[Academic] FW: National Physical Laboratory (NPL): New Call for EPSRC ICASE proposals

[Catherine Cheshire]

Message sent on behalf of Michael Strain


Dear all,

EPSRC and NPL have launched this year's process for iCASE PhD studentship proposals.  Please see the details below.  If you are planning on submitting an application, could you please let me know for departmental information.

Best regards,

Michael

National Physical Laboratory (NPL): New Call for EPSRC ICASE proposals



We are pleased to announce that the EPSRC has this year allocated eight ICASE studentships to NPL for collaborative projects starting between October 2024 and October 2025. This year, the EPSRC will contribute £98,000 for each studentship and the industrial top-up contribution will now be £42,000 (total value of the studentship £140k).



Following on from the success of last year's competition, NPL have invited the University of Strathclyde, as one of its Strategic Partners, to submit up to 3 proposals directly to the NPL selection panel as part of this year's competition (selection 'Route A').  This is in addition to any proposals that are submitted via NPL's internal route (selection 'Route B').



NPL Scientists have been invited to identify suitable partners in HEIs, and industry, to work with to develop a 1-page proposal (see attached).  Please note that NPL approval by the appropriate Department Head of Science (DHoS) and the Challenge Head is mandatory - this should be managed by the NPL co-applicant. Strathclyde-based supervisors should now connect with their NPL colleagues, or with University Liaison Manager Linden Fradet (linden.fradet at npl.co.uk<file:///C:/Users/ciara/Downloads/linden.fradet@npl.co.uk>), who will identify a suitable NPL collaborator(s)/co-applicant to develop a proposal.



Deputy Associate Principal, Research & Knowledge Exchange, Professor Paul McKenna, and the PGR Funding Team, RKES, will coordinate the selection of the Strathclyde Strategic Partner top 3 nominated proposals in collaboration with an internal panel, including the Vice-Deans (Research), Professors Luke Chamberlain and Campbell Booth, alongside additional key assessors.  This is the 'Route A' selection process available to Strategic Partner co-applicants.

Any Strathclyde academic considering an application should explore the potential for a matched studentship; in particular, external collaborations and contributions should be sought as a route to matching studentships.  Additionally, the relevant Vice-Dean (Research) should also be engaged to explore the potential for any matching studentship contribution.



In parallel to the Strategic Partner selection process ('Route A'), each DHoS will run a local NPL-based competition working with the scientists in their respective areas; this is selection process 'Route B'.  The nominated proposals (3 maximum) from each of the two NPL Strategic Partners (Strathclyde and Surrey) will be submitted along with up to 3 proposals per NPL department, selected from 'Route B', all of which will be evaluated by the NPL iCASE Assessment Panel.  As in previous years, engagement with potential industrial partners is encouraged.

It is important to note that in this year's call, funding will be allocated to projects which target critical skills gaps that address resource needs for the medium- to long-term, in addition to addressing NPL's key research themes as follows:



·       Prosperity

·       Security and Resilience

·       Environment

·       Health

The projects proposed should align with the NPL Research Roadmaps<https://www.npl.co.uk/metrology-research-roadmap> and the above themes; a more detailed breakdown of individual areas is provided below and it is strongly advised that applicants consult the Challenge Heads to seek more detail on specific priorities within the themes.

All proposals should be developed using the attached template. The proposals put forward will be ultimately submitted to an NPL-based selection panel for evaluation. The panel will score all proposals against the following criteria:



Criterion

Max score

Science and Engineering Quality

60

Impact and Strategic Alignment

15

Third Party Support

15

Addresses a Critical Skills Gap

10



The NPL ICASE Assessment Panel, will be comprised of NPL senior scientists and be chaired by Richard Burguete (PGI Director) and will allocate the eight ICASE awards from the proposals put forward.  As indicated above, scoring is biased towards 'Science and Engineering Quality'. The addition of the criterion to address a critical skills gap has been included to ensure a more purposeful use of these studentships to develop a cadre of doctoral researchers that will be in high demand and enable NPL and its collaborators to sustain its high-quality research output and reduce the risk of insufficient researcher resources.  Industrial and Academic leverage ('Third Party Support') has again been included as selection criterion as the PGI is keen to develop a model where Research Council funded PhDs are additionally supported by industry and university partners.

