Reading wins £3.3m in research grants in January

University of Reading coat of arms

Researchers at the University of Reading secured more than £3.3 million in research grants and awards in January.

A total of 25 research projects were confirmed in the first month of 2017, with a total value of £3,329,759 – an average of more than £130,000 per project.

Steve Mithen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for research, said: “Another strong month for research grants shows that funders share our belief that Reading researchers are among the best in the world.

“Congratulations to everyone who is beginning work on new research projects. I look forward to hearing more about their work, and seeing how their research changes people’s lives for the better.”

Among those winning funding in January were…

  • Dr Giacomo Zanello, from Agriculture, Policy and Development, was awarded £187,233 by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for a project that will use portable fitness trackers to assess the nutritional needs of farming families in Ghana, India and Nepal.
  • Professor Jonathan Bignell, in Film, Theatre & Television, won £254,394 of an £813,000 AHRC grant to explore how Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter’s work has influenced the development of British film, TV and radio over the past 60 years.
  • Dr Mai Sato, from Law, won £115,385 from the European Commission to explore how Japanese civil society engagement on fundamental human rights influences Japan’s continuing use of the death penalty.
  • Dr Kou Murayama, in Psychology, was awarded close to £1million from the Leverhulme Trust for his work on motivation, to explore how people motivate themselves without incentives from outside.

Other academics winning awards in January were: Darren Juniper, Simon Potts, Peter Dorward and Andrew Daymond (Agriculture), Theo Marinis and Christos Pliatsikas (Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences), Julie Lovegrove (Food), Ruvi Ziegler and Rosa Freedman (Law), Maksim Belitski (Henley Business School), Sue Grimmond, Reinhard Schiemann, Keith Morrison, Nick Klingaman, and Christopher Merchant (Meteorology), Al Edwards (Pharmacy), Nat Hansen (Philosophy), Tom Long (Politics and IR), David Stern (Statistical Services Centre), and Steve Mithen (Archaeology).

Funding came from government departments, UK research councils, European agencies, charities and businesses.

Full details of all awards are available here (requires University of Reading staff log-in details)