UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 2021 - Applicant guidance notes
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UK Intelligence Community
Postdoctoral Research
Fellowships 2021
Applicant guidance notes
Deadline 19 April 2021
© This is Engineering
Contents
Click a section below
Introduction 3
Diversity and inclusion 4
Part-time and flexible working 4
Submission deadline 4
Eligibility criteria 5
Mentoring and monitoring 6
Duration 6
How to apply 7
Completing the application form 8
Assessment process and criteria 17
Research topics 2021 18
2
Introduction
The Government Office for Science offers UK Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral
Research Fellowships to outstanding early career science or engineering researchers. These
Research Fellowships are designed to promote unclassified basic research in areas of interest
to the intelligence, security, and defence communities. The Centre for Protection of National
Infrastructure, Department for Transport, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Home
Office, and the National Cyber Security Centre are among the organisations represented in
the UK Intelligence Community for the Postdoctoral Research Fellowships.
Members of the IC identify research topics and the Research Fellows work locally with
University Research Advisors to develop and submit research proposals that align with the
topics. The research is conducted by the Research Fellows while working in partnership with
the University Research Advisor and collaborating with an advisor from the Intelligence
Community (IC Advisor). The Research Fellowships are aimed at early career researchers from
all branches of science and engineering who have up to five years postdoctoral experience.
Each application for the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships is capped at a maximum
grant of £200,000 over a 2-year period.
© This is Engineering
3
Diversity and inclusion
The Royal Academy of Engineering is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes
applications from all underrepresented groups across engineering. It is the Academy's policy
to ensure that no applicant is disadvantaged or receives less favourable treatment because
of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and
maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Part-time and
flexible working
The Academy wants to support applicants to achieve a balance between their personal and
work demands, and will consider individual requirements and part-time and other flexible
working arrangements.
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships can be held part-time, but must be the only source
of employment. The request for a part-time Research Fellowship (at no less than 50% of
full-time equivalent) must be made clear within the application. Alternatively, the Research
Fellowship can be converted from full time to part time, or from part time to full time, during
the fellowship, assuming the host institution’s HR department supports the request.
Research Fellows are entitled to maternity, paternity and adoption leave under the host
institution’s normal conditions of employment. The Academy will extend the duration of the
Research Fellowship pro-rata to take into account such periods of leave and any conversions
to part-time working. Research Fellows with caring responsibilities should liaise directly with
the host institution if they wish to apply for part-time or flexible working.
Submission deadline
There is one application round each year. The online application system for the 2021 round
will be open on 25 January 2021. The submission deadline for the 2021 round will be 4pm on
Monday 19 April 2021. Applicants will be informed of the result by July 2021.
4Eligibility criteria
1. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Requests for a shorter UK IC Postdoctoral
must be held at a UK higher education Research Fellowship are not accepted.
institution/university in a department that
8. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows will
can show it is capable of fully supporting
be employed by the host institution and
the research project and researcher.
are required to devote all their working
2. It is the responsibility of the applicant to time to the Research Fellowship. The UK
contact the host institution and gain the IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship must
formal approval from the relevant head of be the Research Fellow’s only source of
department or school before submitting employment.
an application.
9. There are no nationality and age
3. The proposed research project must restrictions for applicants. The host
address one of the research topics outlined institution is responsible for securing
at the end of this document.
all necessary work permits and related
4. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships costs for the UK IC Postdoctoral Research
are aimed at early-career researchers. Fellows.
Applicants must have a PhD, which was
10. Applicants who have applied to this
awarded no more than five years before
scheme before and were unsuccessful
the submission deadline: Monday 19 April
are eligible to reapply.
2021. This time period includes applicants’
work experience in academia or/and in 11. No security vetting is required as part
industry. A margin of up to three months of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research
more than the five-year limit is acceptable. Fellowship scheme, but by applying to this
If applicants have had maternity/paternity scheme the applicant is agreeing to be
leave or other extenuating circumstances, vetted if it becomes necessary during the
this will be taken into consideration if the research fellowship. Applicants are asked
relevant dates and details are provided in to declare any reasons why they might
the application form. not be eligible to work in this area (see
Statement of Support and Declaration in
5. PhD students are eligible to apply, but
the application form). If security vetting is
must have been awarded their PhD (or
the PhD has been unconditionally required and the Research Fellow does not
approved) before 01 August 2021 or the meet the security vetting requirement, the
offer will be withdrawn. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
award will be withdrawn.
6. The applicant must not hold a permanent
academic position before the start of the 12. Any applications that are incomplete or
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. do not adhere to the guidance will be
rejected.
7. UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
must commence between 01 October 2021
and 01 December 2021. The duration of a
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
is two years full-time, calculated on a
pro-rata basis for part-time awards.
5Mentoring
and monitoring
The scheme’s programme manager will work with each UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
to identify an Academy Fellow to be their mentor. The mentor will support and provide
independent expert advice throughout the research fellowship about research and career
development. In addition, UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows will be supplied with an
Intelligence Community Advisor (IC Advisor), who will advise the awardee and the University
Research Advisor on the research project.
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows must submit a progress report every three months
throughout the duration of the fellowship as well as an annual report at the end of each
year. The reports summarise the research accomplishments during the UK IC Postdoctoral
Research Fellowship, including publications, papers presented, conference participation,
and other aspects of the research outcomes. A template will be provided for the report.
