The FMRI programme funds a limited set of capability building projects that are intended to strengthen the business case and Infrastructure Fund bid, and set the programme up for future success. Any funding opportunities will be published on the UKRI website.

Funded Projects

  • Hydrogen-Powered Vessel Design Study

    • Prof. Nick Owens
    • Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
    • £0.05m, 1-year
    • This project is undertaking an initial design study for a new, coastal-class research vessel with zero-carbon fuel technology. It will contribute to the decarbonization of SAMS infrastructure and inform thinking around future ship technologies.

  • Augmented Reality use for research expedition Technical Support

    • Helen Oldridge
    • National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
    • £0.10m, 1-year
    • This project is exploring the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in support of NERC’s Marine Facilities Programme of research ship expeditions. AR technologies have the potential to reduce the number of specialist engineers deployed on ships ‘just in case’, freeing space that can be used for sustainable fuels. This will inform decisions on the operation of future vessels which may utilize less energy dense fuels.

  • RRS James Cook Retention Feasibility Study

    • Kevin Williams
    • National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
    • £0.04m, 6-months
    • This project is investigating the baseline costs for the business-as-usual option in the business case required as evidence to inform the option selection. It will also allow the evaluation of the options for mitigating a capability gap through the extension of the service life of the current research vessels.

  • Concept Research Ship Costing

    • Houlder Ltd. (NERC Marine Technical Advisor)
    • £0.01m, 3-months
    • This project is determining cost estimates suitable for a strategic outline business case for building a new research ship with similar science capabilities / performance or dimensions to the RRS James Cook.