14 Oct UGPN Announces Funding for Nine New Research Projects
The University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) announced funding for nine new research projects in the eighth round of UGPN research pump prime funds in June 2019. In total, 36 applications were received including four bids involving all four UGPN partners, 8 trilateral bids and 24 bilateral proposals. These nine projects take the UGPN’s total to 64 research projects funded via the UGPN Research Collaboration Fund (RCF) since its inception in 2011/12.
Research projects with a focus on global challenges were proposed from UGPN colleagues across the range of subject areas, from medical sciences, engineering, public policy, and education. After a very competitive selection process at university and then network level, nine projects emerged as successful. Two large-scale consortia involving all four UGPN partner universities will investigate key challenges: one on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for sustainable project management, and another taking a global approach to tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Two trilateral projects will investigate other very topical challenges relating to sustainable transport via powertrain systems for electric vehicles, and a key public health concern: Visceral Leishmaniasis, which is a debilitating tropical disease. Five bilateral projects will focus on battery technologies, mental health, public policy issues around UN SDGs, genomics, and digital literacy in children.
The successful projects will receive UGPN seed funding for a year, and all have clear plans for scale-up and further development of the projects together with external funding to take the research forward and create real impact.
The nine successful RCF projects:
| Project title | Type | Partners | Principal Investigator(s) |
| Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Project Management | Quadrilateral | NCSU, USP, UOS, UOW | A/Prof Hoa Khanh Dam, University of Wollongong Co-PI: Professor Nigel Gilbert, University of Surrey |
| UGPN Consortium to Tackle the Global Burden of Antimicrobial Resistance | Quadrilateral | NCSU, USP, UOS, UOW | Dr. Sid Thakur, North Carolina State University Co-PI-Dr. Johnjoe McFadden, University of Surrey |
| Integrated safety and control of powertrain system for electric vehicles | Trilateral | NCSU, UOS, UOW | University of Wollongong: Professor Haiping Du Co-PI: Dr Guohong Tian, University of Surrey |
| Optimizing control interventions for Visceral Leishmaniasis in multiple settings | Trilateral | NCSU, UOS, UOW | Dr. Joaquin M. Prada, University of Surrey |
| Development of Novel Liquid Sodium-ion Battery for Grid and Off-grid Applications | Bilateral | UOS, UOW | Dr. Yunlong Zhao, University of Surrey |
| Disentangling the relationship between cannabis and psychosis | Bilateral | UOS, UOW | A/Prof Emma Barkus, University of Wollongong Co-PI: Dr Oliver Mason, University of Surrey |
| Polyploid Genomic Tool Development | Bilateral | NCSU, USP | Prof Zhao-Bang Zeng North Carolina State University Co-PI: Antonio Augusto Franco Garcia University of São Paulo |
| UN´s Sustainable Development Goals: Embracing tensions and synergies in sustainability grand challenges indicators | Bilateral | UOS, USP | Dr Stelvia Matos University of Surrey |
| Using Digital Literacy Tools to Document Young Children’s Understanding of Place | Bilateral | NCSU, UOW | A/Prof Angela Wiseman |