The release of payments is dependent upon the receipt of reports by the Royal Academy of
Engineering. In addition, the Research Fellow, Academy representative and mentor will meet
annually to discuss the annual reports, identify progress being made and make plans. The
Research Fellows are responsible for arranging the annual progress report meetings with
their mentors.
The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be invited to attend the US Annual IC Academic
Research Symposium during the period of the research fellowship.
Duration
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships are for a two-year period with an evaluation
after the first year. If the project warrants a third year of research and the Research Fellow,
University Research Advisor, and IC Advisor concur, the Research Fellow is required to submit
a supplemental research proposal. The proposal should not exceed three pages and must be
emailed to the Royal Academy of Engineering no later than 1 January of the second year of
research. This submission does not replace the annual reporting requirement. The
third-year extensions will be based on the quality of the research proposed and the availability
of funding.
6How to apply
All applications must be submitted via the the number of words used will be displayed
Academy’s Grants Management System beneath the question and updated in real
(GMS) https://grants.raeng.org.uk. time.
All applicants must first register and provide Applicants can download a pdf of their
some basic log-in details to create a profile. application after submission, which is
Before completing the application form, recommend for reference. There is only one
applicants are asked to complete a Diversity application stage and those meeting the
Monitoring Form to help the Academy eligibility criteria will enter the assessment
monitor and assess its equality, diversity stage.
and inclusion policy. The information will
be treated as strictly confidential, non-
attributable and only reported when collated.
It is gathered, stored, and used in compliance
with the Academy’s Privacy Notice in line
with the General Data Protection Regulations
2018. The information will only be used for
statistical purposes with access restricted to
staff involved in processing and monitoring
the data. It will not be seen by anyone
involved in any selection processes. No
information will be published or used in any
way that identifies individuals. The Academy
will retain personal information for six years.
The application form has six sections and
should take approximately one hour to
complete, assuming you have answered the
questions offline and merely need to enter
the information, rather than compose it. To
compose the application in its entirety will
take significantly longer.
A summary of the guidance notes is
imbedded within GMS. However, the
guidance given below is more detailed and
recommended.
Many of the questions have prescribed word
limits, which are designed to keep answers
focused and give applicants an indication
of the level of detail required. In such cases
© This is Engineering
7Completing the
application form
After logging in and selecting ‘UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships’, you should be
presented with the ‘Instructions’ window. Here you will see some general instructions on how
to use the system as well as the following sections of the application form:
1. Applicant and institution details
2. Applicant profile
3. Project details
4. Resources requested
5. Statement of support and declaration
6. Marketing
At any stage in the application process you can save your work and return to it later. You can
answer the questions in any order you like, so you can freely skip some sections and return to
them later. Please read the guidance provided in this document in detail, so you know exactly
what is required in each section. You should also ensure that you have all the necessary
documentation to complete the application, such as a copy of your CV and supporting letters.
1. Applicant and institution details
Please provide your name and preferred correspondence details. You should also provide the
details of the host university, where the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship will be held
and confirm that this is the ‘lead’ organisation.
2. Applicant profile
This section requests details as to your suitability and eligibility for the Research Fellowship.
You will need to answer some general questions on your experience and upload your CV.
Q. What date was/will your PhD Certificate awarded?
Applicants must have a PhD, which was awarded no more than five years prior to the
submission deadline (19 April 2021). PhD students are eligible to apply, but must have been
awarded their PhD (or PhD has been unconditionally approved) before 01 August 2021. Please
enter the date your PhD Certificate was awarded or the date your PhD was unconditionally
approved by the university. If you have not yet received your PhD, please provide an estimate
of when it will be awarded or unconditionally approved.
Q. Extenuating circumstance (optional question)
Should your PhD Certificate have been awarded more than five years prior to the submission
deadline (19 April 2021), please provide details of the circumstances. Please cover any periods
of maternity/paternity leave, extended sick leave, national service, or other activity that you
8feel should be considered when assessing your eligibility for the UK IC Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship. The Academy’s decision on eligibility is final.
Q. Do you currently hold a permanent academic position?
Applicants must not hold a permanent academic position before the start of the Research
Fellowship.
Q. Please upload your CV
The format and content of your CV is left to your discretion, but should include a list of
publications. You may wish to indicate which publications you deem most significant and
include a link to any that are open access. You do not need to include contact details as
these are included earlier in the application form. Please also avoid personal information
(e.g. gender, date of birth and nationality) in the CV. Your CV must not exceed three pages
and should be submitted as a PDF. Any pages beyond page three will be removed prior to
review.
Q. Impact of COVID-19 (optional question)
The Academy understands that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on researchers
and their work will be varied. If you wish, please provide a summary of how the pandemic
has affected your research profile development that reviewers and panel members should
consider. Reviewers and panel members will be advised to take into consideration the
unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruptions might have had on individuals.
The impact can include, but is not limited to, the following examples: pause on experiments/
research plans, reduced ability to work due to additional caring responsibilities, delays
in publishing/submitting a key paper(s) (please note pre-prints can be included in your
publications list). You have 500 words to answer this question.
3. Project details
Q. Research topic
Please select one of the research topics relevant to your application from the drop-down list.
Q. Project title
Enter a title for your research project. This will be used in communications should your
application be successful. Please use no more than ten words and ensure that it is
understandable to a non-specialist reader.
Q. Abstract
Describe the research in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist reader. What
similar research is being/has been undertaken nationally and internationally, and how does
your project differ. You have 300 words for this section.
Q. Statement of problem
A brief outline of the basic facts of the problem, explain why the problem matters, and
pinpoint a solution as quickly and directly as possible. You have 200 words for this section.
