Scope
There is a growing body of evidence on the effects on the marine environment of offshore oil, gas, and wind energy infrastructure, as well as shipwrecks, collectively known as marine artificial structures (MAS).
Research programmes, such as Influence of Structures in the Marine Environment (INSITE), document shifts in microbial communities and in faunal assemblages within the sediments around MAS, and the formation of highly diverse benthic communities on artificial hard surfaces, including species of conservation importance like cold water corals. Within higher trophic levels, there have been well documented increases in the levels of fish aggregations as well as increases in seal and cetacean associations around MAS.
However, knowledge gaps are limiting our understanding of the wider environmental effects of MAS. These include the mechanisms of the ecological relationships and differences in trophic dynamics that are not well understood within these local communities, nor whether the site-specific effects are of importance to the wider ecosystem at regional scales.
There is also a lack of understanding about environmental effects directly from MAS and its use, including: contaminants in drill cuttings and pipelines from oil and gas platforms; physical effects of the pylons, moorings, and cables of windfarms that in turn affect water column and sedimentary biogeochemical processes, which may impact on blue carbon dynamics.
The role of MAS in aggregation of fish and associated communities is not known, for example, do they use the locations to spawn or do juveniles experience enhanced growth and survival in the artificial conditions. If local production of fish occurs, to what extent could this have wider impacts on biodiversity at higher trophic levels, such as supporting marine mammals and seabirds locally, or have ecosystem level effects on trophic dynamics? How might the biogeochemical cycling and storage of sedimentary carbon in turn be affected?
Further evidence on the ecological functioning and connectivity of biological communities associated with MAS, collectively referred to as its ‘natural capital’, is necessary to better understand and quantify the flows of ecosystem services and potential benefits to the wider environment, society and economy that is not currently considered when decommissioning decisions are made, or when new MAS are deployed. For example, when MAS are fully decommissioned, with all steel, concrete and pipelines entirely removed, the associated marine life could be displaced, re-exposed to commercial fishing, or destroyed along with any environmental value it will have had.
Without understanding the ecological functionality, the environmental value of both these semi-natural habitats, and the recovering habitats that will replace them (accompanied by re-exposure to commercial fishing interests), we cannot fully evaluate the environmental costs and benefits of decommissioning MAS. We are also not able to evaluate the environmental services and benefits that MAS natural capital may provide pre-decommissioning.
In this decade of decommissioning there is growing pressure to make management decisions that align with wider policies to achieve nature restoration and net zero, under the UK Marine Strategy, Environment Improvement Plan, British Energy Security Strategy (BESS), and Scottish National Marine Plan.
Policy makers require a more comprehensive understanding of the value of biodiversity associated with MAS. They also need to understand the environmental effects including potential costs of decommissioning activities, to support decision making about what outcomes are best for the marine environment when decommissioning the ever-growing numbers of MAS in UK waters.
The Value of Marine Artificial Structures (ValMAS) research programme has three objectives:
- develop an enhanced understanding of the ecological relationships, trophic and biogeochemical dynamics, and pressures on marine life associated with MAS
- apply novel marine natural capital approaches, including ecosystem service assessment and evaluation of ecosystem benefits, to understand the environmental value of MAS and the benefits and risks to nature, economy and society over their life cycle, from deployment to decommissioning
- accelerate the impact of robust evidence, new approaches and tools that support nature positive decision-making in decommissioning, nature recovery, and cross-industry marine management in the North Sea, including oil and gas, offshore wind, and fisheries
Programme challenges
The ValMAS programme has two research challenges, both of which will need to be addressed by your application.
Challenge one: Develop an enhanced understanding of the environmental effects and ecological consequences of MAS in the North Sea basin across their full lifecycle
Research in this area will investigate the ecological interactions within the biological communities associated with MAS so that there is a step change in our understanding of trophic dynamics. The relationships and inter-dependencies between communities of the sediments, hard surfaces, fish, and higher trophic levels, including marine mammals and seabirds, must be investigated as well as the identification of the critical ecological functions and ecosystem services they provide.
Of particular interest are species of scientific and conservation interest, and any services associated with food production (for fisheries), blue carbon dynamics, and those that support biodiversity recovery and enhancement locally and at regional scales. It is expected that ecological modelling techniques will be required to understand the trophic dynamics and ecological functions, but also some additional in situ measurements will be needed to populate and validate the modelling approaches.
Research methods will seek to understand the drivers of trophic dynamics and provision of critical ecosystem services related to MAS natural capital over time. The structural and age differences between oil and gas installations and offshore wind turbines should be considered, as well as the stage in their lifecycles (from construction to operation to decommissioning to post-life) and associated pressures, such as levels of contaminants. These must be considered against a backdrop of changing climate to differentiate between MAS life stage and environmental changes over time.
