
Funding opportunities
ERA skills community fund
ERA Community Fund provides up to £1,500 to enable doctoral researchers to design, develop, and deliver energy and/or net-zero-centric events.
This is a great opportunity for doctoral researchers to apply for a small grant which will look fantastic on their CVs.
The aim of the ERA Community Fund is to provide monies to enable doctoral researchers to design, develop, and deliver energy and/or net-zero-centric events that will provide skills development, knowledge acquisition, and/or help grow or consolidate the ERA Skills Network. These events must be open to all ERA partner university’s researchers, but organisers may place a cap on the number of participants. It is not envisaged that all funded events will attract students from all 8 partners but the opportunity to participate must be made available to them. To qualify for funding applicants must be a doctoral researcher at an ERA partner institution and have support from their supervisor.
Due to the success of this fund we are looking to expand its reach by enabling academics, technicians and support staff from across the ERA partnership to apply for this funding in the next round. The next round is due to open in May 2023.
Funded projects
The Midland’s Journey to Net Zero
13 June 2023, University of Nottingham
The Midland’s Journey to Net Zero Conference is ERA’s first PhD student designed, organised, and led conference funded by the ERA community fund. This in-person conference is for researchers, academics, industry representatives and professional services staff who are interested in finding out about how local communities are working towards Net Zero.
Registration will be opening soon.
2023 Birmingham Decarbonisation Summer School
24 to 28 of July 2023, UKRRIN, University of Birmingham
The Birmingham Decarbonisation Summer School is a five-day event that will bring doctoral and postdoctoral researchers together to propose a technical solution and business model for a decarbonisation challenge. Accepted applicants will be pooled into interdisciplinary teams of up to 5 members each and will compete by pitching their proposal to a judging panel by the end of the summer school. The winning team will receive a lot of kudos and a £500 prize to be split amongst the team members (up to £100 per person, this may take the form of vouchers).
The summer school will focus this year on decarbonising a railway service in the UK. We are partnering with Ricardo plc, a leading engineering consultancy, who will present the challenge and put you in the seat of a consultant for the week. There will be plenty of technical talks by academics and industry experts to better familiarise attendees with the challenges facing railway decarbonisation. Lastly, a social programme and team building activities are planned to ensure a fun week for all!
Call for applications are now open, further information available here
Access up to £1,500 funds to design, develop, and deliver your events
Key dates
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Next funding rounds
Round 2 opens:
April 2023
Round 2 deadline
2nd July 2023
Guidance notes
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