9Q. Background and relevance to previous work
Sufficient details should be given in this discussion (1) to make clear what the research
problem is and exactly what has been accomplished; (2) to give evidence of your own
competence in the field; and (3) to show why the previous work needs to be continued. You
have 1000 words for this section.
Q. General methodology
Please provide a detailed description of the exact work to be completed. Describe the
programme of work, indicating the research to be undertaken and the milestones that can
be used to measure progress. Detail the methodology to be used in pursuit of the research
and justify this choice. What similar research is being/has been undertaken nationally and
internationally, and how does your project differ? You have 1000 words for this section.
Q. Explanation of new or unusual techniques
If you are using any techniques that are not standard in the area of research proposed, please
explain the technique and the rational for using it. You have 500 words for this section.
Q. Expected results and their significance and application
Describe what you expect to get out of the research. It should join the data analysis and
possible outcomes to the theory and questions that you have raised. Summarize the
significance of the work and proposed applications. You have 1000 words for this section.
Q. Diversity and inclusion
The Royal Academy of Engineering strives to create cultures in which everyone can thrive,
and we believe that diverse perspectives enrich our collective performance. What does
diversity and inclusion mean to you and your research, and what are you and your team doing
to address it? Consider your team, collaborators and universities, the implications on your
research design and topic and the overall contribution this will have on your success. You
have 250 words for this section.
Q. Literature citations
List the reference material referred to in your proposal. Where possible include web-links to
any open access articles, to help reviewers in locating the articles quickly. You may want to
highlight the most relevant ones. You have 1000 words for this section.
Q. Images and diagrams
Upload any images and/or diagrams related to your project that add value to your application.
You should reference them in your response to the methodology and other questions. You
can upload a single pdf document only, so collate pages if necessary and ensure you order
them in the way you wish them to be viewed.
104. Resources requested
Please see the relevant research grants office at your host institution for assistance with the
costs section. The below categories explain what costs should and should not be included
in your application. You must be able to demonstrate that the resources requested in this
application are justified and appropriate for delivering the proposed research.
Each application is capped at a maximum contribution from the Academy of £200,000
over the two-year period, at 80% of full economic costs.
4.1 Directly incurred costs
1) Staff
The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship’s aim is to support researchers at an early stage
of their research career. Salary should be at a level commensurate with skills, responsibilities,
expertise, and experience. It is expected that requested salary will be comparable to
postdoctoral researcher or early-stage lecturer salary scale points. The Academy reserves the
right to provide support at a different level if it is considered appropriate.
The Research Fellow’s salary can be requested for a period of two years full time equivalent.
Salary increments over the period of the Research Fellowship should be considered in
the costs, but possible future pay awards should not be anticipated. Please note that the
Academy does not pay inflation and inflation should not be applied to the costs. In addition,
the Academy is not able to cover the costs of the apprenticeship levy on research grants.
Salary costs do not need to be justified in the ‘Justification of costs’ section, but are expected
to be in line with the starting salaries of early-career researchers.
The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship may be held on a part-time basis (at no less than
50% of full-time equivalent) if the applicant is to be employed part time. Applicants wishing
to hold the award on a part-time basis must state the % time in the ‘Justification of costs’
section and explain why part-time working is requested. The costs table should be completed
as if it will be a two-year full-time research fellowship. This will be adjusted accordingly if the
award is offered.
Please note:
• No other staff salaries can be requested as part of a UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
• The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship must be the Research Fellow’s only source of
employment. The Research Fellows are encouraged to apply for other funding, but these
grants should not include any components that require the Research Fellow to reduce their
full-time working on the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
2) Travel and subsistence
You may request travel and subsistence costs for activities directly linked to the research
project if they are for the Research Fellow. You cannot request travel and subsistence costs for
anyone other than the Research Fellow.
Travel costs should be based on the most suitable and economical form of travel. Subsistence
costs should reflect the normal rates that apply in the host institution.
11Costs for attending national and international conferences (including two visits to the US
Annual IC Academic Research Symposium) should also be included where such attendance
will directly benefit the research project. Conferences should, as far as possible, be individually
identified in the proposal with attendance costs and fees fully justified in the ‘Justification of
costs’ section.
3) Other Costs
Other costs should be specified and justified in the ‘Justification of costs’ with details
provided in terms of their requirement for the research project. Examples include purchase
or hire of small items of equipment, computer software licences, laboratory consumables,
purchase of specialist publications, publication/printing costs, professional membership
subscription fees or training costs. Unless the need for significant computing power can be
justified, no computer should cost more than £2,000 (including VAT) and you should not
request more than one computer over the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
Please note: The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship does not provide for any single
item of equipment or upgrade to existing equipment costing more than £3,000 (including
VAT). Should any item of equipment comprise multiple separate items that are purchased
individually and then combined to make a single functioning system, then the cost of the
entire system should not exceed the £3,000 limit.
The Research Fellows are expected to make full use of any equipment, which is already
available to them at the host institution and should therefore only request funding for
equipment that is necessary and not currently available.
4.2 Directly allocated costs
1) Estates
The Research Fellows may apply for estates costs over the entire duration of the UK IC
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Please consult with your proposed host institution for
guidance as to these costs. Estates costs do not require justification in the ‘Justification
of costs’ section. Where the Research Fellow will be away from the host institution for six
months or more in total, estates costs should not be requested for that period. In such
situations, this should be confirmed in the ‘Justification of costs’ section.
