The Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium of Nanotechnologies, based at the University of Southampton, offers awards of up to £50k, via open competitive calls, to support Doctoral scholars. 

Applications, which should be clearly collaborative, should be submitted online by academic supervisors, who if successful will have one year to recruit a student. Applications by potential students will not be considered.

ICoN will fund proposals up to £50,000 (GBP), with the requirement that the successful applications secure matched levels of funding.

The Doctoral studentships will be awarded on the basis of excellence, impact and fit to the charitable aims of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and themes in the Foundation’s Foresight Review of Nanotechnology (2014). 

ICoN’s approach offers a unique model for creating impact by enabling an efficient and effective knowledge transfer internationally, a step change in interdisciplinary research, beyond geographical, institutional and resource boundaries. Our members will participate in relevant workshops and knowledge-exchange meetings as well as undertaking collaborative activities with complementary international groups. ICoN’s greatest outcome will be this nurturing of a new generation of interdisciplinary engineers, who will undoubtedly be valuable assets for both academia and industry.

Eligible expenditure

All awards will be made in GBP, with staged payments subject to evidence of matched funding and the receipt of satisfactory annual reports.

Examples of acceptable matched funds are tuition fees, stipend, access to relevant facilities with evidence of how this cost is derived.

Please note that institutional overheads, large items of equipment, supervisor time and intellectual property (IP) expenses will not be considered and cannot be used as matched funding.

Each successful applicant will be required to submit a draft budget and money will be drawn down against expenditure through their institutional research office (or equivalent). It is a requirement that the lead institution is a degree awarding body and that an authorized signatory of the lead institution signs the contract accepting the grant. 

Application Process

Potential supervisors should complete the online application form clearly and concisely, remembering the review panel may not necessarily be experts in the specific area of the proposed project. Please ensure that all sections are completed and that you do not exceed the stated character limits.