The Hub for Hydrogen Integration for Accelerated Energy Transitions (HI-ACT) is a £12.5 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded research hub led by the University of Birmingham that aims to drive forward the design of a hydrogen integration plan for the UK’s energy system to help progress the UK’s transition to net-zero.

Applications are being accepted for the following three calls offered by HI-ACT:

HI-ACT Flex Fund – New and Expanding Areas

The aim of the fund is to enable researchers and industry/public sector/third sector partners to co-create research on the role of hydrogen in local and regional net zero transitions. The call aims to target areas such as rural locations and island communities, rather than large industrial clusters that have been investigated via other research grants. HI-ACT welcomes hyper-local community-level proposals, as well as proposals covering larger geographies of towns and (small) cities.

Proposals to support activities should be developed between organisations in the region and the lead academic organisation to deliver impact on the role of hydrogen in local and regional net-zero energy transitions. This can include engineering, science and social science research, consistent with the scope of HI-ACT.

Research grants are open to UK higher education institutions, research council institutes, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-approved independent research organisations and eligible public sector research establishments. Applicants can check if their institution is eligible for funding via UKRI.

The total funding available for projects is £200,000 and applicants are invited to apply for up to £50,000 pa per project at 100% full economic cost (FEC). Funding will be issued at 80% FEC.

HI-ACT Flexible Funding Secondment Call

This call is available for HI-ACT researchers or industry partners to co-create research to help accelerate research into systems integration of hydrogen for the future net-zero energy transition. Academic researchers (internal) and partners (external) can undertake secondments of up to three months at partner institutions (both academic and non-academic) within the consortium.

Applicants will introduce new skills, technology, disciplines, or partners to the HI-ACT Hub consortium. The secondments will need to develop the skills of researchers working in this domain and work towards a specific co-created output such as a report, publication, model, or event.

The home organisation can apply for a grant (80% FEC) to support a secondee for up to three months for a secondee, plus suitable travel and subsistence costs (unless the secondee is non-academic, in which case the host organisation should lead the application) at 100% FEC. HI-ACT will fund 80% of the eligible FEC. Individual flexible fund applications should generally request no more than £15,000 (100% FEC).

HI-ACT Flexible Funding Global Impact Fund

This fund enables the HI-ACT community to attend events and undertake international outreach activities that will raise HI-ACT’s global profile across the international academic, industry and policy community. The fund is designed to foster global collaboration, develop skills, and establish enduring partnerships that accelerate research into the integration of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels for a sustainable, net-zero energy transition.

Funding can support international visits, hosting of researchers, or short-term collaborations of up to two weeks. Projects should focus on joint research, short research collaborations, skills development, and outputs such as joint papers that contribute to HI-ACT’s mission.

Researchers within the HI-ACT consortium and external collaborators may apply. Up to a maximum of £15,000 is available per applicant at 80% FEC.

Applications for the Secondments and Global Impact Funds are also accepted on a rolling basis so can be submitted at any time. However, these rolling calls may be closed at any time depending on the number of successful candidates.