2) Other directly allocated
Other directly allocated costs can be requested, calculated on the basis of estimates and
should be justified in the ‘Justification of costs’ section. Potential costs include research/
technical staff whose time is shared across several projects and charge out costs for existing
equipment, for example access to departmental SEMs and analytical facilities. You cannot
request salary costs for specific technicians, but you can request pool technician time costs
for the host institution’s own facilities, equipment, and staff only.
Costs for major facilities not owned by the host institution, such as those supported by STFC,
cannot be requested. If such facilities are required for the project, the applicant should
contact the facility in question to determine access requirements. If access to a facility is
essential to the research programme and hence the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship,
12both access to and external funding for the cost of the facility must be secured within one
year of the proposed start date of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
4.3 Indirect Costs
1) Indirect
Please consult with your host institution for guidance as to these costs. Research Fellows
may apply for indirect costs over the entire duration of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship. Indirect costs do not require justification in the ‘Justification of costs’ section.
Please refer to the efficiency savings published by RUCK in March 2011 when submitting your
figures for indirect costs. Your research office will be able to assist.
Q. Costs table
Applicants must consult the host institution’s research grants office to provide advice on
the cost elements that are required. The costs for UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
applications must be calculated using the full economic costing model (fEC). The Academy
provides 80% of the fEC for each UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – up to a
maximum of £200,000 for 2 years. The host institution is expected to provide the remaining
from its own funds or other grants. Please ensure that you allow plenty of time for your
research office to prepare these costings.
Please note: Some of the cells are auto-calculated and all values submitted should
be rounded up to the nearest pound.
Q. Justification of costs
Please provide a descriptive breakdown of the funding requested. Ensure you have adhered
to the guidance provided for allowable costs as detailed in this document. The justifications
should be a narrative description of what resources are being requested and why. It should
include:
• All necessary justifications for costs included in the costs table
• To what extent the equipment requested will be used by other researchers and what
equipment you are not requesting funding for (or for which you are requesting funding at a
reduced rate) because suitable equipment is already available to you
• What costs will be covered by other sources, for example industry or existing grants, so are
not being requested as part of the application
• If relevant, an explanation of why you wish to work part time and at what rate. You have 500
words for this section.
5. Statement of support and declaration
This section seeks confirmation that the applicant has provided accurate information and
will update the Academy of any material changes, which may affect the award. It should also
confirm that the host institution will support the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. You
must upload all the additional documentation as per the details below and then tick the box
confirming the information provided is correct.
13Q. Research Advisor’s statement of support
The University Research Advisor must complete a statement in support of the application.
The statement should be a maximum of two pages and should confirm that they are willing
to act as a Research Advisor for the duration of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
Q. Research Advisor’s CV
The CV must not exceed two pages, and should be submitted as a PDF.
Q. Host institution/university letter of support
The head of department or school, pro-vice-chancellor or dean at the host institution/
university must provide a statement in support of the application. The statement should be
on headed paper and signed. The deadline will not be extended for the relevant people/
person’s unavailability.
The statement should be a maximum of two pages and address the following areas:
Suitability of the applicant
• Quality of the applicant’s research track record
• Potential of the applicant to become a future leader in their chosen field
• Potential to act as an ambassador and advocate for the research
Support and commitment from the host university
• Alignment of the proposed research fellowship with university research strategy and
priorities
• Details of mentoring and resources (e.g. laboratory equipment) that will be provided to the
candidate, should the application be successful
• Other university activities (e.g. teaching, committees, etc.) the candidate will be expected to
undertake
• Detail of the career development support that the applicant will be offered
• Details of how your institution adopts a proactive approach in encouraging researchers from
underrepresented groups in engineering, especially women, to apply
• Evidence of your commitment to equality and diversity
Impact of COVID-19 on the host university’s support
The host university can use this letter of support to highlight the impact of the coronavirus
pandemic on their support for the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship if they wish.
Reviewers and panel members will be advised to take into consideration the unequal impacts
that COVID-19 related disruptions might have on the host university’s support for the research
fellowship.
The Academy and the Government Office for Science expect the host institutions to be
committed to and provide support that aligns with principles set out in The Concordat to
Support the Career Development of Researchers and The Concordat for Engaging the Public
with Research.
14Q. Host institution/university declaration
The declaration from the applicant’s host institution/university should be completed by an
appropriate officer/position from the central research grants office or equivalent. The letter
should be on headed paper and should carry the signatory’s name and position and the
institution/university’s official stamp (if applicable). The purpose is to check that the university
is in principle willing to host a Research Fellow, subject to contract. The letter must confirm
the application has been approved by the institution/university and must contain the exact
wording given in the box below, as well as any further remarks the university wishes to
make. The deadline will not be extended for the relevant people/person’s unavailability.
On behalf of the institution/university I can confirm that I have read and accept the
application guidance and other information regarding this award scheme, which is
provided on the website of the Royal Academy of Engineering. I also confirm that:
• The costs submitted in the application are correct and sufficient to complete the
project as envisaged. Any shortfall in funding discovered after the award has been
made will be covered by the university, potentially through other grants.
• The applicant will be employed by the university for the duration of the award.
• If awarded, the applicant will be given full access to the facilities, equipment,
personnel, and funding as required by the application.
• The applicant’s teaching and administrative duties will be restricted to enable them
to dedicate their time to research.
• We are aware that the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships scheme has
non-standard intellectual property rights (IPR) conditions relating to or resulting
from the proposed research. If proposal is recommended for funding, we will be
ready to assess the IPR conditions in the offered award contract.
