British Academy funding for our international research innovation
27 Mar 2025
Awards for two teams working with partners to enhance research capability and a Global Innovation Fellowship for a colleague working with NGO in Kenya
Three University of Manchester teams have won British Academy funding for their international collaborations.
Daniel Jameson, Tshegofatso Seabi (both RDI) and Odile Masiá (GDI manager) were among 17 successful applicants to the Academy’s ODA Research Management Capacity Strengthening 2024 call.
Our University was the only institution to receive two awards from this new scheme, which requires teams to be led by PS colleagues working in research management.
Professor Charis Enns has been given a Global Innovation Fellowship for her work with the NGO, IMPACT in Kenya to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions to create new and deeper links beyond academia. This will enable knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.
Research Management Capacity Strengthening awards
This funding – supported from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – aims to reach beyond individual capacity and skills development to achieve sustainable transformation at an institutional level. Links are built and enhanced, ways of working are adapted, and best practice reached for all those involved in supporting future research projects. These awards will help to drive forward the University’s new Africa Strategy. The British Academy, like the University of Manchester, increasingly recognises that research-enabling PS staff play a crucial in research teams and in our research culture.
Daniel Jameson is working with Caroline Ngugi at Kenyatta Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to address healthcare challenges in Kenya through mutual learning and co-developed research questions.
Their project will include co-created training and interdisciplinary teams who are able to train others. This will help establish a robust administrative infrastructure at KUTRRH, promoting clinical research capabilities, and also broaden experience and expertise within our University infrastructure to work effectively on projects with partners in the global south.
Daniel said: “We’re incredibly excited to have this opportunity to work closely with our colleagues in Kenya on continuing to build the partnership between professional services teams, generating training materials that will strengthen our ability to support collaborations that positively impact the health and wellbeing of our populations.”
Tshego Seabi, Odile Masiá and their partners are working to improve research management capability at four universities: the University of Manchester, Addis Ababa University, Makerere University, and Mkwawa University College of Education.
Their project aims to establish a more productive and equitable research environment, addressing challenges such as inefficient administrative processes, limited funding management, and inadequate data systems.
Working with Ezana Amdework at Addis Ababa University, Deusdedit Rwehumbiza at Mkwana University College of Education and Paul Mukwaya at Makerere University, they will enable all four institutions to carry out significant research that tackles regional and global issues, encouraging cooperation and creativity in African research and advancing international participation and sustainable development.
Tshego said: “The research ecosystem often relies on expertise from across discipline areas, facilitated through collaboration between academic and PS staff. We are very fortunate that this project allows for equal opportunities to contribute, benefit, and share best practice across institutions to develop research support systems that are equitable, transparent and mutually beneficial.”
Global Innovation Fellowships
Professor Charis Enns, a Presidential Fellow in Socio-Environmental Systems at our Global Development Institute, is one of seven academics awarded a Fellowship by the British Academy as part of the ODA Global Innovation Fellowships funding scheme.
The 12-month fellowships are managed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), as part of part of the £337m International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), which is designed to enable potential and foster prosperity.
The aim of the fellowships is to provide opportunities to UK-based early- and mid-career researchers from across the humanities and social sciences to develop their skills, networks and careers in the creative and cultural, public, private and policy sectors. They'll address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions to create new and deeper links beyond academia, so enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.