Opening soon STFC provides funding to create new multidisciplinary research communities at the STFC 21st Challenge interface which are focused on addressing user needs, including those of Government departments, Government agencies, industry and other academic communities. Three types of Networks are funded, depending on the stage of development of the community: Standard Network, Network+ and Extended Network+.

The aims of Standard Networks are to:
•Support interactions between STFC-funded researchers and appropriate science, technology, industry and end-user groups to build interdisciplinary communities at the interface between STFC science and 21st Century Challenge areas
 
•Facilitate knowledge sharing and identify priority user-needs that STFC science could have a role in addressing
 
•Create new multidisciplinary project teams to develop proposals to seek funding for projects addressing the 21st Century Challenges

Network+ and Extended Network have the same aims as Standard Networks but additionally aim to:
•Network+
◦Demonstrate STFC-funded capability to address 21st Century Challenges and de-risking of concepts to facilitate applications for next-stage funding
 

•Extended Network+
◦Maximise the impact of earlier Standard Network or Network+ activities
 
◦Further demonstrate STFC-funded capability to address 21st Challenges and de-risking of concepts to facilitate applications for next-stage funding