•I am authorised to approve the submission of applications for funding and this
application has successfully met all our internal approval procedures.
Q. Other support letters (optional)
Other letters of support must:
• Be on headed paper and clearly state who they are
• Be external collaborators so people and organisations NOT working at the host institution
and its affiliates
• Be signed
• Confirm that the author knows the applicant
• Explain why they are interested in the project
• Provide details on what form the collaboration will take.
• Clearly demonstrates the nature of the collaboration and how it will be beneficial to the
applicant and the project
• Be no more than two pages.
15As reviewers are asked to assess these alongside your plans for collaboration, aim for quality
over quantity and keep the letters short and concise to better enable the reviewer to identify
the salient information. A bullet-point list of contributions is a highly effective method of
making the reviewers’ role easier. Please do not submit more than three relevant letters of
support and ensure they are collated into a single pdf document.
Q. Applicant declaration Part 1
No security vetting is required as part of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship scheme,
but by applying to this scheme you are agreeing to be vetted if it becomes necessary during
the research fellowship. Please declare any reasons why you might not be eligible to work in
this area. If security vetting is required and the Research Fellow does not meet the security
vetting requirement, the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship award will be withdrawn.
Q. Applicant declaration Part 2
Please complete with your full name and position once you have read and understood the
declaration written in the application form.
6. Marketing
This section is optional, but helps the Academy to understand which of our marketing
materials are most successful at reaching the academic community and helps us to improve
our future communications work.
Once the entire application form is completed, a ‘submit application’ button will become
available. Please note that once submitted the application cannot be edited, but you may log-
in to view it from your GMS account. You may also want to print a copy of the application for
your record.
© This is Engineering
16Assessment process
and criteria
The scheme has one-stage assessment process. Applications will be assessed by a review
panel consisting of the UK government intelligence, security, and defence community
members (under the auspices of the Government Office for Science). The panel will provide
comments against each of the following assessment criteria, the overall quality of the
application and make a recommendation on whether the applicant should be funded:
1. Candidate
Quality of the applicant’s research track record
2. Research quality and vision
Quality of the applicant’s research vision and novelty of the approach to the chosen
research topic
3. Impact
The potential contribution of the research to the UK government intelligence, security, and
defence community
4. Research environment
Quality and level of the host institution/university’s support and commitment to the research
fellow’s research project and their career development
For all queries please contact the Royal Academy of Engineering’s research programmes
team at research@raeng.org.uk
17Research
topics 2021
18An investigation of 5G technology and the threats it presents for the security
Topic 1 community and identification of countermeasure opportunities
Intelligent, distributed, dynamic software defined RF spectrum sensor network
Topic 2 for detection and identification of devices in a dense RF environment
Does utility monitoring improve or compromise security? Considering the
Topic 3 associated dilemma of carbon neutral agenda, balanced with the need to
maintain security of assets and generated data
Topic 4 Machine learning inversion
Topic 5 Digital cities/countries for intelligence and investigative purposes
Topic 6 Cybersecurity model for visible light communications (VLC)
Topic 7 Cybersecurity of swarm robotics in smart cities
Topic 8 Satellite IoT communications
Topic 9 Mathematical approaches to complex imaging problems
Topic 10 Machine led discovery of novel materials for automated chemical synthesis
Topic 11 Predicting the unpredictable: Can you predict drone intent?
What would Socrates think? The legal and ethical implications behind
Topic 12 autonomous drones and future aviation
Low shot training and testing of machine learning algorithms for detection of
Topic 13 items of concern
Eddy diffusion modelling for enhanced hazard assessments of exposures to
Topic 14 airborne toxic materials
Topic 15 Improving energy harvesting in IoT wireless sensor nodes
Topic 16 Automated intelligibility tests through the use of AI or novel algorithms
Topic 17 Detecting use of synthetic biology methods
Cyber influence on behaviour change: prevalence, predictors, progress, and
Topic 18 prevention
Autonomous control for small uninhabited air vehicles enabling monitoring of
Topic 19 infrastructure
Topic 20 Quantum engineering for quantum sensors
Topic 21 THz RF transmission for wideband atmospheric communications
19Topic 1
An investigation of 5G technology and the threats it presents for the security community
and identification of countermeasure opportunities
Key words: 5G; millimetre wave; radio physics; technical security; wireless sensing; pattern
recognition
Research topic description, including problem statement:
Modern and future wireless technologies, such as fifth generation (5G), are utilizing
increasingly higher frequencies extending into the millimetre wave and beyond with their
associated ability to support higher information bandwidths. The commercialization of this
technology is leading to the availability of low-cost RF sub systems and components at these
higher frequencies. This will mean, we will see an increase in technical threats operating
at these higher frequencies, which will be produced at a significantly lower cost with easy
deployment. This will mean the public, businesses and infrastructure are vulnerable to
cyber-attack. There is also a use case within airport security and screening techniques used
at border checkpoints. Therefore, we need to investigate what these threats are so that we
a) detect their presence and b) put effective counter measures in place to protect the public,
businesses, and national infrastructure.
The aim of the research is to:
• Explore how these frequencies and waveforms interact with electronic systems at a
fundamental level
• Adapt 5G technology sub systems to demonstrate:
- The technical surveillance vulnerabilities posed by these
- Their application for countermeasures to detect threats
- Provide advice and guidance to protect the public, businesses and national
infrastructure and enhance security screening at airports/ border checkpoints.
