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EPSRC Executive Chair recognised in New Year's Honours
Professor Lynn Gladden, Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), has been appointed a Dame for services to academic and industrial research in chemical engineering.
Named as one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2016, she was appointed as Executive Chair of EPSRC in 2018 and is a fellow of the Royal Society, of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a foreign member of the USA National Academy of Engineering.
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EPSRC AI and Robotics Team Introduction
 We would like to introduce you to the AI and Robotics team in EPSRC, which was formed earlier this year in response to the rising profile of AI and Robotics. This team, led by Anna Angus-Smyth, works extremely closely with colleagues in ICT, Mathematical Sciences, Engineering, and Digital Economy, and aims to maximise the opportunity of the high profile of AI and robotics for the research community.
The team has spent much of 2019 working on the UKRI AI Review in partnership with colleagues across UKRI. The outcomes of this review will be published in early 2020, and will set the direction for UKRI’s approach to supporting AI research and innovation going forward. Beyond this the team have been working on a number of other activities, most notably new investments in Turing AI Acceleration Fellowships, Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowships and Trustworthy Autonomous Systems.
Whilst the team have been very busy to date, they are very keen to talk to a broader set of colleagues in the community in the coming months, and to understand more about AI and Robotics research activities across the UK.
Key dates to be aware of include Turing AI Acceleration Fellowships outline closing 18 February, Turing AI World Leading Researcher Fellowships outline closing 02 April and TAS Nodes outline closing 20 February.
EPSRC HCI review
On the 6 June 2019, EPSRC held a round table in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The aims of the round table were to:
• Consider how the HCI research area and community has progressed since the 2012 EPSRC HCI review and how the recommendations of this review have been implemented.
• Discuss new and emerging areas in HCI.
• Consider the future of the HCI portfolio in EPSRC and how it fits in with the strategic plan for HCI and EPSRC.
The attendees of the round table were a mixture of academics and industrialists from the UK HCI community, some of which were part of the 2012 EPSRC review panel.
Review of EPSRC’s support for doctoral education
A review launched today, 16 January 2020, will consider doctoral education offered through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The review, due to take place during 2020, is being held to ensure that EPSRC’s support remains world-leading and will consider a wide range of aspects, including the research outputs, the value of doctoral training for people’s careers, the skills need for employment, training methods and needs during doctoral education, routes of entry to doctoral education, and student diversity and support.
Opportunities will be provided for the community to be involved and assist with the review, including a call for evidence and a series of regional meetings. These opportunities are expected to be provided during spring and further details will be provided in due course.
Dr Alison Wall, EPSRC Deputy Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and People, said: “Our investment in doctoral education is an important part of EPSRC’s portfolio. I’m looking forward to working with colleagues across UKRI and our community to carry out this review, which will be key in informing the design of future programmes.”
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 UKRI Public Engagement Update
UK Research and Innovation has published its vision for how it will promote world-leading research and innovation that is built on the knowledge and values of society and open to people from all backgrounds. Its four goals are to:
• Focus on under-represented communities and places
• Actively involve people in their work
• Inspire and empower young people
• Listen to and understand public concerns and aspirations
These goals will be delivered through funding calls, commissioning research and analysis, and piloting new approaches.
UKRI announces next steps in tackling bullying and harassment
 UKRI Executive Champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Professor Jennifer Rubin, said: “In a world-class research and innovation sector, bullying and harassment are unacceptable. It is detrimental to careers and experience, destructive of the culture and environment and associated with loss of talent and expertise from the sector. Our vision is for an environment in which everyone is supported to contribute on the basis of their skills and ability, and where the wellbeing of staff and students is actively nurtured and promoted as a priority. As the UK’s largest public funder of research and innovation UKRI has an important role to play in tackling bullying and harassment. We will lead by example and work with partners across the sector to effect change."
The main focusses are;
• UKRI outlines next steps to tackle bullying and harassment, including mandatory requirements for those in receipt of UKRI funding to adopt good practice guidelines
• New resources will be developed to drive improvements across the sector, including a Code for Conducting Investigations
• UKRI will work with partners and across the sector to identify the scale and address the underlying factors that are contributing to the problem
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Advance Notice: Prosperity Partnership Fourth Round
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EPSRC is delivering the Fourth Round of Prosperity Partnership in 2020. The Expression of Interest Stage will be launched in January. Further details on the whole process and the information requested at that stage will be provided. Awarded projects will start in October 2020. We encourage stakeholders to start to have conversations with their partner organisations and other collaborators. Closing Date: 20/02/2020
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EPSRC DecarboN8 Network Plus seedcorn funding call 1
The EPSRC-funded DecarboN8 Network Plus is pleased to announce their first Funding Call.
For this first round of seedcorn funding, a total of £100,000 (£80,000 at 80% fEC) is available. Two further funding calls will be run in 2020 and 2021, where a further £300,000 (£240,000 at 80% fEC) will be available. Proposals are invited for projects of up to six months' duration. Closing Date: 27/02/2020.
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UK Climate Resilience Programme – Living with Climate Uncertainty – Research Grants Call
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UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is inviting proposals to their third funding opportunity through the UK Climate Resilience programme, funded through the Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Wave 1.
The UK Climate Resilience programme is a £18.6 million collaboration between UKRI and the Met Office which aims to draw together fragmented climate research and expertise and deliver robust, multi- and inter-disciplinary climate risk and adaptation research to ensuring the UK is resilient to climate variability and change and powerfully positioned to exploit the opportunities of adaptation and green growth.
