1. No category

NERC Update – Funding and
Opportunities
Mike Webb
Head of Marine Science
NOC Association Meeting
30th March 2015
Overview
• Current Expenditure (science, administration)
• Capital
• Strategic Research –
Highlight Topics
Strategic Programme Areas
Joint Strategic Response
• National Capability – ships
• Innovation/impact
NERC Science Budget – 2014/15
Training
8%
Innovation
6%
Enabling change
1%
National
Capability
Discovery
Science
43%
24%
NERC total science budget
in 2014/15: £289M
Strategic Programmes
18%
[excludes capital and admin.]
NERC total science budget in
current CSR: ~3% less in cash terms
[excludes capital and admin.]
NERC Marine Science expenditure
Around £75m
80
70
NERC Expenditure data
produced annually for the
UK Marine Science
Coordination Committee
60
50
Responsive mode expenditure
Expenditure
£M 40
Marine research programmes'
expenditure
Marine Centres' expenditure
Ship Operations expenditure
30
Data is incomplete (e.g.
excl. BAS and large capital).
20
10
0
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
It does though give an
indication of the trend in
Marine Science expenditure
NERC Administration Budget
100%
% real terms reduction
95%
90%
85%
85%
80%
80%
77%
75%
69%
70%
65%
60%
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
Real Terms Reduction
2013/14
Future ???
2014/15
2015/16
NERC Capital – past baseline funding
Cumulative reduction in
baseline capital over
3-years ~ £49m
NERC Capital – total funding from BIS
Discovery replacement ~£75M
incl. Marine Robotics - £13m
NERC Capital – what’s changed in last year
Last Summer, £35M baseline for 2015/16 confirmed
Confirmed budget
NERC Capital – what’s changed in last year
Last April, £225M confirmed for new polar ship
£15m TBC
NERC Capital – what’s changed in last year
Last April, £225M confirmed for new polar ship
Last summer, a £40M NERC marine autonomy
bid was prepared and presented to BIS as NERC’s
highest priority bid for large capital
Autumn Statement:
increased capital investment, rising from £600M to
£1.1BN per annum from 2016, for five years
[no mention of enhanced baseline (now subject to CSR) or
marine autonomy large capital bid]
NERC Capital – Opportunities...
NERC Call for Ideas - Strategic Science Capital
• Call opened last week, with a deadline of 12th May
• Objective to better understand community capital
priorities in the approximate range £1M-£15M
• Ideas will be used NERC to identify potential future
priorities for investment
………..
Small capital (£100k -£500k); £14.9m expenditure to
2013/14 to 2015/16
Planned next ‘small’ capital call……?????????
NERC Strategic Research
Highlight Topics (HTs)
Strategic Programme Areas (SPAs)
Joint Strategic Response
First call for ideas
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Call cut off date: 31 August 2014
150 ideas received
Ideas used for the first tranche of HT, and for the first
SPA to be developed
Summary of ideas received is online
Feedback on first call and refined guidance will be
published on NERC website
All ideas remain under consideration
Call is open, and next cut off date: TBC
First tranche of Highlight Topics
•
eDNA: a key new tool for 21st century ecology
•
Environmental pathways, impacts and fate of manufactured
nanomaterials
•
Understanding and predicting anomalous trends in surface
temperature and implications for decadal to centennial climate
behaviour
•
Integrated dynamics of natural capital systems: bringing the
natural environment into economic decision making
•
Dynamics of freshwater ecosystems within an integrated
landscape system**
** marine science out of scope
First SPA in development
‘The Changing Arctic Ocean: Implications for
Marine Biology and Biogeochemistry’
Call for Scoping Group members open till 4pm!!!
Chair of Scoping Group: Prof. David Thomas (Bangor)
2-day meeting in early May to develop science case
Science case considered by SISB in June
If recommended, the SPA would be considered for
funding by Council in mid-July
• Programme start date: 2017?; field work 2018/2019?;
budget?
•
•
•
•
•
First tranche of Joint Strategic Response
programmes
Programme
Future Climate for
Africa
Sustainable
Aquaculture
NERC Leverage
funding
£4M
£16M
£2.5M
Partners
DFID
Partner
Contribution
£16M
Spend in
FY
15/16 –
18/19
15/16 –
16/17
£3.5M plus BBSRC
£2.5M
CEFAS
£500k
Sustainable Aquaculture - phase 2:AFBI
£100k
Marine Scotland
£300k
• Proposed £6-10m NERC-BBSRC
‘Research
& Innovation
Per project
Programme’ with industry FSA
International
£1.5M
£13M
BBSRC
£10M
15/16 –
•
Supporting
pre-competitive
research
of
clear
relevance
to
Research Programme
NIFA
£3M
17/18
industry
in Agricultural
Nitrogen
(IRPAN)
More
later………
Understanding and
£5M
In kind:
Met Office
£4Mstaff costs
15/16 –
Representing
£4M plus
(8 FTE over 5
20/21
Atmospheric
years) + HPC
Convection across
Scales
Joint Strategic Response: next ‘marine’
proposal
Potential partners:
defra, DSTL, CEFAS, WWF, plus….
• Proof of concept studies using new technologies (AUVs,
sensors) to make monitoring observations more
comprehensive, efficient and spatially relevant
• Potentially combined with models and remote sensing
• Focussed on UK seas
• Budget: £4-5m(?), start date 2017(?)
• Science case to be developed over the next few months
National Capability (NC) - ships
NC funding for NOC ship and technical operations
‘flat-cashed’ for the foreseeable future….
Implications:
- increasing need to secure charter income
- potential for increased impact working (Govt./agencies)
- decrease in NERC sea days
NERC sea days
700
NERC sea days on average:
over 500 days pa
NERC days at
sea (incl.
passage days)
600
Charter days at
sea (incl.
passage days)
400
Days not in use
Projected NERC sea days in 2019/20:
around 450-days pa
300
Other (incl.
mob/demob,
recertification,
refit, training)
Reduced sea days equates to:
1-2 NERC cruises pa
200
100
/13
12
20
/12
11
20
/11
10
20
/10
09
20
/09
08
20
07
/08
06
20
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
20
00
20
99
19
98
0
19
Number of days
500
Sustainable Aquaculture - innovation phase
Partners:
Budget:
NERC (£3m?), CEFAS (£0.5m), BBSRC (£3mTBC),
and others…..
£6-10m over 5-year, starting in early 2016
NERC-BBSRC Industry Workshop held last week to engage
industry in:
• Defining the scope of an industry relevant programme
• Developing plans for research and innovation activities
Programme announcement: late 2015
Growing the Scottish
fish-farming industry
£800m turnover of Scottish fish-farming in 2012.
£79m pa growth in output thanks to NERC science:
A new environmental impact tool enables SEPA to grant more
licences at more sites for larger farms.
Millions of fish deaths avoided by satellite monitoring and early
warning of harmful floating algae – so farmers can protect fish.
From a recent RCUK impact
presentation
to BIS
Exported UK expertise
:
Smart regulation tool used in EU policy, licenced to 25 countries.
Algal monitoring service rolled out to Europe and shipping sector.
£10m a year invested by NERC in research that helps the UK
agri-food industry produce more food, sustainably.
Fish farm, Mid Yell, Shetlands
(Mike Pennington/ Wikimedia)
Thank you