The Faraday Institution Early Career Researcher Collaboration Award

Applications for the award are now closed.

Objective

• The ECR Collaboration Award will provide a financial award to allow PhD researchers and Faraday Institution Research Fellows working on Faraday Institution projects to engage in independent cross-project research as lead applicants.
• Enable the acquisition of independent research funding thus promoting career development opportunities for early career researchers.

Grant details

• £5,000 x 5 awards
• Proposals can include research projects or other activities which align with the broader goal of the Faraday Institution.
• The proposal can include collaborative research efforts with UK research groups not currently in the Faraday Institution community and can include research groups overseas.
• The scope of the research is not limited but should provide a net benefit to the Faraday Institution project with which the applicant is affiliated.
• The funding will not cover salary or directly allocated costs and therefore approval for the proposed project is required from the relevant researcher’s supervision and project’s managerial teams.

Example opportunities

The grant funding can be used to cover a range of costs including travel and subsistence, consumables and events such as:

• A collaborative research effort to supplement activity with external expertise – this could include bringing experimental or computational expertise to support the development of an ECRs research project
• A research symposium or event organised by an ECR to build collaborative links within a given community, for example bringing together researchers from across multiple projects interested in a particular technique, method or computational approach to strengthen the specialty.
• A collaborative proof of concept for a future Fellowship or research activity, for example an ECR who aims to progress in academia or industry developing a proof-of-concept experiment which may be used to support a larger proposal in the future.

Requirements

• Be working as a PhD researcher or Faraday Institution Research Fellow on a Faraday Institution research project (Faraday Institution Collaborative projects, Faraday Institution Sprint projects or Faraday Institution Seed projects, Industry Fellowships).
• A completed proposal form including a letter of support from your supervisor and project management team.
• A commitment to maximise the impact of the award funding.
• To report on the outcomes and benefits of the award on conclusion of the project and present on the benefit of the award at a Faraday Institution event.
• To conduct high-quality research abiding by all research ethics.
• Project to be completed between December 2023 and May 2024

Scoring criteria

ECR Collaboration Award applications will be reviewed by a diverse panel.

The applications will be assessed for

1. Scientific merit and the individual’s ability to make a clear case for funding
2. Alignment to the overall mission of the Faraday Institution to enhance electrochemical energy storage research, skills development, market analysis, and early-stage commercialisation
3. Potential for impact – what challenge will it help to solve?
4. Strength of the collaboration opportunity

The first round of five projects have been completed, delivering tangible impact. Click here to find out how.

For any questions relating to the Faraday Institution Early Career Collaboration Award, please email [email protected]