Eight researchers have been awarded funding for innovative, curiosity-driven, interdisciplinary research projects in the 2024 round of the APEX awards.
The awards will provide up to £100,000 for established independent researchers to collaborate with partners from different disciplines across the sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. The grants are jointly awarded by the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, and funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
From the next round, opening on 2 October, researchers will be able to apply for up to £200,000 to support their projects. This can include costs to contribute to research assistants and technical support as well as requests for funding for public engagement work related to the project.
This year’s funded projects are:
Dr James Burridge
Dynamic spatial modelling and inference for language change
Lancaster University
Dr Selvino de Kort
Resounding calls: The impact of enclosure design on zoo soundscapes
Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Bastien Dieppois
Foreseeing Management of Emerging Unprecedented Hydroclimatic Extremes to Embrace Resilience in Sub-Saharan African Communities
Coventry University
Dr Ksenija Dvurecenska
Would you trust a simulation? Communicating (un)certainty and establishing confidence in virtual testing
University of Liverpool
Professor Gabriel Egan
Shakespeare's Textual Variations: New Insights from Information Theory
De Montfort University
Dr Joseph Martin
The Soft Side of Physics
Durham University
Professor Igor Potapov
De Novo Algorithmic Crystal Structure Prediction for Material Design
University of Liverpool
Dr Bo Yao
Laying the Groundwork for EEG Classification of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: Multi-Objective Feature Attribution in Explainable Machine Learning for Inner Speech
Lancaster University
The APEX Awards have funded 49 interdisciplinary research projects across the UK since launching in 2017. Researchers supported through this grant have used the funding to address complex challenges where solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research.
Applications for the 2025 round will open on 2 October 2024 and close on 27 November.
Notes for editors
The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. We invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.
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The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, as it has been since its foundation in 1660, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.
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The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.
The Leverhulme Trust. Since its foundation in 1925, the Leverhulme Trust has provided grants and scholarships for research and education, funding research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes; it operates across all the academic disciplines, the intention being to support talented individuals as they realise their personal vision in research and professional training. Today, it is one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK, distributing approximately £100 million a year.
@LeverhulmeTrust
For further information, please contact:
Volter Rechardt
Media and PR Officer at the British Academy
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Pippa Cox
Media Communications Manager at the Royal Academy of Engineering
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Molly Lowe
Assistant Press Officer at the Royal Society
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