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2021 Philip Leverhulme Prize Winners

Leverhulme Trust awards £3 million to 30 outstanding researchers across the UK
 

The Leverhulme Trust has announced the winners of the 2021 Philip Leverhulme Prizes. Chosen from over 400 nominations, the Trust offered five prizes in each of the following subject areas: Classics; Earth Sciences; Physics; Politics and International Relations; Psychology; Visual and Performing Arts.
 

Now in its twentieth year, this scheme commemorates the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip, Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Lever, the founder of the Trust. The prizes recognise and celebrate the achievement of exceptional researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future careers are exceptionally promising.
 

Anna Vignoles, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, said:

“I am delighted that we have been able to award these prestigious prizes to such a stunningly talented group of academics. This round was more competitive than ever and the judges had an incredibly difficult task. This is evident from the achievements of the winners, who are working on a very diverse set of topics, from the physics of dark matter to climate science, from research into policing and inequality through to participatory art.”

Each prize is now worth £100,000 and thirty are awarded annually. They may be used for any purpose that advances the prize winner’s research. Detailed citations on each of the winners will be published in due course.
 

Classics

Dr Tom Geue, School of Classics, University of St Andrews, for his work on Latin literature between 50 BCE and 200 CE, especially anonymous texts, slavery and literature in the early Roman principate.

Dr Theodora Jim, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham, for her work on ancient Greek history, specialising in ancient Greek religion.

Dr Giuseppe Pezzini, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, for his work on Latin Literature, Greek and Roman drama, Latin linguistics, medieval Latin, reception, history of classical scholarship, digital humanities and theory of fiction.

Dr Henry Stead, School of Classics, University of St Andrews, for his work on classical reception studies.

Dr Kathryn Stevens, Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, for her work on ancient history; Greek, Mesopotamian and Hellenistic.
 

Earth Sciences

Dr Nicolas Brantut, Earth Sciences, University College London, for his work on the physics of rocks and how rock deformation processes drive large scale geological phenomena, such as earthquakes. 

Dr Andrea Burke, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, for her work on isotope geochemistry and paleoclimate.

Dr Paula Koelemeijer, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, for her work on geophysics and seismology.

Dr Erin Saupe, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, for her work on palaeobiology, geology, biology, ecology and climate science.

Dr Nem Vaughan, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, for her work on greenhouse gas removals, climate change, earth system science, feasibility assessment, society and governance.
 

Physics

Dr Jayne Birkby, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, for her work on observational astrophysics and exoplanets.

Dr Radha Boya, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, for her work on unravelling the properties of fluids under atomic-scale confinement, using angstrom-scale atomically smooth capillaries made from two-dimensional materials.

Dr Denis Martynov, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, for his work on astrophysics: gravitational-wave detection and dark matter searches via quantum measurements.

Dr Jonathan Matthews, School of Physics, University of Bristol, for his work on integrated quantum photonics, quantum enhanced sensing and measurement, quantum imaging and quantum walks and coherent transport.

Dr Samuel Stranks, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, for his work on the optical and electronic properties of emerging semiconductor materials for transformative optoelectronic applications.
 

Politics and International Relations

Dr Teresa Bejan, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, for her work on political theory and history of political thought.

Dr Christopher Claassen, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, for his work on political behaviour, comparative politics and political methodology.

Dr Graham Denyer Willis, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, for his work on everyday patterns of political order with attention to policing and inequality, via ethnography and a focus on Brazil.

Dr Janina Dill, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, for her work on analytical philosophy, legal and IR theory with the rigorous empirical study of war in international relations.

Dr Inken von Borzyskowski, Department of Political Sciences, University College London, for her work on domestic politics of international relations, specifically international organisations(IOs), including IO democracy assistance and state exit from IOs.
 

Psychology

Dr Jennifer Cook, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, for her work on social cognition, autism studies and cultural evolution.

Dr Jim A.C. Everett, School of Psychology, University of Kent, for his work on experimental social psychology; moral psychology; experimental philosophy. 

Dr Tobias Hauser, Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, for his work on experimental psychology and decision neuroscience.

Dr Patricia Lockwood, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, for her work on psychological and neural basis of social cognition and behaviour.

Dr Netta Weinstein, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, for her work on social, motivational and experimental psychology.
 

Visual and Performing Arts

Dr Jennifer Coates, School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, for her work on film studies, visual art and Japanese cultural studies.

Dr Mohamad Hafeda, Leeds School of Architecture, Leeds Beckett University, for his work on socially engaged participatory art. 

Dr Lonán Ó Briain, Department of Music, University of Nottingham, for his work on ethnomusicology, music and minorities, global histories of music, musical infrastructures and audio technologies, sound and media studies and Southeast Asian Studies.

Dr Martin O’Brien, School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London, for his work on live art, a subsidiary of visual and performing arts and its intersections with disability studies. 

Dr Annebella Pollen, Centre for Design History, University of Brighton, for her work on visual art, visual culture and history of the visual arts (particularly photography, fashion and design).

In 2022 the Trust will invite nominations for prizes in: Archaeology; Chemistry; Economics; Engineering; Geography; Languages and Literatures. Further information regarding the nomination process is available here.
 

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