Spatial and temporal research, observational, and logistical challenges can be overcome, in part, by leveraging support from other research programmes, particularly INSITE and relevant projects funded through The Crown Estate’s Wind Offshore Evidence and Change programme. Also, by securing in-kind support from industry and government partners for in situ measurements, for example access to vessels, offshore energy installations, and sampling and survey equipment, such as remotely operated vehicles.
Relevant evidence and data resources from sources across research, industry and government should also be incorporated. Modelling approaches are expected to be useful in bringing together relevant information about MAS across space and time, while significant gaps in the evidence base that are critical to addressing this challenge should be targeted with novel data collection.
To address gaps in our understanding of the environmental effects of decommissioning options, it will be critical to this research area to explore scenarios in which MAS are only partially decommissioned or repurposed at end of life, such as in the US’s Rigs-to-Reefs programme, and consider their implications for the North Sea ecosystem.
Challenge two: Deliver the evidence base and assessment tools, using a natural capital approach, to inform the development of robust approaches to the decommissioning of MAS alongside supporting sustainable nature recovery, fisheries, and cross-industry marine management
Cutting-edge natural capital evaluation approaches and environmental and socio-economic valuation methods, such as those developed in Defra’s marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) programme, can be used to support the development of new tools. These tools will be necessary to understand and evaluate the biological communities, environmental components, and ecological functioning associated with MAS natural capital. Also to value the benefits from the critical ecosystem services they provide.
The research will identify benefits and opportunities for nature, economy, and society, and threats, risks, and potential costs arising from local infrastructure and regional scale pressures affecting the natural capital components. Services and values associated with fisheries, biodiversity recovery and enhancement, and blue carbon are of particular interest to support government policy development and decision-making.
Research in this area centres on the development of novel natural capital assessment frameworks for MAS that can assess the dynamic values and trade-offs associated with MAS natural capital over space and time. These frameworks will also support decision makers by providing relevant and accessible information across a range of variables, including natural capital extent and status, environmental value and risks and opportunities, uncertainty of estimates, and net environmental gain metrics.
By working closely and collaboratively with decision makers across government, useful assessment tools will be developed based on a detailed understanding of the relevant marine management systems and assessment approaches in areas such as:
- oil and gas decommissioning (OPRED Comparative Assessment)
- biodiversity conservation (Defra and the Scottish Government Good Environmental Status assessment, Environment Improvement Plan targets, OSPAR quality status reports)
- marine net gain assessment, offshore wind consenting, and fisheries management (fisheries management plans)
A series of engagement events and scientific communication activities, such as webinars and focused workshops, will be required to meet this challenge and bring the scientific, government and industry communities together. These collaborative opportunities will enable the sharing of viewpoints, and discussion of findings, to build a better understanding of the environmental value of MAS and its benefits and potential costs, relating these to each group and fostering greater join-up across the sectors.
Programme outcomes
The outcomes of the ValMAS programme will:
- enhance understanding of the ecological, economic, and social value of MAS natural capital, in the context of other stressors and climate change, and how to express this value using a natural capital approach to support decision making
- demonstrate research advances in using the latest modelling techniques, that integrate both empirical and conceptual data from a wide variety of sources, to inform and support better understanding of ecological interactions, trophic dynamics, and provision of critical ecosystem services of MAS natural capital
- provide a sound, accessible and user-friendly evidence base to inform decision-making and policy solutions for managing all stages of the life cycle of MAS in a nature positive way. This will include supporting new methodologies to undertake OPRED comparative assessments for decommissioning that utilise the value of MAS natural capital in decision making across sectors
- enhance understanding of the natural capital value of MAS to other sectors (for example, fisheries, conservation and offshore renewables including cabling), and the role they may have to play in the net zero energy transition and meeting outcomes around marine net gain, environmental recovery targets, or nature positive operation
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.
Duration
The duration of this award must be 48 months.
Projects must start by 4 November 2025.
Funding available
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £5,624,000.
We will fund 80% of the FEC with the following exceptions:
- justified equipment would be funded at 50%
- eligible costs for international project co-lead (previously co-investigator) involvement would be funded at 100%
- National Marine Facilities (NMF) costs will be funded at 100%
What we will fund
NERC ship-time and NMF costs for any of its other facilities or equipment are included in this funding opportunity. However, you may only apply for ship-time if you present a strong rationale. Any NMF costs must be included in your application and will count towards the funding limit. For example, if the NMF costs for autonomous platforms supporting proposed ValMAS research are £400,000, then only £4,099,200 will be available to cover the 80% of full economic cost of the project.
Your application must include funding to cover the costs for hosting two ValMAS hybrid science meetings. Each meeting will be two days and will include both the assessment of the project’s progress by the Programme Advisory Group (PAG) and provide an opportunity for wider engagement with industry and government end-users. The timings and format of these meetings are to be agreed with the ValMAS programme partners. These costs should include provision for suitable services to support an excellent experience for those attending virtually and cover the travel and subsistence costs of up to five members of the ValMAS PAG, to be appointed by the ValMAS programme partners.