Example approaches:
• There is a growing area of research that examines security and privacy concerns, identifying
attack methods and identifying countermeasures to offer greater protection from such
attacks. For example, there has been research to discover how audio from loudspeakers
can be recovered from soundproof buildings due to the subtle disturbances they cause to
RF transmitters such as widely available such as Wi-Fi. The research identifies the risk and
then describes how to protect against this potential attack method. (Reference: “Acoustic
Eavesdropping through Wireless Vibrometry” Teng Weiy, Shu Wangy, Anfu Zhou and Xinyu
Zhangy University of Wisconsin - Madison, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese
Academy of Sciences)
• Research has also produced a series of portable screening prototypes mm Wave sensing.
With potential applications for screening in prisons or at airports. (Reference: E-Eye: Hidden
Electronics Recognition through mmWave Nonlinear Effects Zhengxiong Li1, Zhuolin Yang1,
Chen Song1, Changzhi Li2, Zhengyu Peng3, Wenyao Xu1 1-CSE Department, SUNY University
at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA 2-ECE Department, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA,
3-Aptiv Corporation, Kokomo, IN, USA)
20Topic 2
Intelligent, distributed, dynamic software defined RF spectrum sensor network for
detection and identification of devices in a dense RF environment
Key words: RF (Radio Frequency); sensors; software; distributed networks; pattern recognition
Research topic description, including problem statement:
The rise of the Internet of Things has seen an increased use of wireless technologies to
provide connectivity between devices. These platforms are vulnerable to various types of
attack and authentication of devices, spoofing and detecting unauthorized transmissions
are a constant challenge. Some progress has been made to address this through device
fingerprinting, which identifies unique elements specific to a device. However, more work
is needed to provide greater security to our wireless network particularly in a dense RF
environment, where detection of malicious activity is challenging. This could make it even
more challenging to secure environments for legitimate devices.
This topic seeks to understand the dynamic RF landscape and build upon previous research
to detect and identify a specific radio among similar devices in a dense environment and
catalogue these accordingly. The ambition is to achieve an intelligent sensing capability
that can detect all devices operating in a dense RF environment and define its fingerprint
as legitimate or unauthorized adding it to a classifier. This will provide better security for the
public spaces from malicious activity. This will also benefit the security community better
protect their environments and could be of use to detect unauthorized devices in places such
as prisons.
The aim of the research is to:
• Build upon existing research in this field and develop a prototype for practical use to detect
threats within the dynamic RF landscape
• Develop a means of identifying unauthorized devices through effective fingerprinting.
• Develop a classifier to identify unique signatures for devices that is robust enough to work
in a dynamic environment.
• Develop counter measure approaches for unauthorized devices, such as denial of service or
location to enable recovery/ proactive investigations.
Example approaches:
Some pioneering early investigative work examined the concept of radio fingerprinting,
detecting specific devices in a distance ranging between 2ft to 50ft using deep learning
convolutional neural networks. This has also built upon previous research examining device
fingerprinting in wireless networks.
21Topic 3
Does utility monitoring improve or compromise security? Considering the associated
dilemma of carbon neutral agenda, balanced with the need to maintain Security of assets
and generated data
Key words: cyber security; energy analytics; carbon friendly; psychology; patterns of life;
estate management; IoT security
Research topic description, including problem statement:
The UK Government has set out its agenda for carbon neutrality and the focus has steered
towards creating carbon efficient products for building construction/ upgrade and secondly
on greater use of utility monitoring and modifying behaviours of the associated occupants of
buildings to reduce energy consumption.
This topic seeks to understand the associated security risks (and opportunities) to be gained
from utility monitoring. Does this enable us to have greater security of buildings or not?
Furthermore, do we understand if there are any security risks associated with the new
recommended building materials.
Utility monitoring/ fabrication of materials is part of the on premise IoT landscape and any
development in this environment should ideally offer security assurance.
The aim of the research is to:
• Build upon existing research in this field to understand the security risks
• Develop counter measure approaches to protect our assets and data generated
• Provide a balanced risk approach with implementation of monitoring devices (data)
• Cognizance/ awareness of security risks associated with introduction of new carbon
efficiency construction materials or devices into the property.
Example approaches:
• A commercial example is smart metering of utilities and making recommendations to
achieve a reduction of energy usage or more efficient means of usage by users or occupants
within the monitored environment.
• Potential for identifying ‘pattern of life’ via simple utility monitoring as a positive side benefit
to assist elderly or vulnerable persons living alone. Pattern of activity, inactivity.
22Topic 4
Machine learning inversion
Key words: machine learning; artificial intelligence; model inversion
Research topic description, including problem statement:
Can a machine learning model be inverted to reveal the data it was trained on?
Machine learning (ML) is ubiquitous in the current landscape. It is often operating in
uncharted territory in terms of ethics and governance.
In supervised ML the model learns from an existing data set where the answer is known. This
may potentially use sensitive data to train on.
To what extent can this data be exposed across the many ML techniques? What data is
currently at risk and what threats and opportunities does this pose? Attempts to recreate
data from existing models has been published under the title model inversion but is not an
established field.
If risk is established what are the mitigating steps and what costs would they have?
Example approaches:
Publicly available models and data sets could be used to test problem. This would enable
work to be carried out with few initial barriers.
23Topic 5
Digital cities/countries for public safety
Key words: smart cities; digital twins; intelligence; subthreshold; modelling
Research topic description, including problem statement:
A digital twin is a virtual recreation of any systems. With the future rollout of Smart Cities this
presents the opportunity for incredibly detailed mapping of an entire town/City function. This
includes electrical systems to traffic flows, to pedestrian footfall. Visual mapping will likely
become prevalent with the cameras and sensors on autonomous and connected vehicles. A
National Digital Twin has already been proposed by Cambridge University’s Centre for Digital
Britain.
