EPSRC-Defra Reimagining Circularity: full stage

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Funding opportunity Funding opportunity: EPSRC-Defra Reimagining Circularity: full stage Opportunity status: Open Funders: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Co-funders: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Funding type: Grant Total fund: £8,656,000 Maximum award: £5,410,000 Publication date: 7 September 2026 Opening date: 7 September 2026 9:00am UK time Closing date: 3 November 2026 4:00pm UK time Start application Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) invite you to develop a NetworkPlus which builds new capacity, strengthens community and enhances research to innovation capabilities focused on the circular economy in data and metrics, or textiles. You must imaginatively use the ‘Plus’ element to accelerate impact in your chosen area. You must be at a UK research organisation eligible for EPSRC funding. Teams must implement an inter or transdisciplinary approach, or both, including industrial partners. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £5.41 million. We will fund 80% FEC for up to 36 months. Who can apply You can only apply for this funding opportunity if we have invited you to do so following a successful outline application. This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) individual eligibility rules apply. For full details, visit  UKRI’s eligibility page . Who is eligible to apply This is a Defra-only funded programme, delivered by EPSRC. Please note that Defra are following EPSRC eligibility rules. EPSRC NetworkPlus grants are open to: UK higher education institutions research council institutes UKRI-approved independent research organisations eligible public sector research establishments NHS bodies with research capacity Any individual can only appear on one application as project lead and only two projects in total. For example, one as project lead and one as co-lead or two as co-lead. Your application should demonstrate that the team combines different areas of expertise and experience as appropriate to lead a NetworkPlus and achieve the stated outcomes, including community engagement, leadership and driving impact. To foster innovative interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary research, or both, and cross-disciplinary interactions for researchers involved, we are looking for teams consisting of two or more researchers representing two or more areas of expertise to apply, and to include industrial partners. We also expect networks to champion and engage with early and mid-career individuals. What we consider as early to mid-career is broad. It can span from those recently appointed to their first permanent academic position to those who hold a modest portfolio of grants and are looking to expand their network. If early and mid-career individuals will be named in your leadership team on application, please mention this in the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ section of the application form on the UKRI Funding Service. Provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate they fall in these career stages. We will not consider years post-PhD or job title as a marker of career progression. We recognise alternative career paths and value the diversity of career experiences. We welcome the inclusion of senior professional enabling staff, such as professional research and investment strategy managers, as project co-leads. If you decide to include such roles, we would expect them to be represented as an integral part of the leadership team and so designated as project co-leads in your application. Applications must be within majority EPSRC remit and must be within the scope of this funding opportunity. We will reject applications deemed to have a majority remit within another UKRI council. We reserve the right to make such remit decisions without reference to expert review. Who is not eligible to apply Holders of postdoctoral level fellowships are not eligible to apply for an EPSRC grant. Individuals based in non-UK countries can be involved in the grant as visiting researchers, project partners, or members of advisory boards. However, they are not eligible to be project leads or co-leads, with the exception of individuals based at Norwegian institutions, who are eligible to be co-leads. Businesses are not eligible applicant organisations as part of this funding opportunity. However, they are expected to be listed as project partners. International researchers Defra is the lead funder for this opportunity, following EPSRC eligibility rules. International researchers can only apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’ as part of an applications making use of the  UKRI-RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement  or the UKRI-IIASA agreement. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners. Resubmissions We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI or any other funder. Find out more about  EPSRC’s resubmissions policy . Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers. We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes: career breaks support for people with caring responsibilities flexible working alternative working patterns We would like to encourage you to ensure you consider how you will support capacity building and skills development across and beyond the NetworkPlus activities. We specifically ask you to consider this when putting together your team, and planning your activities and outcomes. This includes fostering a nurturing research culture and ensuring EDI principles are integrated in all parts of the application. Find out more about  equality, diversity and inclusion at EPSRC . UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process. What we're looking for Full applications should closely match the original outline application in terms of the activities proposed and partnerships. In costing the full application, careful consideration should be given to the value for money of the proposed activities. The scope detailed at the outline stage can be found in the Additional Information section. As noted at the outline application, projects funded through this funding opportunity must be predominantly in EPSRC remit. Full applications not meeting this requirement in the judgement of EPSRC staff will be rejected without recourse to assessment stages. Demand management Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘Additional information’ section Aim The industrialised world continues to produce and consume unsustainable levels of resources. Extending the life of existing structures, products, components and materials, as well as prioritising approaches which maximise use, much more effectively reduces environmental impacts and increases the sustainability of the product supply systems. To deliver a more resilient and regenerative economy, we need to consider new and innovative approaches, as well as revisit or refine current approaches and methodologies (or both) to move towards a sustainable circular economy in a positive way. This is a funding opportunity funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It now aims to fund two NetworkPlus investments to build collaboration and knowledge exchange across research and stakeholder communities within two specific challenge areas, namely data and metrics, and textiles. The Plus aspect of the networks is a strong component of the fund and is explained in more detail within the Flexible fund and Expectations of a NetworkPlus sections. The NetworkPlus will: create visible, collaborative, innovative and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary UK circular economy communities foster an inclusive research environment that establishes a