Grant winners – 16 February 2017

Royal Society

University Research Fellowships

• Award winner: Christian Byrnes
• Institution: University of Sussex
• Value: £296,648

Reaching a qualitatively new understanding of the post-Planck universe

• Award winner: Janet Lovett
• Institution: University of St Andrews
• Value: £322,991

Biological structure determination by EPR spectroscopy: the next steps

• Award winner: Richard Massey
• Institution: Durham University
• Value: £298,342

Astrophysics from above the Earth’s atmosphere

• Award winner: Daniel Thompson
• Institution: Swansea University
• Value: £436,629

Generalised dualities in string theory and holography

Economic and Social Research Council

Research grants

• Award winner: Kathleen Rastle
• Institution: Royal Holloway, University of London
• Value: £532,064

Uncovering the role of sleep in the acquisition of linguistic knowledge

• Award winner: Helen Sampson
• Institution: Cardiff University
• Value: £573,928

Religion in multi-ethnic contexts: a multidisciplinary study of global seafaring

• Award winner: Michael Morrison
• Institution: University of Oxford
• Value: £610,773

Biomodifying technologies and experimental space: organisational and regulatory implications for the translation and valuation of health research

• Award winner: Valerie Hazan
• Institution: University College London
• Value: £482,087

Speech masking effects in speech communication across the lifespan

National Institutes for Health Research

Health Technology Assessment grants

• Award winner: Adrian Taylor
• Institution: Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• Value: £1,821,614

A multi-centred trial of physical activity assisted reduction of smoking (TARS)

• Award winner: Siôn Glyn-Jones
• Institution: University of Oxford
• Value: £1,110,885

Managing avascular necrosis treatments: an interventional study (MANTIS)

• Award winner: Rebecca Gould
• Institution: University College London
• Value: £297,048

A feasibility study of acceptance and commitment therapy for older people with treatment-resistant generalised anxiety disorder (FACTOID)

In detail

Arts and Humanities Research Council – Fellowship

Award winner: Matthew Bevis
Institution: University of Oxford
Value: £189,045

Knowing Edward Lear

This project will involve a critical study of the writer and artist Edward Lear – best known for his nonsense poetry – and his work in relation to the socio-cultural and scientific contexts of his age. For instance, Matthew Bevis will consider how Lear’s fight with depression and epilepsy might have informed his positions within medical debates about body and mind. In particular, he will focus on the contradictory ways in which Lear perceived knowledge – as both illuminating and suffocating – and how he attempted to reconcile these perceptions within his art. This research will be the first to examine how Lear’s life experiences, surroundings and relationships affected his work. The project will result in a book, Knowing Edward Lear, as well as collaborations with the Natural History Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the BBC and other institutions.