More details, including the application form, are attached.  Please note that the Linden Fradet, NPL's University Liaison Manager based at Strathclyde (linden.fradet at npl.co.uk<mailto:linden.fradet at npl.co.uk>) can respond to any questions or queries on this year's call.

To meet the EPSRC submission deadline at the end of November 2023, the NPL ICASE competition timetable is as follows:



Competition Formal Launch

Tuesday, 5th September

Drop-in sessions (Teams)

Tuesday, 12th September, 11.00 am

Click here to join meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTU2OGYwNGQtYzEyMC00YzE4LTlkNDYtNjk4OWJjNGFmZWRm%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22601e5460-b1bf-49c0-bd2d-e76ffc186a8d%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e52e1b27-f0fc-4af6-af8a-087e21563a11%22%7d>

Thursday, 21st September, 11.00 am

Click here to join meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_N2MzNzY1NDgtNDdlYy00ZWEzLWEyODktZmIyY2ZiMDRiNjFk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22601e5460-b1bf-49c0-bd2d-e76ffc186a8d%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e52e1b27-f0fc-4af6-af8a-087e21563a11%22%7d>

Deadline for ALL NPL Applicants to confirm to the PGI PGI at npl.co.uk<mailto:PGI at npl.co.uk> (by email) their proposal has DHoS and Challenge Head approval

Monday, 16th October

Deadline for proposal submissions to Strategic Partner selection panel (Route A - Strathclyde co-applicant to submit to rkes-pgrfunding at strath.ac.uk<mailto:rkes-pgrfunding at strath.ac.uk> )  OR

Friday, 20th October

Deadline for proposal submissions to NPL's Departmental Heads of Science (NPL Internal) (Route B - NPL co-applicant to submit to relevant DHoS)

Friday, 20th October

Deadline for Department Heads of Science & Strategic Partners shortlisted proposals submitted to PGI

Friday, 27th October

Announcement of allocation decision

Thursday, 9th November

Drop-in session for successful candidates (Teams)

Tuesday, 14th November, 11.00 am

All internal documentation finalised for submission to EPSRC

Wednesday, 22nd November

Electronic Sign-up Forms and letters of support uploaded to EPSRC portal

Friday, 24th November



Best wishes,



Shona



On behalf of Paul McKenna (Deputy Associate Principal)





Shona Cameron

PGR Officer

PGR Funding Team

Research & Knowledge Exchange Services

University of Strathclyde

Graham Hills Building Level 3

50 George Street

GLASGOW

G1 1QE



Tel: 0141 548 5993

Email: shona.cameron at strath.ac.uk<mailto:shona.cameron at strath.ac.uk>

PGR Funding Team Email: rkes-pgrfunding at strath.ac.uk<mailto:rkes-pgrfunding at strath.ac.uk>

PGR Studentship System<http://pgrapps.strath.ac.uk/>

Research & Knowledge Exchange Services<https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/researchknowledgeexchangeservices/>

RKES Portal<http://strath.sharepoint.com/sites/rkes>



Due to my current work pattern, you may receive an email from me out with normal working hours. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no expectation that you will reply to me outside of your agreed working hours.



FOR THE CORONAVIRUS, FAQs AND INFORMATION, FROM THE UNIVERSITY:

https://www.strath.ac.uk/coronavirus/





[University of Strathclyde]


THE QUEEN'S ANNIVERSARY PRIZES
2019 & 2021
For Higher and Further Education


UNIVERSITY OF THE YEAR
2012 & 2019
Times Higher Education


SCOTTISH UNIVERSITY OF THE YEAR
2020
The Times & The Sunday Times


____________________________________


The University of Strathclyde is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, number SC015263.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phys.strath.ac.uk/pipermail/academic/attachments/20230822/a2a3837a/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: NPL - EPSRC ICASE 202425_Blank Proposal Form.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 19190 bytes
Desc: NPL - EPSRC ICASE 202425_Blank Proposal Form.docx
URL: <http://phys.strath.ac.uk/pipermail/academic/attachments/20230822/a2a3837a/attachment-0001.docx>