The N8 Research Partnership, the partnership representing the eight most research-intensive universities in the North of England, will shortly be launching a new community building fund to drive ambitious collaborations in support of 2050 net zero targets.
The theme of the new Collabor8 Fund is ‘The Road to 2050’. We’re looking for new and emerging groups of researchers from all disciplines with the vision and enthusiasm to work together across the N8. They will drive vibrant, diverse and exciting communities with new perspectives on meeting the urgent need to transition to a net zero world. These perspectives will encompass not just ways to deliver significant and rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions but also the broader changes required across all aspects of society.
Teams that receive funding will explore the potential for multi-institutional collaboration in areas that play to the distinctive strengths of the N8 universities and where the scale and complexity of the challenge requires an ambitious, pan-university approach. They will be supported in their community building activities with a budget for the team to draw on and access to best-in-class expertise on research collaboration, including a collaboration masterclass.
The call will be open to N8 researchers from all disciplines. Applications for multidisciplinary communities that embrace a range of perspectives are particularly encouraged, spanning STEM, social sciences, the arts and humanities. N8 is committed to building inclusive communities and the involvement of early career researchers (including PhD students and postgraduate researchers), non-academic staff and applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds is strongly encouraged.
The call for applications will open on 10 January 2022 and close in mid-March. Awards will be made in two stages:
- First stage awards – worth £5,000 over six months – will enable initial community building and are expected to start by the end of May 2022.
- Second stage awards – worth £25,000 over 18 months – will support the most promising communities from the first stage to develop their research agendas further and to plan for longer term sustainability and will start in early 2023.
For further details and to find out how to apply, please visit: https://www.n8research.org.uk/collabor8-fund