Closing Date: 27/02/2020
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Trustworthy Autonomous Systems - Research Nodes Call
UKRI invites outline proposals for the research nodes as part of the UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems programme. Funded through the Strategic Priorities Fund, available to support seven research nodes, starting from 1 October 2020 (fixed start date). UKRI expects to fund seven research nodes, each focusing on one of the following research topics: trust, responsibility, resilience, security, functionality, verifiability and governance & regulation.
Closing Date: 20/02/2020
ExCALIBUR High Priority Use Cases: Phase 1
ExCALIBUR (Exascale Computing Algorithms and Infrastructures Benefitting UK Research) is a £45.7m Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) programme led by the Met Office and UK Research and Innovation to meet the challenge of enabling exascale computer architectures by delivering research and innovative algorithmic development to harness the potential power offered by exascale HPC. Closing Date: 22/01/2020
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UKRI Infrastructure Strategy Publication
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The objective of the infrastructure road mapping programme was to create a long-term (until approximately 2030) research and innovation infrastructure roadmap, based on an understanding of existing UK infrastructure, key international facilities in which the UK participates, its future needs (research, economic and social) and any resulting investment priorities.
The findings of the programme have been summarised in two reports published in November 2019; a report on our opportunities to grow capability and a landscape analysis providing a detailed picture of existing UK research infrastructure.
As part of this programme, we have created a portal that catalogues hundreds of research and innovation infrastructures across the UK, whether they come under UKRI’s remit or not. It is available as a resource for researchers, innovators, international partners and businesses with an interest in using UK infrastructure in their work. View the portal online.
The European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is also updating its Roadmap of pan-European Research Infrastructures and has launched a process for new proposals to be considered for inclusion on the 2021 Roadmap. For more information please see the International links: UK proposals to the 2021 ESFRI Roadmap. Submissions must be made by 10 February 2020.
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UKRI SPF Clean Air: Scoping Workshop
The Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Clean Air programme is planning a series of workshops in early 2020 to scope upcoming funding opportunities through the programme.
These events are an opportunity for the research and stakeholder community to engage with the programme funders to learn more about the aims of the programme and the research and innovation already underway, and to shape our thinking on the scope of future funding opportunities.
Workshop Dates: 28 January 2020 (Leeds) and 11 February 2020 (Birmingham)
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GCRF Strategic Advisory Group Recruitment
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The Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Clean Air programme is planning a series of workshops in early 2020 to scope upcoming funding opportunities through the programme.
These events are an opportunity for the research and stakeholder community to engage with the programme funders to learn more about the aims of the programme and the research and innovation already underway, and to shape our thinking on the scope of future funding opportunities.
The Whitehall & Industry Group's AI Collaboration Forum
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Dr Kathryn Magnay, Deputy Director, Cross-Council Programmes will be giving a talk at The Whitehall & Industry Group's AI Collaboration Forum, on 7 February, will bring together a wide audience from our 230+ members, spanning the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, as well as academic institutions. Supported by the Office for Artificial Intelligence and kindly hosted by EY at their London headquarters.
The agenda will explore the vital role of cross-sector collaboration to ensure the endless possibilities of AI are harnessed and regulated effectively, generating maximum positive economic and societal impacts for the UK. Join us for your opportunity to:
• Gain insight from 25+ experts through high level panel discussions and innovative case studies sharing the tangible impacts of AI
• Take part in interactive sessions scoping the ethical and practical considerations around effective implementation of AI
• Build strategic cross-sector partnerships to strengthen the UK's AI ecosystem.
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Lead Agency Opportunity with National Sciences Foundation (NSF)
A lead agency opportunity has been agreed between the EPSRC Mathematical Sciences theme and the Division for Mathematical Sciences at the NSF. Through the agreement, researchers can apply to either EPSRC or the NSF depending on where the largest proportion of their research will be supported, and their application will then be subject to the peer review process of the lead agency. It follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Research Cooperation between UKRI and the NSF in 2018, which provides an overarching framework to encourage collaboration between research communities in the two countries.
Further information can be found here:
Flexible Working - 'Have Your Say'
125 people took part in our have your say campaign on flexible working – there were two surveys one for researchers and one for students. The aim was to understand whether the flexibility we currently offer is enough and what more we can do in this space, using the views of the community to shape the work.
• Key findings were:
o Awareness of the support that EPSRC offers is low- 65.3% of researcher respondents and 76% in the student survey did not know that EPSRC provides support for flexible careers
o Few people ask EPSRC directly for flexible working advice when forming their proposal- of the 18% that could not access the support they required- all discussed their needs with fellow academics and very few with EPSRC
o There is a lack of clarity about how to include these features into a proposal- Most of the suggestions that we received around enhancing our flexible working provision were related to peer review, suggesting that we should provide more practical information about how and where to include information.
o Uncertainty about how flexible working is peer reviewed is a barrier to its use - Respondents gave examples where they hadn’t asked for support they needed because they were advised locally that requests would be perceived negatively
• Next steps:
o raise awareness of the support that we provide to ensure all members of our community have a clear understanding
o Review how flexible working circumstances are incorporated into our grant proposals and providing guidance on how these aspects are assessed.
Create new guidance documents which clarify how to include flexible working components in a proposal, including examples
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