Climate Solutions Catalyst
Climate solutions are hiding in plain sight
The challenge
Every five seconds, a scientific research paper is published. Within this rapidly expanding landscape of knowledge, countless promising innovations risk being overlooked. Many could become transformative climate solutions if identified and supported effectively.
The current innovation system relies heavily on visibility and self-selection. As a result, much potentially valuable research never enters the innovation pipeline. This raises a critical question: How many breakthrough ideas and researchers are we currently failing to see?
The solution
At the CSC we’ve developed alma
Alma is an AI-powered discovery platform that identifies high-impact, overlooked research with climate application potential. Using large language models and data analytics it scans literature connecting breakthrough research to the people and organizations that can help it grow. Alma’s power is that it can discover innovations faster and earlier than humans. It has been trainied and developed to be fully agnostic and global.
With alma you can
- Scan papers 50x faster than manual research discovery
- Find solutions across unexpected fields
- Expand who and what gets seen
- Help direct funding attention and support more effectively
Scaling our impact and inviting collaboration.
Supporting early-stage innovation for a climate-secure future
The Climate Solutions Catalyst leverages AI to unearth academic research that could become high-impact climate solutions. Once identified, the CSC supports the academics to develop their tech and enter the innovation pipeline.
AI-powered discovery
With our platform, alma, we proactively find breakthrough research and reduce network bias.
Strategic connections
A thriving ecosystem
Our cohorts
Cohort 2
Dr Mojgan Rabiey
Dr Mojgan Rabiey’s team at the University of Warwick is working on a project called: Phage-based biocontrol systems for climate-resilient crop protection.
“To feed a projected global population of 9.8 billion by 2050, we must increase food production by 70% while tackling pathogen-resistant threats across agriculture and the food chain. Bacterial plant diseases, intensified by climate change, are a growing challenge that pose major risks to UK fruit and vegetable production. Our research pioneers a sustainable, precision-biocontrol platform using bacteriophage (“phage”) cocktails, natural viruses that infect and kill bacteria, to suppress these pathogens while preserving beneficial microbiota and environmental health.”
Dr Patrick Stowell
Dr Patrick Stowell’s team at The University of Sheffield is working on a project called: Cosmic rays for climate resilience.
“Our research takes advantage of natural radiation signals coming from the ground to monitor farm conditions without ever having to touch the soil. Our project seeks to co-develop a next generation of these low cost environmental measuring solutions directly with farmers, enabling their widespread use within precision agriculture.”
Dr David Riglar
Dr David Riglar leads a team in the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London on project called: Bacterial memory sensors towards precision ‘medicine’ for climate impacts.
“In our research, we harness the natural ability of bacteria to sense and respond to their surroundings by developing living biosensors. Through CSC we are exploring how these precision sensors can help us monitor and respond to changing soil and water conditions due to climate change, bringing a ‘personalised medicine’ approach to agriculture.”
Cohort 1
Our first cohort tackled the challenge of green catalysis—critical for decarbonising industry. Selected from over 10,000 papers across 13 UK universities, three outstanding teams received tailored support to explore routes to impact. Alongside them, our network of mentors brings expertise from academia, industry, and entrepreneurship, providing hands-on guidance and opening doors across the innovation ecosystem.
MEMSOA
Plasticycle
2D CRESS
Meet the Cohort 1 mentors
Anders Hakfelt
Jim Newton
Fadl Saadi
Building the network
Connecting people, solutions, and ideas across the climate innovation landscape.
We’re building an Innovation Pathways Directory to map the UK’s climate deep-tech ecosystem—highlighting researchers, support offers, and innovation hubs. This resource will help accelerators, venture builders, and industry partners discover new opportunities, foster collaborations, and scale impact. We welcome contributions and suggestions from across the community.
Get Involved
We’re expanding our search capabilities, growing our support offer, and building a network to accelerate climate solutions at scale. If you’re a researcher, innovator, or ecosystem builder interested in finding or supporting climate research, we want to hear from you. Join us as we bridge the gap between the lab and net-zero.
Climate Solutions Catalyst blog
Lessons learned: how to identify, support and translate academic research with climate innovation potential
In this blog, Nicole Alhadeff and Chris Waite outline lessons the team has learned over the past 18 months of the Climate Solutions Catalyst when it comes to identifying, supporting and helping translate early-stage academic research.
Unearthing ground-breaking solutions for climate adaptation and resilience
Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst (CSC) aims to accelerate the journey from academic discovery to climate innovation. Its first cohort has supported three research teams working in the field of green catalysis. As the CSC seeks to assemble its second cohort, Christopher Waite and Nicole Alhadeff from the team outline why they are turning their powerful search tool towards climate adaptation and resilience.
Unearthing the soul of climate innovation: introducing ALMa
Dr César Quilodrán-Casas, Advanced Research Fellow in Machine Learning, is part of Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst team. The CSC is building a novel tool with the power to unearth untapped academic research that has huge potential to tackle climate change if it can be supported to commercialise. In this blog, César deep dives into the team’s tool, ALMa, exploring what the CSC has been up to in the project’s first year and what’s on the horizon.
From the lab to zero emissions – how can we accelerate climate innovations out of academia?
Dr Christopher Waite and colleagues leading Undaunted’s Climate Solutions Catalyst (CSC) programme reflect on the need to proactively search UK research for new climate solutions and, in doing so, how they are opening up a new route into climate innovation for academics.
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