Our Funded Research Projects

We are pleased to announce that the majority of our Flexible Fund allocation has been awarded, across 10 Knowledge Exchange Placements, 6 Feasibility Studies and 2 Demonstrators. As these placements and research projects progress, we will be sharing further updates 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 three of our active 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. Hear from Sonnich and Rachel below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busloads of Value

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

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.

Hear from Vijay and Colin below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.