Circular Economy Hub Flexible Fund for Feasibility Study Proposals Now Accepting Applications

Deadline 12 July 2021

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The CE-Hub is has launched its first round of funding for Feasibility Studies. The aim of this fund is to accelerate Circular Economy research, innovation and implementation with a specific focus on the five resource flows connected with the UKRI funded National Circular Economy Centres and cross cutting enablers.

The fund will provide the wider Circular Economy community with the opportunity to undertake speculative and potentially high-impact research to accelerate innovative solutions. Proposals that consider different scales (including regional and place-based research), new collaborations between sectors and disciplines, and involve early career professionals (from academia, industry and government), will all be encouraged. Funded projects will be expected to deliver a tangible piece of work that would achieve a specific output such as early stage concept development, decision making tools and methods or demonstrator projects focussing on evidencing the transferability of Circular Economy principles across scales, disciplines and industrial sectors

With a specific focus on the five resource flows connected with the UKRI funded National Circular Economy Centres, research into specific enablers or barriers that are common to multiple centres, resource flows and / or sectors are also encouraged and could include, but are not limited to:

• Metrics and Indicators,
• Product and Service Design,
• Business Models including citizen adoption,
• Digital Technology,
• Procurement,
• Finance,
• Skills and the future of work.

The total funding available for this call is £200,000 and we want to fund as many high-quality applications as possible. Feasibility Studies will be funded to a maximum of £50,000 at full Economic Cost (fEC). Funding will be awarded at 80% fEC (total project value cannot exceed £50,000) Projects can be between 6 and 12 months in length and must be completed before the end of November 2022. Applications where a portion of the project costs are met by industry funding are also welcomed.