Joanne Patterson, Rachel Bray, Gerard Davies and Rebecca Ford
28 February 2023
Researchers and partners from across UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded programmes, including EnergyREV, UKERC and CREDS have been working together to build expertise to understand how to achieve Net Zero targets. In Spring 2022, EnergyREV and UKRI organised an online workshop to help distil experiences and best practice in developing and delivering interdisciplinary, collaborative Mission Focussed projects. The workshop was attended by more than 70 representatives from academia, business, government, and funding organisations. We sought to understand how and why collaborative research is valued by different stakeholders, how partnerships can be cultivated and what actions can be taken to ensure that collaborative research can help to deliver Net Zero…Now….With a bit more time and money….
The outcome of the workshop is a set of 39 recommendations that can help to support the delivery of interdisciplinary, collaborative research covering challenges in the following areas:
• Funding;
• Diversity;
• Building relationships;
• Roles and responsibilities;
• Expectations, goals and timeframes;
• Impact.
Our discussions revealed that collaborative, interdisciplinary work is desired and valued across the stakeholder audience, but challenges do remain to ensure that it can be successfully delivered. The set of recommendations provided can influence mission focussed research beyond the Net Zero arena.