information about this Announcement of Opportunity please contact:

General application enquiries:

Blanche Coleman
Tel: 01793 442635

Michelle Truman
Tel: 01793 411700

Scientific enquiries:

Dr Joanna Wragg
Tel: 0115 936 3069

Dr Richard Shaw
Tel: 0115 936 3100
 

  1. Env-Rad-Net  The primary purpose of this network is to enhance the use of STFC facilities within the environmental radioactivity community. The network will ensure that the facilities and capabilities from STFC's core programme are, where appropriate, developed and applied to the complex research challenges resulting from the UK's nuclear legacy, including: geodisposal, decommissioning and response to accidents or security incidents.

    These challenges will require the production and interpretation of fundamental atomic and nanoscale information concerning radionuclide behaviour in natural and engineered environments and will make use of STFC's analytical and computing infrastructures. The network will engage with the UK nuclear agencies and bodies to enhance knowledge transfer across these communities.
  2. Geo-Rep-Net  This network will bring together a wide diversity of scientists, instrument designers and policymakers to consider and prioritise the key scientific and technical challenges in understanding the geochemical, geophysical and biological processes that influence the establishment, operation and monitoring of geological repositories.

    The network will consider nuclear waste disposal and carbon dioxide storage, recognising that many of the challenges are common to both. Work packages will be focused on understanding processes (geochemistry, effects of biota, transport pathways and the possible impact of future climatic scenarios) and investigating methods for monitoring repositories during establishment and in the long term.

    Geo-Rep-Net will be complementary to the NERC BIGRAD consortium project by including the carbon storage community and focusing on building in capabilities from STFC's programme.

About the programme

 

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