Digital Twins of cities already exist, notably in China. Such detailed mapping will be powered
by IoT (Internet of Things) and 5G.
Opportunity:
It seems highly likely that creating digital twins of cities and even the entire country, would
allow for extremely accurate mapping and modelling of events in real time, drawing in data
from a range of open source and classified material to support decision making and planning
from a public safety perspective. The combination with AI would allow for the efficient
deployment of emergency services to likely hotspots, identify high risk areas and also the
testing of variables to understand and predict reactions within a city to events, whether
natural or otherwise.
Possible steps:
Creation of a digital twin as a case study for law enforcement and the emergency services,
incorporating the relevant information and data streams. This would also require mapping
of what data is available and timely. An Agile approach would likely work best, small sprints
producing results that layer on one another. For example, twin a street, then a university
campus, then a borough etc.
Incorporation of behavioural analysis and relevant AI. For example, predicative aftershock
analysis (earthquakes) has been trailed by police to predict future crime hot spots.
Such a volume of data could be exploited by malicious actors, so it is important to understand
the vulnerabilities to digital twins and the threats posed by their misuse. The security of such
information should also be considered.
Example approaches:
Such a project will require a collaborative approach as it incorporates very technical data
but would also need detailed behavioural analysis drawing from a range of open source and
government data.
24Topic 6
Cybersecurity model for visible light communications (VLC)
Key words: visible light communications; Li-Fi
Research topic description, including problem statement:
Visible Light Communications continues to develop, with several Li-Fi products being
considered for use. However, we are missing a propagation model for visible light
communications that can be used as the foundation for cybersecurity risk modelling at the
physical layer. Such models exist for conventional radio, but these do not reliably extrapolate
to VLC because the physics of light interaction is different to radio. There are plenty of
analyses for propagation on co-operative paths (i.e., luminaire to user), but none that we have
seen that deals with luminaire to interceptor. The lack of basic science around cybersecurity
risk modelling means that network design using VLC is currently ‘vernacular’ – that is, based
on hearsay, speculation, and opinion. We need a solid reliable foundation that allows VLC
networks to be designed to a known cybersecurity risk.
Example approaches:
Indoor propagation model, from the perspective of an adversary, that can be re-expressed as
an intercept risk model.
25Topic 7
Cybersecurity of swarm robotics in smart cities
Key words: robotics; smart cities; swarms
Research topic description, including problem statement:
Robotic systems may be used in smart city infrastructure and resource supply (water, power,
logistics, etc), smart manufacturing, unmanned transportation systems, and as robotic
assistants and companions. This is IoT operating dynamically in uncontrolled environments
off-grid, or with low bandwidth backhaul, or within restricted, isolated and/or constrained
physical environments. Issues in addition to conventional fixed IoT include assurance in the
field of robot operation to avoid harm, accident, or malicious performance degradation;
tamper detection on moving/transforming machinery; corruption of machine perception;
perversion of machine personality & behaviours; reliable secure mobile communications
(mesh/multimedia) in hostile environments; implications for personal data creation &
handling (in medical/personal applications, etc)
This research should consider the implications of cyberattack on robotic individuals and
swarms that are programmed to exhibit personalities (e.g., innate decision preferences in
response to risk) and behaviours (e.g., situation-adaptable actions and problem solutions).
It should consider the ways in which personality and behaviour may be implemented, and
the ways in which this is vulnerable to corruption through cyberattack. A key question is the
roles of robotic wisdom (contextual judgement) and ethics (as countermeasures).
Example approaches:
Demonstration of the types of cyber vulnerability of currently researched robotic behaviour
and personality models, and mitigation strategies using robotic wisdom and ethical models.
26Topic 8
Satellite IoT communications
Key words: satellite; internet of things (IoT); LoRaWan
Research topic description, including problem statement:
The Internet of Things (IoT) has now reached space, and start-up companies such as Lacuna
are hoping to roll out a service using modified LoRaWan that will allow users to transmit data
to a satellite from low power remote devices in locations that lack terrestrial infrastructure.
Applications amongst others include asset tracking (including vehicles, aircraft, and vessels),
wildlife conservation, climate change monitoring, situation awareness for disaster relief,
policing and border control.
The concept of worldwide universal IoT connectivity from remote locations normally not
serviced by terrestrial networks is potentially a game changer for so many applications
however this scheme will only offer one-way communication from the ground to the
spacecraft and the initiative is predicated on a modified stack/silicon so the IoT devices
must be specific to space transmission. This research topic aims to explore the theory,
practicality, and limits of operating native IoT communications waveforms for bi-directional
IoT communications to and from a low Earth orbit satellite. This focus on ground-based
technologies for satellite IoT will investigate radio waveforms and protocol designs,
maximising exploitation of entropy sources for secure cryptographic communications, and
constraints from necessary power saving/harvesting and ‘wake-up’ designs. Optimisation
is for power efficiency and endurance, and effective exploitation of channels with very low
link budgets. Low gain antennas with limited efficiency can be assumed to be a real-world
constraint of any practical system.
Example approaches:
As an example of possible inclusion in the research, ultra-narrowband as typified by SIGFOX
devices use a very low power transmitted waveform which coupled with digital processing
gain techniques are achieving communications over many tens of kilometres in terrestrial
applications. The questions the research would be addressing is could such a waveform
be used in a space application? What are the limits to its use given the constraints of link
budgets through the atmosphere and the effects of Doppler?
