The Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) was established in July 2023 with £15 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to deliver research for an affordable and secure low-energy future. EDRC consortia is made up of 13 universities across the UK and is led by the Universities of Sussex and Birmingham.

EDRC operates a flexible fund to drive interdisciplinary research, nurture talent, and accelerate impact in energy demand. The fund is intended to be an agile research programme that adapts over time, providing responses to changing policy and adding value with additional skills, datasets, networking, impact activities, building capacity and ensuring EDRC legacy. The aim is to support research that identifies evidence-based energy demand reductions for a sustainable and more equitable future, with a particular ambition to encourage new inter- and multi-disciplinary collaborations and to support the development of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in this area.

The EDRC Flexible Fund consists of six sub-funds, each with specific objectives and budgets. Three sub-funds are available to promote diverse projects, foster collaborations, and respond to emerging energy research needs. These Flexible Funds are open to EDRC team members and new applicants outside the existing consortium:

• EDRC Rapid Projects Fund, for short, responsive research projects – maximum of £50,000 per project.
• EDRC Early Career Fund, supporting Early Career Researchers (ECRs) – maximum of £72,000 per project.
• EDRC International Fund, promoting international collaborations – maximum of £10,000 per project.

In addition, the following flexible funds are open to EDRC existing team members only:

• EDRC Impact Acceleration Fund – Enhancing research impact.
• EDRC Datasets and Skills Fund – Acquiring new datasets or skills.
• EDRC Mid-term Review Fund – Addressing actions from EDRC’s mid-term review. These will be specific tasks to be funded in 2026-2027.

Applications are encouraged for activities such as exploratory research, data analysis, case study research and interdisciplinary workshops. Interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, participatory, and collaborative proposals are encouraged, as are those including disciplines less represented in the energy demand research domain (eg arts, health, humanities).

All applications must be led by an individual at a UKRI-registered Research Organisation that meets UKRI eligibility rules.

(This Bulletin article was the subject of a ResearchConnect news alert.)