Critical Elements and Materials Network (CrEAM)

As the global population advances towards 9 billion, the pressure on natural resources becomes ever more intense. The emergence of new technologies which also depend heavily on scarce elements and materials puts further pressure on the Earth's resources. The EPSRC CrEAM network will tackle the problems of supply and use of materials deemed critical to UK industrial strategy by bringing together leading academics and industrial experts from across the entire critical materials supply chain.
The UK supply of key elements and materials has come under increasing pressure in recent years and is totally dependent on imports from resource-dominant countries and regions such as China, Russia and Africa. These elements and materials play a vital role in industrial sectors important to the UK such as automotive, aerospace and renewable energy technologies. The UK has previously considered its materials strategy as part of the European Union, however, with the recent Brexit decision, it is imperative that UK creates a blueprint for securing a long-term stable supply of materials deemed vital to its industrial strategy. By creating and hosting a series of both broad-topic and subject-specific meetings, the proposed network will catalyse the formation of important strategic collaborations, make policy recommendations to UK government, and propose a comprehensive 'UK Elements Strategy'.
The overarching aim of the CrEAM network is to safeguard UK industry against shortages of strategic/critical elements and materials by bringing together leading UK academics from a wide range of disciplines alongside the key industrial users, to develop strategies to protect the UK supply of these materials and, where possible, develop alternatives. The CrEAM network will raise awareness of critical materials and supply chain issues, and identify and connect UK research and development activities on selected strategic/critical materials to strengthen possibilities for multi- and interdisciplinary research. This research will help to protect UK commercial interests dependent on materials supply by connecting expertise throughout the supply chain to work on solutions to the problems identified.
The objectives of the network are based on organising interdisciplinary meetings across the entire critical materials supply chain. These meetings will provide a forum to bring together specialists from across the entire UK supply chain in critical materials to develop strategies to alleviate supply risks of these elements and materials, which are essential in a wide range of current and emerging technologies. The initial focus of the network will be determined by the most pressing supply chain issues faced by UK industry and will begin to broaden as supply chain and industry priorities evolve.
Minutes and presentations from these meetings will be disseminated via the CrEAM network website along with biannual updates and reports. Brochures and news articles will be distributed to raise awareness of the critical materials agenda and is well placed to acts as a focus for local activities across all regions of the UK. The outcome from the meetings will be to initiate new, collaborative UK-based activities and research projects to create and develop effective substitution and replacement technologies for critical materials, and to encourage creation of cyclic use of critical materials from end of life products to address critical supply issues.
The most important objective of the network will be to create a coherent 'UK Elements Strategy' document for UK Government, including policy and funding recommendations to ensure a responsible, secure and environmentally efficient supply of critical materials vital to UK industry for both short and long term stability. As the UK prepares to leave the EU, it is imperative that a strong plan is put in place to protect the industrial strategy, which is highly dependent on import of critical materials.

The CrEAM network will aim to have a strong influence on UK policy. A coherent 'UK Elements Strategy' document to be presented at month 18 and updated at 36 will be presented to UK government as a result of consultations with leading academics and industrial experts across the entire supply chain. The UK Elements Strategy will include a review of the scope of the critical materials scene, analysing where interventions are, and are not, required. Recommendations will be proposed for future research funding calls, along with suggested trade legislation to promote the circular economy and strengthen and secure supply of critical materials for the UK. Briefing papers on critical materials and supply issues will be made available to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, relevant Parliamentary Committees and to the policy units in the Government Office for Science, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for Education.
EPSRC funding of the CrEAM network will provide added value across a wide range of UK economic, academic, commercial and societal activities. A CrEAM network branded stand and brochure will be created within the first 6 months of the network for display at scientific/technical events to increase awareness of this subject. Subsets of this material will also be used for display in schools and network member premises.
A comprehensive internet and literature survey of UK academia, industry, funding bodies and government offices active in the use, development and exploitation of critical materials will be carried out. The data collected will be used to define subjects and mailing lists for future meetings, possible webinars hosted by leading industry experts or academics, and establish interest in short courses and postgraduate student sponsorships. The key results from this survey will be published on the network website, social media and distributed via the established mailing lists in order to encourage further participation from research groups and their collaborators. The website will also act as a bulletin board providing important updates on critical materials and sector specific funding calls and job opportunities.
Network meetings and workshops will be open to members of funding bodies such as UKRI, WRAP and Innovate UK, as well as parliament and government officers from BEIS etc. These organisations will be encouraged to interact during the informal networking and the structured discussion and debate sections, as well as invited to present at relevant meetings where appropriate. The outcomes of these meetings will be used to recommend future UKRI funding calls in critical materials and relevant sectors. Presentations and minutes from the meetings will be made available on the CrEAM network website to encourage further discussions and more focussed, smaller meetings to be set up as a result. The strong connection between academia and industry will be vital to ensure funding and collaboration agreements can be arranged and maintained as a result of the network meetings.
The CrEAM network will also creating university level teaching media to promote high quality training in issues surrounding critical materials supply and use. This will include online lectures made available by network members to download as well as educational YouTube videos and discussion. Information on teaching materials developed in current and recent projects will be collected as part of the literature survey and a metadata list of these will be published on the website and sent to teaching resource websites such as the Times Educational Supplement and The Guardian Teacher Network etc. Regular press releases will be produced for popular science magazines highlighting critical material issues and themes emerging from network meetings. Regular updates of network news items will be communicated to BBC production teams such as 'The Naked Scientists' and 'BBC Materials World'.