Internal Strategic Projects and Engagement Fund (ISPEF) Call for Proposals

The PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity invites proposals from its existing academic partner universities for cybersecurity of devices and networks at the edge of the internet research to be undertaken jointly with user partners.

The Centre is making total funds available of up to £475k to fund 6-month projects that will create demonstrable outcomes, transforming knowledge into practice, and will likely link with existing PETRAS work to accelerate pathways to impact.

Please note that early-stage research proposals are not suitable for the scope of this call.

What are we funding?

PETRAS is seeking to fund impactful projects, developed in collaboration with user partners (new or existing), which translate their research findings into practical applications/outcomes that can be showcased as impactful evidence of PETRAS research, transforming knowledge into practice.

Examples of impact (knowledge into practice) we are looking to fund through this call include:

• Code/devices taken from the lab, TRL increased and Patent applied for;
• Demonstration of a system or methodology. Projects can build upon work undertaken in a previous or existing PETRAS-funded project, which has not undertaken demonstration activities already;
• Creation and adoption of policy options and/or advice to government departments or agencies,
• Evidence of transformability e.g., taking a scheme designed for one sector and porting to another sector, with new user partners.

Proposals must aim to evidence/validate their value and impact in a demonstrable and/or real-world environment. To achieve this, the proposed projects will need to be co-created and aligned with the needs of its user partner(s). This is important in ensuring that they can deliver concepts that are of mutual value to both parties as well as for PETRAS and other key stakeholders such as, EPSRC and UKRI.

Background

The PETRAS Centre brings together a large community of UK academic institutions and User Partners from various industrial sectors, government agencies, and NGOs (https://petras-iot.org/collaborate/), providing a collaborative platform to undertake impactful world class research and knowledge development in the IoT cybersecurity domain.

PETRAS embodies a socio-technical approach to cross-cutting challenges and particularly welcomes proposals that take a cross-disciplinary viewpoint. However, all proposals (social, technical, and socio-technical) within the remit of the Centre and this call’s scope will be considered.

How to Apply  

All applications to be completed electronically via the following submission system by 09.00 BST, 8 October 2021: https://submit.link/z3O1w.

The deadline for questions and queries is 1 October 2021.

Please ensure you have read the following guidance documents before applying:

• ISPEF Call Guidance Document
• ISPEF submission application questions
• ISPEF Frequently Asked Questions

Get in touch  

For any enquiries not covered in the FAQ document, please email: petras-proposals@ucl.ac.uk.

Sign up to the PETRAS mailing list via Mailchimp here.

Follow us on Twitter here.

If you are a public or private sector organisation interested in collaborating on a PETRAS project, please contact the Centre Team on petras@ucl.ac.uk.