The Year 4/5 Renewal Process Explained

Allan Paterson explains the process that has been underway through the lockdown period to reshape the four initial research projects from March 2021.

As many of you will be aware, the Faraday Institution community is in the middle of a two-stage process to refine the four initial funded research areas for the two years from March 2021. The aim of the process is to scope a revised project in each research area that has the potential to deliver the most value to the UK economy and build the team that is best equipped to deliver it.

In April we opened an Expression of Interest (EOI) to feed applications from all interested Co-Is into the process. In the second stage of the process, in June, the Faraday Institution issued a request for a full proposal from the current project PIs, who invited the Co-Is successful in the EOI process to join the bidding consortium. The Co-Is worked with the PI to help pull together an overall cohesive programme of work and full project proposals were submitted to the Faraday Institution on 21st July. We thank everyone that contributed to that process.

In those proposals the PIs were asked to outline how the reformed projects will lead application inspired research, building on the foundations of the three years of investigation already performed, to strengthen the UK’s position in electrochemical energy storage research and make UK industry more competitive. These research projects are not intended to be ‘business as usual’ - they are to be fast paced, focused projects, delivering transformative results for UK industry. We asked that the proposals set out a two-year ambition, outlining how outputs could be commercialised, whether directly out of the projects themselves or via collaboration with industry partners.

Assessment of the overall project programme of work and full proposal will be by an independent group of international experts, with the review panel to be held in early-September 2020. There may be further reshaping of the projects following that assessment. It is our intention to make funding decisions mid-late-September, with the new grants starting on 1st March 2021.



Posted on July 9, 2020 in Uncategorized

Share the Story

About the Author

Ian Ellerington joined the Faraday Institution after six years in central government where he worked on designing and implementing innovation programmes in the energy sector. He was responsible for the government’s energy innovation programme in the Department of Energy and Climate Change and continued in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as Head of Disruptive Energy Technologies and Green Finance Innovation. Ian is an engineer who graduated from University of Cambridge with an M.Eng. in Manufacturing Engineering in 1993 and is now an experienced technical manager who has worked with small, medium and large corporates, academia and government. His early career was spent working on Gas Turbine engines with the Ministry of Defence before moving to project management at QinetiQ where he was responsible for research programme management and delivery of the large test programmes. He left QinetiQ to join Meggitt Defence Systems as UK General Manager where developed, made and operated new technical products and set up and ran a new R&D and manufacturing facility.

News Feeds / Social Media

Back to Top