Grant winners - 24 April 2014

Leverhulme Trust

Research Project Grants
Social sciences

• Award winner: David Ceri Jones
• Institution: Aberystwyth University
• Value: £115,5

George Whitefield (1714-70) and transatlantic Protestantism

• Award winner: Thomas A. Heslop
• Institution: University of East Anglia
• Value: £193,131

The medieval parish churches of Norwich: city, community and architecture

Sciences

• Award winner: David Salt
• Institution: University of Aberdeen
• Value: £225,631

Mapping radial ion-transport pathways in plant roots with cell-type specific resolution

• Award winner: Cesare Tronci
• Institution: University of Surrey
• Value: £252,676

From geometry to kinetic-fluid systems (and back)

European Commission

Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship

• Award winner: Lydia Hallis
• Institution: University of Glasgow
• Value: £280,000

Research on the history of Mars by analysis of meteorites – in collaboration with colleagues in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Research grants

• Award winner: Clive Gamble
• Institution: University of Southampton
• Value: £559,382

Crossing the threshold: the evolution of place and landscape in earliest prehistory

• Award winner: David Cooper
• Institution: University of Leeds
• Value: £466,856

The professional career and output of Trevor Jones

Economic and Social Research Council

ESRC/DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development (Poverty Alleviation)

• Award winner: Nicola Yeates
• Institution: The Open University
• Value: £500,000

Regionalism and poverty reduction: a comparative analysis of UNASUR and SADC

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

• Award winner: Steven Spoel
• Institution: University of Edinburgh
• Value: £467,309

Licensing transcription activator activity with ubiquitin time clocks

• Award winner: Donna Lloyd
• Institution: University of Leeds
• Value: £346,336

The feeling of what (does not) happen: a multimodal neurobehavioural account of somatosensory misperceptions

In detail

Natural Environment Research Council

Award winner: Philip Benson
Institution: University of Portsmouth
Value: £81,504

Hydro-fracture in the laboratory: linking fracture networks to permeability and seismicity using rock physics as a laboratory tool

The project will investigate the risks of hydraulic fracking – a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock. The method has drawn criticism over concerns it will cause earthquakes and water contamination. But Philip Benson says it is not a new process and has been used safely in oil and water wells. He does note that when fracking occurs, seismic energy is released in the form of a small earthquake that could “disturb the stability of local geological formation and cause distress to the local population.” His study will use rock physics to assess the risks and will look at how rocks deform and fracture when fluid is injected at high pressure.