The International Office is pleased to announce successes for the University of Southampton in the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Research Development Fund (RDF) 2020 funding round on the theme of Sustainable Recovery.
The awards mark a direct investment in international collaborative research among member universities of approximately £180,000. As the world approaches investment in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing attention is being paid to doing this in ways that will be sustainable. The RDF 2020 thematic focus has presented the network with a unique opportunity to start projects that anticipate the major investments that will be made over the coming years, as well as to enlarge the impact and global recognition of WUN.
Professor Susan Gourvenec’s proposal as Principal Investigator, Global comparative assessment of the role of oceans in a sustainable future won and stood out for bringing several of our university-wide priority partners together. The project aim is to lead the creation of a global network and community of ocean custodians for knowledge-sharing on ocean sustainability. Professor Susan Gourvenec was particularly pleased with pulling together a great team for this important project, with multi-disciplinary expertise across eight countries and all five WUN-defined regions.
University of Southampton researchers that were Co-Investigators on several RDF bid collaborations were also successful. They are:
- Education in a Warming World: A Collaborative Research Network on Education and Climate Change led by UCDublin, with SES Professor Marcus Grace and Dr Andri Christolodou, Southampton Education School
- Health & Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young People across the Socioeconomic Ladder: A Cross-Country Comparative Study led by The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with Professor Mary Barker and Dr Sofia Strömmer, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit
- Leveraging digital healthcare experiences for post-pandemic non-communicable disease research – a multidisciplinary network engaging Brazil, Ghana and the UK led by Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, with Professor Michael Head and Professor James Batchelor, Faculty of Medicine
- Life Below Water: Using Fish as Global Indicators of Microplastics led by UMass Amherst, with Professor Andy Cundy, School of Ocean and Earth Science
Peter Lennie, Executive Director of WUN, said “This year’s applications, focused on the challenge of sustainable recovery, were particularly strong. They show very clearly the value that diverse teams drawn from partner universities can contribute to solving problems of real significance.”
