University of Lincoln Commended for Plans to Tackle Global Research Challenges
5 December 2018
The University of Lincoln, UK, has been commended for its cutting edge approach in tackling global research challenges. From developing low-cost food technologies to improving water health, the University’s strategy to create projects that will help benefit developing communities has been hailed as best practice by Research England. The strategy was submitted to the Global […]
The University of Lincoln, UK, has been commended for its cutting edge approach in tackling global research challenges.
From developing low-cost food technologies to improving water health, the University’s strategy to create projects that will help benefit developing communities has been hailed as best practice by Research England.
The strategy was submitted to the Global Challenges Research Fund which is part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. The Government has allocated £58m from this fund to Research England to distribute to English universities who received Quality-related Research (QR) funding in the 2018-19 academic year.
More than 100 universities submitted strategies and the University of Lincoln, UK, is one of only 10 who submitted what Research England described as ‘exemplary strategies’ and said: “The University of Lincoln’s strategy has a clear link to their overall institutional strategy and is clear and concise in identifying specific activities that will be undertaken and the developing countries they will benefit”.
The University of Lincoln has been awarded £136,436 from the fund to split between two major research projects working with communities predominantly in India and Africa.
Global SCOPE – Supply Chain Optimisation and Engagement, led by Mark Swainson, Deputy Head for Higher Education and Research at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing, will examine the food supply chain in an effort to come up with ways to reduce poverty by focusing on understanding and developing low-cost technologies to reduce food waste.
The Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health (LCWPH) has been purposely configured to facilitate a step change in water health and sustainability science and the GCRF will be used to develop a regional hub for water and planetary health in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) with an initial focus on the Ganga River and its tributaries in India. Key aspects of the plan will include forging relationships with communities globally, developing solutions-based research that will have a real impact on a significant scale and change the lives of some of the world’s poorest communities.
Professor Andrew Hunter, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln, said: “Our strategy is aligned with an overarching aim of the University which is to identify and address opportunities and challenges presented by the rapidly changing world.
“International research and innovation is critical to achieving this.”