EPSRC Reimagining Circularity: outline stage

EPSRC invite you to develop a NetworkPlus which builds new capacity, strengthens community and enhances research to innovation capabilities focused on the circular economy in built environment, textiles or data and metrics. You must imaginatively use the ‘Plus’ element to accelerate impact in your chosen area. You must be at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding.

Teams must implement an inter or transdisciplinary approach, or both, including industrial partners. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £5.41 million. EPSRC will fund 80% FEC for up to 36 months.

Who is eligible to apply

EPSRC NetworkPlus grants are open to:

  • UK higher education institutions
  • research council institutes
  • UKRI-approved independent research organisations
  • eligible public sector research establishments
  • NHS bodies with research capacity

Any individual can only appear on one application as project lead and only two projects in total. For example, one as project lead and one as co-lead or two as co-lead.

Your application should demonstrate that the team combines different areas of expertise and experience as appropriate to lead a NetworkPlus and achieve the stated outcomes, including community engagement, leadership and driving impact.

To foster innovative interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research, or both, and cross-disciplinary interactions for researchers involved, we are looking for teams consisting of two or more researchers representing two or more areas of expertise to apply, and to include industrial partners.

We also expect networks to champion and engage with early and mid-career individuals. What we consider as early to mid-career is broad. It can span from those recently appointed to their first permanent academic position to those who hold a modest portfolio of grants and are looking to expand their network.

If early and mid-career individuals will be named in your leadership team on application, please mention this in the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ section of the application form on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service. Provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate they fall in these career stages. We will not consider years post-PhD or job title as a marker of career progression. We recognise alternative career paths and value the diversity of career experiences.

We welcome the inclusion of senior professional enabling staff, such as professional research and investment strategy managers, as project co-leads. If you decide to include such roles, we would expect them to be represented as an integral part of the leadership team and so designated as project co-leads in your application.

Applications must be within majority EPSRC remit and must be within the scope of this funding opportunity. We will reject applications deemed to have a majority remit within another UKRI council. We reserve the right to make such remit decisions without reference to expert review.

Who is not eligible to apply

Holders of postdoctoral level fellowships are not eligible to apply for an EPSRC grant.

Individuals based in non-UK countries can be involved in the grant as visiting researchers, project partners, or members of advisory boards. However, they are not eligible to be project leads or co-leads, with the exception of individuals based at Norwegian institutions, who are eligible to be co-leads.

Businesses are not eligible applicant organisations as part of this funding opportunity. However, they are expected to be listed as project partners.

International researchers

As EPSRC is a lead funder for this opportunity, international researchers can only apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’ as part of an application making use of the UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement or the UKRI-IIASA agreement.

You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.

Aim and context

The industrialised world continues to produce and consume unsustainable levels of resources. Extending the life of existing structures, products, components and materials, as well as prioritising approaches which maximise use, much more effectively reduces environmental impacts and increases the sustainability of the product supply systems.

To deliver a more resilient and regenerative economy, we need to consider new and innovative approaches, as well as revisit or refine current approaches and methodologies (or both) to be able to move towards a sustainable circular economy in a positive way.

This is a joint funding opportunity between Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It aims to fund three NetworkPlus investments to build collaboration and knowledge exchange across research and stakeholder communities within three specific challenge areas, namely built environment, data and metrics, and textiles. The Plus aspect of the networks is a strong component of the fund and is explained in more detail within the Flexible fund and Expectations of a NetworkPlus sections.

This will:

  • create visible, collaborative, innovative and interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary UK circular economy communities
  • foster an inclusive research environment that establishes a safe space to test new ways of working where failure is permitted and can be exploited to inform alternative approaches
  • bring focus and drive progress to the challenge areas, identify research challenges, opportunities and priorities
  • improve knowledge exchange
  • support initial testing of early-stage ideas in real world settings (feasibility studies) via demonstrators
  • kick-start new collaborations between sectors, including via seed-corn funding
  • grow the areas of circular economy research for the benefit of the UK
  • support the translation of circularity research via an allocation of the flexible funds
  • lower barriers for engagement of non-academic stakeholders
  • facilitate impact and advance circular economy policy
  • grow capacity for and dissemination of good practice in circular economy. For example, responsible research innovation, trusted research and innovation, ethics, research culture, and equality, diversity and inclusion
  • provide early-stage support for progressing research outputs towards the next stages in creation of real-world innovation and impact

The networks will lead to step changes in circular solutions which maximise value and are currently under-explored, such as retrofit, repurpose, refurbish, repair, and synthesise these solutions together with others such as reuse. We have defined these terms for this funding opportunity. Please see the Additional information section for more information.

