- Increased funding secured for 2027/28 fellowships - applications now open
The Royal Academy of Engineering has awarded its prestigious Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships to eight outstanding engineering researchers working on a wide variety of engineering challenges.
Research funded in this round includes improving the performance of surgical robots, developing soft robots for improved interaction with humans, and an artificial vision system inspired by the human retina.
Other projects include using quantum computing and AI to design devices to capture energy from bubbles for off-grid generation, investigating better reuse and recycling of electric vehicle components and more resilient X-ray detection techniques.
Research into Artificial Intelligence research includes developing trustworthy AI that can explain its rationale for designing safer structures, and designing controls to ensure AI can be deployed safely and securely in critical infrastructure systems.
The Fellowships, which are supported by the Leverhulme Trust, allow awardees to focus on full-time research for up to a year by covering the costs of a replacement academic to take over their teaching and administrative duties. This allows mid-career engineers to reinvigorate their research interests and also gives other junior academics an opportunity to gain valuable teaching and administrative experience by stepping in during the duration of the award.
The next round of fellowships opens for applications today and the award value for 2027/28 has been increased to a maximum of £70,000.
Professor Mark Sandler FREng, Chair of the RAEng / Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships panel, said: "The Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships programme has been invaluable for awardees’ career progression and profiles and I am delighted that the continuing generosity of Leverhulme Trust means we are able to increase the funding for future awardees. The programme has proved that having the time to dedicate to research without teaching or administrative constraints can have a positive impact on individual careers as well as on the advancement of research. Many of the programme’s alumni have gone on to secure senior academic positions, attracted further funding, forged significant collaborations in academia and industry in the UK and worldwide, and been elevated to leadership roles.”
The full list of 2026/27 RAEng/Leverhulme Trust Research Fellows is:
Dr Meisam Abdi, De Montfort University
Additively architected piezoelectric metamaterial muscles for sustainable soft robotics
Developing 3D-printed smart materials for artificial muscles that can move, sense and harvest energy, enabling sustainable soft robots.
Dr Md Rishad Ahmed, University of Nottingham
Reliability and second-life lifetime modelling of SiC power converters
Developing methods to assess and extend the working life of electric vehicle power electronics systems, enabling their safe reuse in renewable energy applications.
Dr Francesca Boem, University College London
Control methods for cyber-physical resilience of AI-enabled critical infrastructure systems
Investigating vulnerabilities introduced by AI and designing control methods to safely and securely deploy AI in critical infrastructure systems.
Dr Yaonan Hou, Swansea University
Revolutionising X-ray detection with ultra-wide bandgap β-Ga2O3
Unlocking the potential of beta-gallium oxide, a promising semiconductor for high-performance X-ray detection.
Dr Xing Liang, Kingston University London
Quantum AI-driven energy harvesting from cavitation devices
Exploring how quantum computing and AI can help design tiny devices that capture useful energy from bubbles formed in fast-moving liquids.
Dr Pedro Machado, Nottingham Trent University
REACT: retina-emulated anticipatory collision and tracking system
Developing a low-power artificial vision system inspired by the human retina to help machines detect motion, track objects and anticipate possible collisions in real time.
Dr Fangying Wang, University of Manchester
AI-augmented engineering reasoning: towards transparent, standards-compliant and explainable AI for structural design
Developing trustworthy AI that helps engineers design safer structures by explaining its reasoning and following established engineering standards.
Dr Liang Zhao, The University of Edinburgh
Surgical robot perception and navigation in deformable environments
Helping surgical robots perceive, map and navigate precisely and safely inside the human body, where soft tissues can move and change shape during the operation.
More information about the awardees’ research can be found here.
Notes for editors
Applications are now open for the next round of Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships. The deadline is 3 November 2026, at 5pm.
The maximum value of the award has increased to £70,000 from £57,500. This is comprised of £65,000 maximum for the replacement academic salary costs and £5,000 maximum for the research support allowance. A webinar will be held on 24 September 2:30–3:30 pm.
The Leverhulme Trust is an independent charity that seeks to fund ambitious blue skies research and scholarship, which has the potential to generate new ideas and research breakthroughs that benefit society. The Trust aims to support a diverse range of scholars in their educational endeavours. It focuses its efforts mainly in the UK, which has a world-class higher education research sector. Since its foundation in 1925, the Trust has provided grants and scholarships for research and education, funding research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries and prizes; it operates across all academic disciplines to support talented individuals as they realise their vision in research and professional training. Today, it is one of the largest all-subject providers of research funding in the UK, distributing approximately £120 million a year.
The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, we deliver public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics across engineering and technology. As a National Academy, we provide leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond. Our work is enabled by funding from the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, corporate and university partners, charitable trusts and foundations, and individual donors.