The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) is pleased to announce the results of the 2017 round of the annual Research Development Fund, marking a direct investment in international, interdisciplinary research collaboration among WUN member universities of over £130,000.
A total of 14 projects, building capacity and communities of scholars, have been awarded seed funding to begin in early 2018, joining the 88 existing collaborative research programs engaging over 2,300 researchers and students in the Network.
Applications in the 2017 round were of such quality that half of all proposals were approved for funding after a rigorous review process. Applications are reviewed and selected in their universities, and then competitively reviewed across the network.
The WUN Research Development Fund (RDF), an international model of best practice in research development, began in 2009 with the specific aim of investing directly in collaborative research that catalyses innovation and builds our partnership. It provides seed funding to support the establishment of global research projects, enabling them to lay the groundwork for later approaches to national and international funding bodies.
Over eight years the RDF has invested more than £1.7 million across 154 research programs. This is in addition to the £60,000 we invest each year through our Global Challenge Fund and further investments in mature research programs via the WUN Sustainability Fund.
Professor John Hearn, Executive Director of WUN, noted “the RDF is a keystone initiative of WUN. Not only does it bring our partnership together in a very tangible way, but it also enables WUN to meet its ambition of fostering research that addresses global challenges including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework”.
Research programs that have been awarded funding in the 2017 round include:
- The effectiveness of health service/investment interventions aimed at reducing inequalities in health among older people in China: a longitudinal study
- Social innovation and elderly care
- An Intersectional Exploration of Religion and Gender-Based Violence: A Case Study of Accra in Global Context
- Resilient Peace: Exploring resilient peacebuilding actors, cultures and policy transfer in West Africa
- The trans-nationalisation of indigenous movements: The role of digital technologies
- The Role of Big Data in Addressing the Determinants of Non-communicable Diseases in the Ageing Era
- Wind or Solar? The Political Economy of Fuel Competition between Renewables
- Health Education Access and Mobility for Musicians: A global approach
- Marriage Migrants in Asia
- Communicating Good Health and Wellbeing: Promotion, Advocacy and Resilience
- African Solutions to African Problems-Translating Indigenous Systems, Plants and Microbial Biodiversity into Drug Candidates for Neglected Tropical Diseases
- “The Belt and Road” Green Development: International Culture, Climate Change, Energy Investment and Environmental Protection
- Impact of ocean warming and acidification on marine fish production
- Facilitating international research collaboration between economists working on the integration of renewable generation into electricity markets
Professor John Hearn, Executive Director of WUN, noted “the RDF is a keystone initiative of WUN. Not only does it bring our partnership together in a very tangible way, but it also enables WUN to meet its ambition of fostering research that addresses global challenges including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework”.
Further information on WUN research programs can be found here.
Review Panel
The WUN RDF 2017 Round was chaired by Professor David Hogg (Chair of the Academic Advisory Group) and led by Dr Mike Hasenmueller (General Manager, WUN).
We thank the WUN Review Panel, Ms Britta Baron (Alberta), Professor Nishan Canagarajah (Bristol), Professor Fanny Cheung (CUHK), Professor Jim Metson (Auckland), Professor Robyn Owens (UWA); and Global Challenge Chairs/Vice-Chairs Professor Caroline Dyer (Leeds), Professor Mark Hanson (Southampton), Professor Ngaire Kerse (Auckland), Professor Tore Sætersdal (Bergen), and Ms Anne Singleton (Bristol) and Professor Peter Smith (Southampton) for their critical participation in the review.
