Demonstrators

Funding call launching early February 2026. Please follow us on LinkedIn for the latest information.

Join our launch webinar on 28 January here: Announcing New Funding Opportunities from the DICE Network+ Tickets, Wed 28 Jan 2026 at 16:00

Approach: 

Through demonstrators, research teams have opportunity to further develop their feasibility knowledge into a minimum viable product or service by developing a demonstrator model. This can help make outcomes of research attractive to the market, accelerating the adoption of a digitally enabled circular economy.

Areas of focus: 

Applications should include or be led by an early career academic and should involve at least one industrial, third sector or government partner to ensure real world application and impact.​

The DICE Network+ is simultaneously addressing two interrelated challenge areas. 

Embed: Embedding sustainability and circularity within the design of digital and communication technologies.

Enable: Realising the potential of the digital revolution, including advances in digital processes, to enable a circular economy.

Application of funds:  

The sum awarded can include both directly incurred and directly allocated costs, covering investigator/ researcher time, travel and subsistence appropriate to delivery of the project, and consumables.  

The total fund available per project is £50,000 (at 80% FEC).

The duration of each individual project can be between 6 and 9 months from date of award. 

As the grant holder, University of Exeter is responsible for allocating funding to successful proposals and will reimburse the lead institution at 80% fEC. The lead institution must be willing to provide the remaining 20% fEC. Applications where a portion of the project costs are met by industry funding are also welcomed.