Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling

What the assessor looks for

• is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
• has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
• is timely given current trends, context, and needs
• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
• identifies the potential local, regional or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be
• explain how the project meets the aims of the funding opportunity including articulating the transformative potential of the proposed solution
• define the specific technological, market, or capability gap that the project will address and explain how addressing this has the potential to contribute to expansion of UK mineral production or recycling capabilities
• explain your choice of mineral, technology or capability focus and how this links to supporting growth and resilience in UK Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries. You should also explain any relevance to wider Industrial Strategy focus sectors including Clean Energy, Defence and Digital Technologies

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
• describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
• demonstrate how you will engage with stakeholders to ensure the proposed work aligns with user needs and market opportunities, and how this engagement will facilitate progression from research to innovation
• explain how your proposed work will embed responsible research, environmental sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations, and how these will guide your aims, objectives, operations and other activities such as stakeholder engagement
• explain how your team and the disciplinary approach you plan to embed (interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, or both) is appropriate to achieving your intended outcomes, and will ensure you are able to address the technical, environmental, economic and social dimensions of the challenge and that solutions are practical, adoptable and capable of delivering impact

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
• the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
• the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
• contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
• the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
• contributions to the wider research and innovation community
• contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• project staff
• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
• any equipment that will cost more than £25,000
• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
• all facilities and infrastructure costs
• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
• maximise potential outcomes and impacts

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project
• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
• formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 43KB)
• proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
• confirmation you have their agreement where required

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

What the assessor looks for

• description of the potential TR&I risks associated with the project along with the controls and mitigations that will be implemented to proportionally reduce these risks
• named contact for TR&I

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.