Call for One-Year Masters by Research (MSc) Projects: Supporting Sustainable Low Carbon Innovation

Got a great business idea that could reduce carbon emissions and improves sustainability but don’t have the time, people, knowledge, facilities or resources to develop it? Drive innovation and realise your ambitions for growth through collaborative research with a leading global research-intensive university.

Business is changing in response to the climate crisis. To keep up, you need to be agile, flexible and quick at finding sustainable low carbon solutions. Join us at Lancaster to optimise the products and processes and skills you need to be a leader in the low carbon marketplace.

What’s On Offer?

Break barriers to innovation in your business and explore commercial opportunities through a Research and Development (R&D) project of your choice with Lancaster University’s Centre for Global Eco-Innovation. Engage a graduate researcher from October 2025 to undertake your research project one-year full time, or two years part-time, and gain access to the expertise, facilities and global contacts of the University. The R&D can be carried out on campus, at your business or a combination of the two, as the nature of the research requires. We can help you recruit the right researchers, or you may have existing staff members that would value the qualification on a full or part-time basis.

Register your interest for a Masters by Research Project using our online form

Register now

We have been delighted with the partnership with Lancaster University. To get a student dedicated for 12 months for a focused R&D project directed to addressing our challenges, and underpinned by academic support and access to appropriate software and Life Cycle Inventories has been invaluable.

A quote from Sarah Downes, Environmental Affairs Manager at REPIC

Research Areas

Researchers are assigned an academic supervisory team who have the expertise and experience to support them in their studies. Supervisors will help you to shape your research project for maximum impact, give feedback and guide the work to successful completion. We have expertise in low carbon solutions across the University so are able to work on a wide range of topic areas.

Benefits

  • Take on cost-effective, low-risk, managed and supported R&D with a trusted partner with a track record of successful industry collaboration
  • Drive innovation, stay ahead of industry trends, and differentiate your business from your competitors
  • Accelerate the creation of innovative products, enhance existing offerings, or solve specific challenges
  • Access extensive research and development workshops and laboratories worth over £45 million to develop innovative new products, processes and services
  • Join our community and be part of the multi award-winning Centre for Global Eco-Innovation
  • Gain Research and Development (R&D) tax relief

Process and Timing

  • We’ll help you develop and define your research project
  • Research projects will be supported by academic colleagues who will work with you to shape the project prior to it being advertised to researchers
  • You will be a key part of the recruitment panel for your project Graduate researcher. Posts for individual projects will be advertised from May 2025.
  • The first cohort of these projects will start in October 2025. Each Graduate Researcher will have support from academic supervision throughout the programme of research.

Cost

The total cost to the business for a dedicated 12months of R&D research is £28,000. This covers the academic supervision (£5k of fees), minimum £2,220 (subject to increase at full project specification) for project consumables and travel and a stipend of £20,780. Please note we require payment in full prior to the project starting.

Register Your Interest Now

If you have a clearly defined project already, you can register your interest and one of our team will contact you.

If you have an idea or challenge you want to talk through, need some help to scope a project or want to find out more about our other funded activities, please contact Dr Paul McKenna, Business Partnerships Manager: p.mckenna@lancaster.ac.uk

Case Study: REPIC

REPIC operates an Environment Agency approved not-for-profit producer compliance scheme for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). REPIC wanted to understand and quantify the carbon footprint of the collection and recycling of WEEE so it could share this intelligence with its members, and look at ways it could reduce and report emissions from its activities. Lacking the specialist in-house capability to undertake the research and analysis and modelling required, REPIC worked with the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation on a successful 12-month Master’s research project.

Sarah Downes, Environmental Affairs Manager at REPIC stated, “We have been delighted with the partnership with Lancaster University. To get a student dedicated for 12 months for a focused R&D project directed to addressing our challenges, and underpinned by academic support and access to appropriate software and Life Cycle Inventories has been invaluable."

View the full REPIC case study

Case Study: Homegrown Homespun

Homegrown Homespun was a pilot project created by North West England Fibreshed and The Super Slow Way, and Community Clothing, involving the local community in Blackburn to test the feasibility of reintroducing flax growing and processing using natural indigo to the UK in order to create jeans.

Support was needed to explore whether the system could be scaled up to run on an economically sustainable commercial basis whilst maintaining its underpinning environmental and community-based principles.

Laurie Peake, Director of The Super Slow Way, said: “Helena produced a tremendously useful piece of research to help us understand the extent of the loss of skills and infrastructure that would allow us to support local low carbon textile production.

Read the full Homegrown Homepsun case study