UKRI Infrastructure Fund Wave 4 Preliminary Activity round – SSAP deadline 10 July 2023

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing in connection with the UKRI Infrastructure Fund, specifically the Wave 4 Preliminary Activity round that is now live. The Solar System Advisory Panel (SSAP) has been requested by STFC to identify proposals from the solar system community, and submit them for consideration to this call.

  • As a reminder, Preliminary Activities are well formed concepts for a new or upgraded infrastructure or other significant change to an infrastructure, but where spend is required to further develop aspects such as the specification, delivery mechanism or costs, before a detailed business case can be developed. They should have the potential to lead onto the initiation of large capital projects following review/stage gate processes. More information is included in the attached guidance document.
  • Please note that the UKRI Infrastructure Fund does not operate through an open call for proposals. Each of the constituent Councils of UKRI, including STFC, submit a set of prioritised proposals into the process. The process within STFC to solicit these ideas from the community is through STFC advisory structures, namely the Advisory Panels.
  • In order to be considered, please review the two documents ( STFC Guidance and application form), and return the completed application form to jonathan.eastwood@imperial.ac.uk by 10 July 2023. This will give SSAP time to review all the applications and provide a ranked list of the top 3 ideas to STFC by the final deadline of 21 July 2023. As ever, I apologise for the relatively short timescale, but the complexity of the wider review process and the overall timeline means that these deadlines are fixed.
  • It is worth noting that this is intended to be an annual exercise, and so if you are not able to meet the 2023 deadlines you may wish to consider starting now a longer proposal development process targeting the 2024 opportunity. Please let me know if you fall into this category.
  • In making its assessment, SSAP will consider Community Demand for Infrastructure, Alignment with the SSAP Roadmap, and the Research Excellence of the Proposal.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have questions.

On behalf of the SSAP,
Jonathan Eastwood