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Seminar to stimulate sustainable proposals

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 9, 2002

A seminar in Manchester on 20th November will launch parallel calls for proposals for the Sustainable Technologies Initiative and the ESRC Sustainable Technologies Programme.

BBSRC, DEFRA, DTI, ESRC and EPSRC will be hosting a seminar in Manchester on 20th November to launch parallel calls for proposals for the Sustainable Technologies Initiative (STI) and the ESRC Sustainable Technologies Programme (STP).

The STI provides over GBP 20 million of government funding over five years for collaborative projects to improve the sustainability of UK business.

Most importantly, to achieve substantial improvements in the efficiency of material resource use the STI is looking for real novelty and innovation; we would like to see new technologies and exciting uses of existing technologies.

We also want to encourage better uptake of sustainable design, production and consumption, perhaps through novel service concepts.

The key themes of the programme are: step changes (four- to tenfold improvements) in the efficient use of resources in processes and products; reduced hazardous material content or output of products and processes; new products and processes and service concepts which increase the useable life of products; research on non-food uses of crops aiming to promote the use of agricultural crop products in industry; and associated sustainability research.

The ESRC STP is an integral part of the STI and funds research on the social and economic processes that shape, foster or inhibit more sustainable technologies.

Technologies offer the means of radically improving resource productivity and reducing the environmental harm of economic activity, but the development and use of sustainable technologies will depend on the attitudes, incentives and capabilities of people and organisations.

Key themes for STP under this call are: innovation of radically improved, resource efficient processes and products; information and communication technologies, the knowledge economy and sustainability; technology and social inclusion; uncertainty, risk and trust; and policy instruments and frameworks.

In this call for the ESRC programme, major emphasis will be placed on attracting proposals from teams seeking to do interdisciplinary research on sustainable technologies.

A new set of procedures to encourage large interdisciplinary projects will be used in this call.

The STI and STP deliver through four funding mechanisms.

Through a LINK programme, the STI sponsors help industry engage the academic community to conduct pre-competitive research and development whereby research consortia are provided with government grants covering up to 50% of their research costs.

The ESRC STP provides full funding for research grants and fellowships.

The STI also provides access to DTI grants for collaborative projects to stimulate the development and take-up of sustainable technologies by business, while EPSRC funding for industrial/academic networks is also available.

All projects should address the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social.

At the seminar in November delegates will hear from previously successful applicants, understand the scope of STI and the process by which they can apply for funds, and network with potential collaborative partners.

Members of the STI Programme Management Committee, secretariat and government sponsors will be on hand to give advice on how to submit proposals.