WUN is pleased to announce the results of the Research Development Fund (RDF) 2024 round. These awards mark a direct investment of £200,000 in international collaborative research among WUN member universities. WUN’s capacity to assemble teams of researchers representative of the diversity of the network confers a distinctive advantage in tackling major research challenges, especially in areas where comparative analysis is important. Consistent with the WUN Strategic Plan priority to nurture research talent, 10 of the 20 successful projects will be led by early career researchers.
These newly awarded projects join 81 currently active WUN research projects.* Now in its 16th year, the WUN Research Development Fund has directly invested over £3.2 million to date in establishing research projects on problems of global significance, and on which member universities, working together, can make real progress.
Peter Lennie, Executive Director of WUN, said “The successful projects from this year’s competition are compelling examples of the breadth and depth of talent across the network. I’m especially pleased that half of the projects will be led by early career researchers, providing them a valuable – and in some cases first – opportunity to lead an international research team.”
*More information on active and completed WUN Research Projects can be found here.
RDF 2024 awarded projects (lead university in bold)
Academic Freedom as a Driver of Development? Regional Perspectives on the Roles of Academia
Research Team: University of Ghana; Mahidol University; Ruhr University Bochum
A Comparative Legal Analysis of International Human Rights and Use of Human Biospecimens in Research
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Ghana; University of Lausanne, University of Leeds; Mahidol University; Makerere University; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; University of Rochester; University of Tsukuba
A Cross-Cultural Study of Leisure’s Roles in Mental Health Support for Older Disaster Survivors
Research Team: University of Alberta; National Cheng Kung University; University of Tsukuba
Advancing EarthSense AI-driven Livestock Farm Management for Climate-Resilient Food Security
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Bristol; University of Leeds; Ruhr University Bochum; University of Technology Sydney
Algorithms for Fair Representation: Debiasing Large Language Models with Culturally-diverse Datasets
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Exeter; Mahidol University; Makerere University; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; University of Sheffield
An Analysis of Pathways to Justice for Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
Research Team: University of Auckland; University of Bristol; University of Technology Sydney
Artificial Intelligence for Surgical Training Towards Safer and Effective Sub-mucosal Dissection
Research Team: The Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Exeter; University of Leeds; Technológico de Monterrey
Biogas and Solar Energy Integration for Sustainable Milk Cooling in Offgrid Areas of Uganda & Mexico
Research Team: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Exeter; Makerere University; Technólogico de Monterrey; University of Sheffield
Climate mobilities in the Global South: comparative perspectives for adaptation policies
Research Team: University of Exeter; University of Ghana; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Enhancing Food Security Through Climate-smart Crop Protection in Africa
Research Team: University of Exeter; University of Ghana; University of Pretoria
Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on the Sustainability of Assessments in Higher Education
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Auckland; University of Cape Town; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Exeter; University of Ghana; University of Leeds; Mahidol University; Makerere University; University of Rochester; University of Technology Sydney
Evidence Gap Mapping on Transformative Foods for Sustainable Food Systems in Africa
Research Team: University of Ghana; University of Leeds; University of Pretoria; University of York
Green Hydrogen for Southern Africa’s Fair Energy Futures (GH2-SAFES)
Research Team: University of Cape Town; University of Ghana; Makerere University; University of Pretoria; Ruhr University Bochum; University of Tsukuba
Growing Up in Dense Cities: Understanding the Impact of Density on Children’s Health and Wellbeing
Research Team: University of Auckland; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Makerere University; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; University of Pretoria; University of Sheffield; University of Technology Sydney
(Inter-)national Audio-visual Industries and Religious Minorities: Policy and Best Practices
Research Team: University of Ghana; University of Leeds; Mahidol University; Makerere University
Magnetically-Controlled Tentacle Robots for Transcatheter Structural Heart Intervention
Research Team: The Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Leeds; University Technology of Sydney
N2O Production and Intelligent Mitigation in Three Types of Biogranule based Wastewater Systems
Research Team: University of Exeter; University Technology of Sydney; University of Tsukuba
Network Against Ageism: Nursing-Led Interventions for Inclusive Healthcare Systems
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Ghana; Mahidol University; Makerere University; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; University of York
Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Guided by Neural Biomarkers for Enhancing Neuromotor Performance
Research Team: University of Alberta; University of Auckland; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Technológico de Monterrey
Preferences and Barriers to Utilizing Digital Mental Health Interventions among Adolescents
Research Team: University of Bristol; University of Cape Town; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; University of Ghana; University of Leeds; University of Tsukuba