Your application should include appropriate project management resources to reflect the complex needs of the ValMAS programme. It is expected that your application will include clearly identified resources for early engagement with additional potential project partners during the start-up phase on the project. It is expected that brokering agreements with project partners during the start-up phase of the project will require dedicated resource, which should be factored in to planning and be clearly identified in your application. In addition, your application should provide details of how strong engagement with industry and government stakeholders will be maintained, and resourced, throughout the lifetime of the programme.
Project management resources should also include close monitoring of progress against the timely delivery of agreed milestones and deliverables, and management of emerging risks. In addition, resources are needed in support of the work of the ValMAS PAG in assessing the progress of the project, including the provision of appropriate supporting documentation such as a risk register and progress reports, and providing a secretariat function.
Resources should be set aside for the creation of the ValMAS programme website which should contain information about the programme, including the governance structure, project progress and information about outputs.
It is anticipated that fieldwork will not take place until the second year of projects. However, early outputs are required in year one and two of your project. Specific details on how your project intends to engage with industry and government partners and other stakeholders, to identify meaningful early outputs which will have real-world impact, should be included in your application.
What we will not fund
We will not fund PhD studentship costs.
Services and facilities
You can apply to use a facility or resource in your funding application.
You should discuss your application with the facility or service at least two months before the funding opportunity’s closing date to:
- discuss the proposed work in detail
- receive confirmation that they can provide the services required within the timeframe of the funding
The facility will provide a technical assessment that includes the calculated cost of providing the service. NERC services and facilities must be costed within the limits of the funding.
You should not submit the technical assessment with the application, but you must confirm you have received it.
For more information, see the NERC research grants and fellowships handbook.
Read the full list of NERC facilities that require a technical assessment.
High Performance Computing (HPC), Ship-Time or Marine Equipment (SME) and the large research facilities at Harwell have their own policies for access and costing.
Ship-time and marine facilities
You are strongly encouraged to work with industry and government project partners to gain access to ship time or look to a third party to charter. You may only request NERC ship-time if you are able to provide a strong rationale.
Ship time will only be available from 2027 and it is subject to marine planning. You may request access to NMF support for any other NERC marine facilities, including autonomous platforms.
Your project will be required to start by 4 November 2025 and if NERC marine facilities are required, you will need to ensure that your project’s implementation plan is based on a realistic assessment by NMF of the availability of these facilities.
Where you are requesting access to NERC marine facilities, you are required to engage with NERC Marine Planning at an early stage in the development of your application. This is to ensure any requested use of NERC’s marine facilities is realistic as the award of a grant will be subject to NERC marine planning.
If a request is not realistic and so implementation plans will be delayed, we are unlikely to award your grant. Currently, it is expected that access to autonomy is unlikely before late in the 2027-2028 Marine Facilities Programme.
If you wish to use NERC’s marine facilities, then you must complete an online ‘ship-time and marine equipment (SME) or autonomous deployment (ADF) application form’ available from Marine Facilities Planning. Include the SME or ADF number on the ‘Facilities’ section of your application.
If you intend to apply for NERC’s marine facilities, you should contact marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org to discuss equipment and facility needs as soon as possible.
SMEs or ADFs must be submitted by 30 September 2024 and be approved by NERC Marine Planning by the time your outline funding application is submitted. Your request will be checked for feasibility in the year that access is requested. If it is approved, then an indicative cost will be provided for consideration as part of your total budget. If the request is not considered feasible, then amendments will then need to be made to the application or it will be rejected.
A PDF of the SME or ADF can be attached as a facility form to your application. If you do not do this, your request may not be considered for inclusion in the NERC Marine Facilities Programme.
All requests for marine facilities must be made at the outline funding application stage. No new requests can be made at the full application stage and only minor amendments can be made to the outline stage requests.
Your project should not be reliant on access to marine facilities, where a delay in access could impact the timely delivery of your project over its 48-month duration. Mitigation plans should be included in your application to detail how any delays will be managed.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
Trusted Research and Innovation
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our Trusted Research and Innovation Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how your proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
Further guidance and information about Trusted Research and Innovation, including where you can find additional support, can be found on UKRI’s trusted research and innovation web page.
Responsible research
Through our funding processes, we seek to make a positive contribution to society and the environment. This is not just through research outputs and outcomes but through the way in which research is conducted and facilities managed.
All NERC grant holders are to adopt responsible research practices as set out in the NERC responsible business statement.
Responsible research is defined as reducing harm or enhancing benefit on the environment and society through effective management of research activities and facilities. Specifically, this covers:
- the natural environment
- the local community
- equality, diversity and inclusion
You should consider the responsible research context of your project, not the host institution as a whole. You should take action to enhance your responsible research approach where practical and reasonable.
Research disruption due to COVID-19
We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:
- breaks and delays
- disruptive working patterns and conditions
- the loss of ongoing work
- role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic
Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant, and their wider team, to deliver the research they are proposing.
Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.
