Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling 2027 Grant

About this grant

This UKRI Funding Finder opportunity, delivered by NERC with Innovate UK, AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC and ESRC as co-funders, provides pump-priming grants for the applied strategic research pillar of the Critical Minerals: From Research to Industry (CMR2i) programme, a £20 million investment within the UKRI Advanced Manufacturing priority programme. It aims to fund small, ambitious projects that explore, test and validate disruptive solutions for the extraction, processing, recovery, reprocessing, recycling and re-mining of critical and growth minerals, with explicit relevance to UK Advanced Manufacturing frontier industries and wider Industrial Strategy sectors such as Clean Energy, Defence and Digital Technologies. The problem addressed is the geographic concentration and supply risk of critical and growth mineral supply chains, which create vulnerabilities to geopolitical disruption and market instability. The programme seeks to strengthen UK resilience, sustainability and security of supply by developing domestic capability, onshoring key value chain stages, and exploiting emerging deposits, by-products, waste streams and legacy mine sites. Projects must also situate their research within commercial, regulatory, environmental and socio-economic landscapes, minimising environmental harm and benefiting communities. Phase one funds technical feasibility and proof-of-concept work, assessment of transformative potential and viability, and a credible pathway to further development together with robust follow-on proposals. Up to six phase one grants are expected. Projects are expected to engage industrial and other stakeholders as project partners and to work with Innovate UK and other CMR2i-funded projects. Successful projects may be eligible for a phase two award of up to £1.6 million FEC over 24 months, with up to three phase two projects anticipated and awards expected from April 2028. Funded activities cover research staff and directly incurred costs within a 12-month project; PhD studentships, NERC aircraft or ship time, and equipment items over £25,000 are not funded. A mandatory Notification of Intent precedes the full application, which is submitted via the UKRI Funding Service.

Eligibility

Applicants must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding, under standard eligibility rules. The opportunity is open to research groups and individuals, including individuals at any career stage subject to NERC eligibility criteria. Interdisciplinary work and collaboration with other UK organisations is encouraged. An individual may be involved in no more than two applications to this opportunity, and only one as project lead. A project co-lead (international) may be based at a Norwegian institution under the UKRI and Research Council of Norway Money Follows Cooperation agreement. Other international collaborators and UK partners not at approved organisations must be included as project partners, who fund their own involvement, with UKRI covering only minor incidental expenses. Uninvited resubmissions are not accepted. A mandatory Notification of Intent by 1 December 2026 is required, and applications without a prior NoI will be rejected.

How it's scored

The page indicates that assessment considers the technical feasibility and proof-of-concept evidence, the transformative potential and viability of the solution, the credible pathway to further development and deployment, alignment with UK critical and growth mineral supply chains and Advanced Manufacturing Industrial Strategy priorities, a clear stakeholder engagement and industry partnership plan, and an appropriately interdisciplinary team and approach. Responsible research and Trusted Research and Innovation risks are also to be considered. Specific scoring weightings and panel composition details are not provided in the extracted text; the NoI information is not assessed but is used for panel planning.

Key requirements

• ✓Applicant must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding
• ✓Research must focus on disruptive and transformative solutions for critical mineral production, extraction, processing, recovery, recycling or re-mining
• ✓Funding is for pump-priming research to explore, test and validate solutions

Frequently asked questions

How much funding does Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) offer?

Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling offers up to £305K.

When is the Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling deadline?

Applications close 7 Jan 2027 16:00.

Who can apply for Advancing solutions for critical mineral production and recycling?

Eligibility covers organisations in GB; university, research-institution. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Circular economy funding supports reuse, repair, remanufacturing, product redesign and secondary materials markets. Grants tend to back pilots with businesses and local authorities, while tenders buy collection, sorting and recovery services. Applicants are usually asked to show the material flows involved and who will buy the recovered output.