Our Funded Research Projects

To date, the DICE N+ has funded nine innovative research projects, three feasibility studies and six Knowledge Exchange Placements. See round A funding announcement press release here.

If you’d like to engage with any of the teams, please reach out to them directly or contact us for an introduction.

Read more about our feasibility studies below.

SurplusMap

Led by Dr Sonnich Sonnichsen from Nottingham Trent University and Rachel Shairp of ReLondon.

The study will assess technical options, data governance, and participation incentives.

Its goal is to prepare for a scalable pilot that transforms food surplus into value, reduces system inefficiencies, and supports a more circular economy in London.

The Nottingham Trent University has partnered with ReLondon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busloads of Value

Led by Dr Jay Lin and Dimitrios Pappas from Queen’s University Belfast.

Two Core Contributions:

Minimal Viable Battery Passport

Operator-ready, proportionate, contract-linked:

  • Only fields that change decisions
  • Attribute → clause → governance rule

TL-BMC as Contract Design Tool

Two contractable archetypes:

  • Resource Security (rights, take-back, verified routing)
  • Circular Local Value (second-life storage, shared value)

Project Structure

WP1: Synthesis and passport co-design
WP2: Archetypes and viability conditions
WP3: Contract-ready blueprint and clause library

 

 

Robotic and AI-Enabled Sensing for Timber Reuse

Led by Dr Vijay Pawar & Dr Colin Rose from UCL.

The team address a gap in open-access datasets to stimulate SME engagement and widen research collaboration.

In the future, combining Robotics, AI and circular design principles will create a digital infrastructure enabling new approaches to value generation that transform waste into trusted, low-carbon materials

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowledge exchange placements

The DICE N+ has funded six knowledge exchange placements covering a wide range of topics, including battery traceability through Digital Product Passports, machine‑learning approaches to predicting item desirability, and the application of DPPs from electric batteries to endoscopes. Other projects explore sustainable semiconductor device innovation for space‑based solar power, weaving data into digital storytelling for circularity, and a citizen‑science approach to climate resilience in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.