27Topic 9
Mathematical approaches to complex imaging problems
Key words: inverse problems; sensing; explosives detection; landmine detection; SAR
imaging; LiDAR; non-destructive testing; imaging; acoustic sensing; radar; electro-optics
Research topic description, including problem statement:
We are looking to apply new mathematical approaches to our sensing problems. We would
like to investigate the application of inverse problem solutions to data from a variety of
traditional sensors such as radar, electro-optic (EO), infrared (IR) and X-ray with the aim of
improving our ability to sense through complex media or multiple paths (e.g., through foliage,
walls, fog, and round corners). We are also interested in the fusion of data from different
modalities to improve solutions and information from inverse imaging problems.
The Defence, Security and Intelligence communities require capability development of novel
game-changing sensing modalities. Science & Technology (S&T) is growing faster than ever
before and has become a new domain of international competition. In order to counteract
this, a variety of sensing modalities are being used to give us insight for Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) purposes.
The physical phenomena occurring due to the interaction of Electromagnetic (EM) waves
and the scene adds to the complexity of the sensing problem. For example, in Synthetic
Aperture Radar (SAR), multi-path reflections cause difficulty in imaging through obscurants,
commonly urban and foliage areas. In EO/IR systems similar issues arise, particularly at low
photon flux, and further out in the EM spectrum, X-ray and Gamma-ray technologies are used
in non-destructive testing for security purposes.
Classically, the image formation techniques for various sensing modality datasets have
been limited to the data processing tools which were highly dependent on computational
power and storage. Due to the rise in efficient Size, Weight and Power (SWAP) sensors and
computing technology, it has allowed the development of processing and image formation
tools which were once deemed impossible. All such sensing modalities would benefit from
a Fellowship in the area of developing and implementing tools for processing data that
incorporates non-canonical imaging techniques to give Security and Defence the added
advantage it requires. Furthermore, data fusion from multiple sensors can be exploited so
that a single platform can do the work of multiple platforms and complement other sensing
data, e.g. SAR data can be fused with EO/IR data. A non-exhaustive list of government
departments interested in sensing modalities is mentioned hereunder:
• Multistatic SAR Imaging and Ground-Penetrating Radar (Ministry of Defence [MoD]);
• EO/IR Imaging (Home Office [HO] / MoD / Department of Transport [DfT]);
• Quantum (LiDAR) Imaging (HO/ DfT/ MoD);
• Acoustic Imaging (UK Hydrographic Office [UKHO] / MoD) – Ocean Acoustic Tomography;
• Magnetic Imaging (Atomic Weapons Establishment [AWE] / National Nuclear Lab. [NNL] /
MoD / HO / DfT);
• X-ray Tomography (MoD / HO / DfT)
28Example approaches:
Due to storage of data and faster computational processing power, the general trend in data
processing technique developments is to exploit the rich nature of the datasets. Consider that
next generation SAR is attempting to process multi-dimensional datasets (i.e., multi-static,
multi-channel, multi-look and multi-polar) to form better quality images so that information
is retrieved which wasn’t apparent before. [3D SAR Imaging for Multistatic GPR, M. Pereira et
al, SPIE Digital Library, 2019, DOI - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2519430]. The paper [A. Horne et al.,
"Exploration of Multidimensional Radio Frequency Imaging to Derive Remote Intelligence of
Building Interiors," 2018 International Conference on Radar (RADAR), Brisbane, QLD, 2018, pp.
1-6, doi: 10.1109/RADAR.2018.8557263] also provides an example of a situation where inverse
techniques may provide benefit.
Elsewhere in the EM spectrum, inverse problems in LiDAR imaging is found in [W. Marais, R.
Holz, Y. H. Hu and R. Willett, "Atmospheric lidar imaging and poisson inverse problems," 2016
IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), Phoenix, AZ, 2016, pp. 983-987, doi:
10.1109/ICIP.2016.7532504.]. This describes an approach to an atmospheric lidar photon-limited
imaging problem in which observations are contaminated with Poisson noise. [Gariepy,
G., Tonolini, F., Henderson, R. et al. Detection and tracking of moving objects hidden from
view. Nature Photon 10, 23–26 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.234] uses LiDAR
imaging to track moving objects around corners.
Baggage inspection based on X-ray imaging has been established to protect environments
in which access control is of vital significance. In several public entrances, like airports,
government buildings, stadiums and large event venues, security checks are carried out
on all baggage to detect suspicious objects (e.g., handguns and explosives). This is an ever-
increasing field of research. See the IEEE Spectrum article, “Future Baggage Scanners Will
Tell Us What Things Are Made Of”.
A Through-Wall Radar Imaging (TWIR) PhD is to be completed next year, which has
demonstrated some fascinating image processing schemes by exploiting synthetic data
using radio frequency propagation models and DNNs (Machine Learning) at University of
Manchester. Two EPSRC iCASE PhD studies (part funded by DSTL) are to start in October 2021
at Universities of Cambridge (Towards Scalable EM Solvers on High Performance Computer
[HPC] Platforms) to support Full-Waveform Inversion (FWI) and Manchester (Tensor
Tomographic Imaging of Foliage Penetration [FOPEN]) to support the Detection, Tracking,
Recognition and Identification (DTRI) of difficult targets through foliage (dense vegetation).
The PhDs further highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the topic and the relevance of a
Fellowship to provide focus and drive.
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