Research boost award for international links

Nine researchers have been recognised in The Royal Society of Edinburgh’s (RSE) award of £1,800,000 to researchers in Scotland - funded by the Scottish Government, through the RSE Saltire Research Awards.

A further seven academics have been announced as recipients of a RSE Research Awards programme - awarding £836,000 in research funding, with 10 of the 15 Scottish universities represented by the awardees.

International partnerships

The awards support research projects spanning a number of countries.

The RSE Saltire Awards has a specific focus to support research initiatives between Scotland and Europe.

The RSE Research Awards programme includes collaborations between researchers in Scotland and in Brazil, Indonesia and the United States.

Research themes

The RSE investment will enable researchers to build partnerships and strengthen collaborations to tackle research across a range of themes including the digital world, human behaviour and legal questions.

In announcing the awards the RSE said the funding also nurtures promising talent, which will be of lasting benefit to the individuals and communities concerned and to broader society.

The RSE Saltire Awards support early career researchers and provide networking opportunities across all career stages.  

Research fellowships

Dr Rebecca Collins of Edinburgh College of Art has been awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh Saltire Early Career Fellowship to join the Instituto de Física Teórica in Madrid, Spain for 12 months from January 2022.

Dr Collins received the award for the project ‘Parameters for Understanding Uncertainty: Creative Practice and Sonic Detection as Strategies for Scientific Outreach (P4UU)’.

Three researchers were awarded RSE Saltire Early Career Fellowships (PhD).  

Ismaël Maazaz of the School of Social and Political Science, in collaboration with the University of Lyon, won a Fellowship for a project looking at a comparative analysis of water supply schemes in Central African cities.

Cristina Moreno Lozano of the School of Social and Political Science, in collaboration with the University of Seville, received a Fellowship for the project, ‘Optimizing antibiotics: an ethnography of antibiotic optimisation interventions, medical work and resistant microbes’.

Aziz Ozturk of Edinburgh Law School, in collaboration with the University of Hamburg, was awarded a Fellowship for research into the authority of company directors to adopt anti-takeover defences in Turkish law, with a comparative analysis of German takeover Law.

Networking awards

Two researchers were awarded RSE Saltire Facilitation Network Awards. Professor Anne-Maree Farell, of Edinburgh Law School, was recognised for the project, ‘When Borders Change: Public Health, Trade and the Role of Law in the UK and Ireland’. 

And Dr Niki Vermeulen, of the School of Social and Political Science, was awarded for the project, ‘Geographies of scientific collaboration (GEOCOLLAB)’.

RSE Saltire facilitation workshops awards were awarded to Dr Raphaële Xenidis of the School of Law for EqualGo, a toolkit to improve the enforcement of EU non-discrimination law.

Workshop grants

Professor Michela Massimi, of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences also received a workshop award for the project, ‘Scientific knowledge across jurisdictions, traceability, access and benefit sharing (ABS), scientific policy’.

An RSE Saltire international collaboration award was won by Dr Ulrich Schmiedel of the School of Divinity for the project, ‘Welcoming the Stranger: Resources for a European Multi-Faith Ethics of Migration’.

The RSE/Scottish Funding Council/Scottish Government Saltire Awards scheme has been tremendously successful. Collaboration across institutions, sectors, and geographical borders is the bedrock of high quality and impactful research. It is highly encouraging to see the diverse range of topics that the RSE Saltire Awards programme is facilitating and the number and range of collaborations between Scottish and EU-based researchers being nurtured.

Professor Charles W. J. Withers FBA FRSE FAcSS

As part of the RSE Research Awards Programme, research fellowships have been awarded to two researchers.

Dr Lauren Hall-Lew of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Languages Sciences, was successful for her project, Our Stories, Ourselves: Narratives of Covid-19 from Edinburgh and the Lothians

Dr Thomas Russ of the School of Philosophy Psychology and Language Sciences, received an award for Partners in Research: collaboration at the heart of clinical dementia research

A Research Workshop Grants has been awarded to Dr Sebnem Susam-Saraeva of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures for a workshop on translating informed consent in Scottish maternity services.

Dr Silvia Paracchini, University of St Andrews is the recipient of a workshop award and will be working in collaboration with Dr Michelle Luciano of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences for a workshop on specific learning disorders in Scotland.

Research specialisms

RSE Small Research Grants have been won by Dr Itandehui Jansen of Edinburgh College of Art for his research into the adaptation of an ancient Mixtec pictorial text to a contemporary film and developing decolonial approaches.

Dr Benjamin Molineaux, of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences received a grant for research into a corpus of sound changes for Older Scots.

Dr Lori Watson, of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, was successful for a pilot study into the New Traditional School in Scotland and Dr Jonathan Wild, also of the School of Languages,Literatures and Cultures, received funding for research into a scholarly edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Complete Brigadier Gerard stories.

The RSE Research Awards programme is vital for sustaining the knowledge and talent pipeline in our vibrant research and innovation sector across the length and breadth of Scotland. Funding enables awardees to deepen their research into significant global challenges, to support career development, and to make significant benefits to society and the economy. The RSE sends its congratulations to each of the award winners and wishes them good fortune in the conduct and outcomes of their research.

Professor Emerita Anne Anderson OBE FRSE

Royal Society of Edinburgh

Saltire Awards

Research Grants

Image courtesy of the Royal Society of Edinburgh