Doctoral focal award: chip design and verification (Grant)

About this opportunity

Word limit: 550 In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application. We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example: opinion-formers policymakers the public the wider research community Core team List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project lead (PL) project co-lead (UK) (PcL) grant manager professional enabling staff specialist technician Only list one individual as project lead. If partner HEPs are hosting studentships to have access to the grants, they need to be listed as a project co-lead on the ‘Team’ section of the award. UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application. Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . Application questions Vision Word limit: 500 What will this training investment achieve? How will this support UK capability and capacity needs and why is it important that UKRI support this activity? What the assessors are looking for in your response Please outline: a clear vision, and objectives that will make a positive contribution to the scope of this investment opportunity and deliver high-quality doctoral education with tracking measures the positive outcomes and impact for society and the economy that the investment is aiming to deliver. Describe the strategies to deliver these, grounded in a model that results in highly skilled doctoral graduates, employable across a range of sectors and careers how your vision aligns and will positively contribute to relevant wider strategies and priorities, including national capability and capacity needs. If relevant, describe how it will provide additionality to your existing doctoral provision References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Approach Word limit: 1,500 How will the doctoral training programme, that you deliver through this grant, support your vision, and align with UKRI’s ambitions for its doctoral investments? What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your choice of training programme will: deliver your vision and any specific requirements set out in the opportunity documentation, including why this approach is necessary to achieve your expected outcomes embed delivery of UKRI’s statement of expectations for its students so that the programme provides a holistic approach that delivers high-quality doctoral research. Also, how it integrates in-depth subject knowledge, research and methodological skills, and wider skills development opportunities embed delivery of UKRI’s statement of expectations for its students so that the programme supports students to build their understanding of what conducting high-quality research involves embed delivery of UKRI’s statement of expectations for its students so that the programme prepares globally competitive researchers, able to use their skills to thrive in a range of sectors and careers. operate across interdisciplinary, collaborative and challenge-led environments effectively determine and actively manage the flexibility afforded to tailor individual student training and development References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Positive culture and environment Word limit: 750 How will you create and maintain an inclusive and supportive culture and environment for all those involved? What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your doctoral training programme will: create and maintain a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment for all students and staff involved, addressing a variety of needs and supporting good wellbeing, including relevant, specific support and training for supervisors where needed champion and embed equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for students and staff, across all aspects of the training grant, including supervision, training design and approaches, and flexible student support explain how you will undertake subsequent updates and reviews across the lifetime of the award Capability to deliver Word limit: 750 Who will lead and drive delivery of this application’s vision? What the assessors are looking for in your response Demonstrate that those leading the delivery of this award have: secured the appropriate research and pastoral capacity to support the number of studentships that you expect to deliver through this award a well-evidenced track record of the experience and skills needed to deliver the proposed vision, training programme, and scale a well-evidenced track record of contributing to a positive research culture and the wider community a well-evidenced track record of supporting the training and development of others, particularly previous involvement in delivering doctoral training successfully Partnerships and governance Word limit: 750 How will the training grant be governed, and partnerships or relationships be supported and managed, to maximise benefit and minimise risk? What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide evidence that partners are committed to: working together, with effective two-way engagement positively and constructively contributing to the delivery of the doctoral training programme and the training experiences of the students, with students clearly benefitting from these interactions Within the Partnerships and governance section, we also expect you to provide evidence that there is an established, clear and effective governance and risk management structure for the training grant award that: is appropriate for the size and complexity of the doctoral programme and ensures continuity of the programme’s capabilities supports continual improvement, monitoring, and evaluation manages the legal duties of the programme and providers supports UKRI’s expectations to create value for society in an ethical and responsible way through relevant frameworks Costs Word limit: 500 What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost? What the assessors are looking for in your response Provide a single, overall grant value for your proposal with a cost breakdown across the relevant funding headings. The overall or individual funding levels do not need to be justified where these have been mandated by UKRI. Through the cost template, indicate the total number of students that you expect your programme will support (across all funding sources). Also indicate the number of full-time equivalent studentships that either UKRI has indicated it will support or you are requesting. Outline the main uses of the following funding: Total – RTSG – research support costs Outline your approach to costing the research and training costs associated with individual studentship projects or tailored, individual student training in support of your vision and approach. Total – other costs – programme-wide initiatives Outline costs of group training and other overarching activities through the programme that will support your vision and approach. Total – staff – management costs connected to programme delivery You must not include costs standard to all doctoral studentships for example not general administration or supervision. You do not need to justify the following unless the funding opportunity has afforded you flexibility: Total – student stipend Stipend costs only, where enhancements are requested. Total – fees Tuition fee costs only, for example requests above UKRI’s standard level. You should describe any co-funder contributions to the programme’s costs. Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work: are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes maximise potential outcomes and impacts Technical scope and training programme Word limit: 1,000 How will the proposed centre deliver comprehensive doctoral training across very large-scale integration design, advanced compute architecture, and system-level capabilities? What the assessors are looking for in your response The assessors are looking for: comprehensive training in very large-scale integration design, including proficiency with electronic design automation tools and validation processes integration of modern compute architectures, hardware-software co-design, and systems-on-chip capabilities strong emphasis on the core tenets of resilience, security, and sustainability, including low-power and energy-efficient systems practical knowledge of manufacturing constraints, physical assembly, and packaging improvements clear application of these capabilities to AI hardware solutions, such as AI accelerators or distributed compute utilisation of UK strengths in optoelectronics, photonic integrated circuits, or compound semiconductors Contextual information The UK faces constraints in scaling talent and translating research capability into industrial impact. There is a shortage of advanced chip design and verification skills, alongside limited capacity to train interdisciplinary researchers at the intersection of hardware and AI systems. To support your response, you can include examples of technology-agnostic problem statements that students might tackle, such as enabling AI workloads in low-power data centres. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. References may be included within this section. In