Two NetworkPlus investments will be aligned with two of the UK government circular economy (CE) priority sectors (built environment, and textiles). The third will be a cross-cutting network focused on data and metrics, providing early-stage support for development and testing of metrics, indicators and data frameworks to enable and evaluate circular economy progress.

Each Network is expected to imaginatively deliver a ‘Plus’ element comprising of three streams, namely seed-corn funding, demonstrators/feasibility studies, and research to innovation or translational research, delivered through management of a flexible fund.

We expect the Networks to drive progress, support high quality collaborative research and establish themselves as leaders in these areas. Networks should do this by implementing a collaborative and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach (or both). They must bring together diverse communities spanning academia, industry, policy, and others with expertise in related areas, such as behavioural science, innovation and circular business models, from across the UK. The inclusion of industrial partners is mandatory and a crucial aspect of the network.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to form and establish long-lasting partnerships in local governance/with individuals in policy, and with third sector community groups.

We expect you to embrace good practices of team research and value creation. Specifically, that you value a range of contributions from across the research and innovation community ensuring all necessary disciplines, skills, levels of experience and career pathways are brought together to address specific research opportunities.

Collectively and longer term, this will lead to the development of a circular economy in the textiles and built environment sectors and bring together research and innovation communities.

The funding should be used to develop capacity, capability and collaboration systematically to support initiatives within the challenge area themes. Through the flexible funds associated with the NetworkPlus there should be a focus on gaps in research to innovation or translational research in underexplored topic areas.

Within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has played a significant role in promoting circular economy research, for example the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme, the recent EPSRC-Defra funding opportunities focused on advanced recycling, and circular economy critical mass programmes.

An opportunity focused on the circular solutions that maximise value and extend life of structures, products, components and materials, will directly deliver against EPSRC priorities and the UK government’s long term environment targets. For example, net zero and eliminating avoidable waste by 2050, and the upcoming circular economy strategy to deliver whole systems solutions to reduce resource use and pollution and deliver a sustainable low carbon future.

Scope

To date, most research enhancing circularity within our linear system has been focused solely on recycling of materials and products. Despite being a good first step, these measures can be resource-intensive. They risk locking the UK into unsustainable patterns of overproduction, excessive consumption and resource scarcity, causing negative environmental, social, and economic consequences.

The networks and flexible funding opportunities should focus on circular solutions which maximise value and extend life, such as repair and system redesign. It is understood that research can, and is encouraged to, reach many areas across the entire value chain from extraction to before the end of life. This will collectively deliver a more resilient and regenerative economy.

Within the networks, we expect proactive engagement with identified stakeholders to promote better understanding of circular economy.

Successful applications should demonstrate pathways for lasting legacy beyond the duration of the award through partnerships and engagement strategies.

Challenge areas

The government is committed to reducing the negative impact of resources, reducing waste, and improving social outcomes by transitioning towards a circular economy. To support the government in achieving this goal, a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts from across government, industry, academia and civil society was convened to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The strategy will initially focus on six sectors: agri-food, built environment, chemicals and plastics, electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, and transport.

Duration

The duration of this award is a maximum of 36 months.

Projects must not start before 1 May 2027.

Funding available

The 100% FEC of your project can be up to £5,410,000.

We will fund 80% of the FEC (£4,320,000).

 

Deadline: 15 January 2026 4:00pm UK time

For more information and to apply visit https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/reimagining-circularity-outline-stage/?mc_cid=e949c886dd&mc_eid=47f78f7490