safe space to test new ways of working where failure is permitted and can be exploited to inform alternative approaches bring focus and drive progress to the challenge areas, identify research challenges, opportunities and priorities improve knowledge exchange facilitate impact and advance circular economy policy support the translation of circularity research via an allocation of the flexible funds support initial testing of early-stage ideas in real world settings (feasibility studies) via demonstrators kick-start new collaborations between sectors, including via seed-corn funding grow the areas of circular economy research for the benefit of the UK provide early-stage support for progressing research outputs towards the next stages in creation of real-world innovation and impact lower barriers for engagement of non-academic stakeholders grow capacity for and dissemination of good practice in circular economy. For example, responsible research innovation, trusted research and innovation, ethics, research culture, and equality, diversity and inclusion The networks will lead to step changes in circular solutions which maximise value and are currently under-explored, such as retrofit, repurpose, refurbish, repair, and synthesise these solutions together with others such as reuse. We have defined these terms for this funding opportunity. Please see the Additional information section for more information. NetworkPlus investments will be aligned across a range of UK government circular economy (CE) priority sectors, namely a focused investment on textiles, and second aligning with six key sectors needed to develop circular economy pathways (see scope for more details). Each Network is expected to imaginatively deliver a ‘Plus’ element comprising of three streams, namely seed-corn funding, demonstrators/feasibility studies, and research to innovation or translational research, delivered through management of a flexible fund. Through the flexible funds associated with the NetworkPlus there should be a focus on gaps in research to innovation or translational research in underexplored topic areas. We expect the Networks to drive progress, support high quality collaborative research and establish themselves as leaders in these areas. Networks should do this by implementing a collaborative and interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary approach (or both). They must bring together diverse communities spanning academia, industry, policy, and others with expertise in related areas, such as behavioural science, innovation and circular business models, from across the UK. The inclusion of industrial partners is mandatory and a crucial aspect of the network. Applicants are strongly encouraged to form and establish long-lasting partnerships in local governance/with individuals in policy, and with third sector community groups. We expect you to embrace good practices of team research and value creation. Specifically, that you value a range of contributions from across the research and innovation community ensuring all necessary disciplines, skills, levels of experience and career pathways are brought together to address specific research opportunities. Collectively and longer term, this will lead to the development of a circular economy in priority sectors and bring together research and innovation communities. Within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), EPSRC has played a significant role in promoting circular economy research, for example the National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme, the recent EPSRC-Defra funding opportunities focused on advanced recycling, and circular economy critical mass programmes. An opportunity focused on the circular solutions that maximise value and extend life of structures, products, components and materials, will directly deliver against EPSRC priorities and the UK government’s manifesto commitment to drive the transition to a circular economy, and government’s long term environment targets, for example, net zero and eliminating avoidable waste by 2050. This work will support us to deliver whole systems solutions to reduce resource use and pollution and deliver a sustainable low carbon future. Scope To date, most research enhancing circularity within our linear system has been focused solely on recycling of materials and products. Despite being a good first step, these measures can be resource-intensive. They risk locking the UK into unsustainable patterns of overproduction, excessive consumption and resource scarcity, causing negative environmental, social, and economic consequences. The networks and flexible funding opportunities should focus on circular solutions which maximise value and extend life, such as repair and system redesign. It is understood that research can, and is encouraged to reach many areas across the entire value chain from extraction to before the end of life. This will collectively deliver a more resilient and regenerative economy. Within the networks, we expect proactive engagement with identified stakeholders to promote better understanding of circular economy. Successful applications should demonstrate pathways for lasting legacy beyond the duration of the award through partnerships and engagement strategies. Challenge areas The government is committed to reducing the negative impact of resources, reducing waste, and improving social outcomes by transitioning towards a circular economy. To support the government in achieving this goal, it convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help map the transition. Government intends to publish a Circular Economy Growth Plan soon. The plan will set out opportunities to support growth in sectors right across the economy, including agri-food, built environment, chemicals and plastics, electrical and electronic equipment, textiles, and transport. By aligning with priority sectors and adopting high value circularity measures the UK can transition from a linear economy to a circular one that aims to support economic growth, deliver green jobs, promote efficient and productive use of resources, minimise negative environmental impacts and accelerate to net zero. This funding opportunity now has two challenge areas. One area aligns directly with an identified priority sector (textiles), and one is sector agnostic. This will focus on the cross-cutting challenge of data and metrics. The network challenge areas have been chosen based on analysis of past and current funding opportunities provided by UKRI and Defra to identify research areas which are underrepresented and warrant further exploration. Your application should have a primary focus on one of the proposed challenge areas. Please identify which challenge area you are applying for in your application. Textiles For the purpose of this NetworkPlus funding opportunity, we are defining textiles as encompassing the entire value chain including: clothing fibres furniture, for example (for example, carpets and underlays) household textiles (for example, towels, bedding, pillows, duvets and mattresses) specialised uniform. Those with chemical components for PPE requirements can be included technical textiles, or where it is a significant value contributor to the final product (for example, automotive) We would like to see example outcomes such as: approaches to product design and designing textiles for circularity (for example, durability and repair) reducing overall environmental impact (combined approach of reducing carbon footprint of materials or products and reduced flow of materials) development of novel advanced manufacturing techniques to produce circular textiles, or refinement of current techniques (method validation studies) evidence or pilots th

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