The Leverhulme Trust Board is pleased to announce the fourth and final winner of its 2020 Leverhulme International Professorships award, which is awarded to Imperial College London’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in the Control and Power (CAP) Research Group.
The Leverhulme International Professorships are grants of up to £5m for a five year period to help universities attract a globally leading scholar to take up a permanent professorial post in the UK. The Trust Board introduced these grants as a means to support the UK higher education sector to maintain its strong international standing and to help universities continue to attract top talent. The quality of the bids was exceptionally high and the task of selecting just four was correspondingly challenging. Niall FitzGerald, Chairman of the Leverhulme Trust Board, said:
“Through the Leverhulme International Professorship scheme the Trust aims to maintain the UK’s international standing as a world renowned research destination; open to outstanding talent and ideas from around the globe.”
Under this scheme, the Trust has funded four world leading academics whose research will significantly enhance UK research capability.
The University of Birmingham appointed Professor Teresa Carlomagno to lead the Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) national facility. NMR allows for the study of 3D structures and interactions of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids and metabolites; providing scientists with insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying biological systems, human health, cancer progression and infectious diseases.
Professor Peter Bossaerts will be joining the University of Cambridge Faculty of Economics in Autumn 2022. Professor Bossaerts’ unique work has studied how the brain makes decisions, in part by using brain scanners to examine what is going through a person’s mind when they are presented with complex decisions, thereby helping establish the novel fields of neuroeconomics and decision neuroscience.
Professor Shivaji Sondhi joined the University of Oxford Department of Physics, appointed to the University’s Wykeham Professorship of Physics, a Leverhulme International Professorship and the Tencent Chair of Theoretical Physics. His appointment will open new areas of discovery in fundamental science and is envisaged to have a major impact on UK research excellence and the vibrancy of physics as a discipline in the UK.
Imperial College London has established a new research team on the technical system services needed to ensure a reliable and resilient electrical system as we transition to zero-carbon. This team will define the essential services that will ensure a reliable and cost-effective Global Power System Transformation, as the penetration of renewable resources in electricity grids pushes towards 100%. Professor Mark O’Malley will lead this team to further enhance the UK’s strong reputation in this area of research, which is of increasing national and international importance.
The Trust has recently completed the 2021 Leverhulme International Professorship round; five grants were awarded and details will be announced in due course.
The 2022 round will open for applications next week.