Funding announced for Official Development Assistance International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2024

The British Academy is pleased to announce the successful applicants of the ODA International Interdisciplinary Research Projects programme 2024.

The programme supports international collaborations between early career researchers in the UK and early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries on internationally focused ODA-eligible research projects of an interdisciplinary nature.

The 28 successful research projects supported under this programme bring together innovative, interdisciplinary, and international ideas from across the humanities and social sciences, to offer valuable insights and perspectives on ODA-eligible research topics.

The awards provide opportunities for early-career researchers based in the UK and internationally to lead and manage international interdisciplinary research projects and teams. The funded projects will advance the research field, knowledge exchange, practice and/or policy development in the awardees’ chosen areas of ODA-eligible research, whilst helping to develop ways of communicating and collaborating in cross-disciplinary and multilingual working environments.

The programme is funded by the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT).

Professor Simon Goldhill, Foreign Secretary and Vice-President of the British Academy, welcomed the announcement of this new cohort of award-holders, commenting:

"We are delighted to announce the new ODA International Interdisciplinary Research Project awards. These exciting two year programmes bring together international early-career researchers across a wide range of disciplines to explore ODA-eligible research topics. Not only will the funding allow for advanced knowledge exchange and development in policy, but it also encourages new ways of communicating and collaborating in multilingual working."

The ODA International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2024 awardees are:

Please note: Awards are arranged alphabetically by surname of the grant recipient.

Research Team: Dr Laela Adamson, University of Strathclyde; Dr Ntimi Mtawa, University of Dar es Salaam; Dr Larry Ndivo, Machakos University

Language(s), Capabilities and Humanisation in Higher Education in Tanzania and Kenya: Developing and applying a multi-dimensional, interdisciplinary, and contextually relevant framework

Research Team: Dr Bayes Ahmed, University College London; Dr M. Sanjeeb Hossain, BRAC University; Dr Kajalie Shehreen Islam, University of Dhaka; Dr Umme Busra Fateha Sultana, University of Dhaka; Professor Nasir Uddin, University of Chittagong; Professor Palash Kamruzzaman, University of South Wales

Politics of Denial and Non-Recognition of Genocide

Research Team: Dr Farah Al Taji, Brunel University London; Dr Abdelrahman Zuraik, German Jordainian University; Dr Awele Achi, Brunel University London; Professor Yafa Shanneik, Lund University; Dr Syed Sardar Muhammad, Brunel University London; Dr Ibrahim Al-Jubari, Brunel University London

Doing Good, Growing Strong: Catalysing Economic and Social Impact in Jordan through Sustainable Social Enterprises.

Research Team: Dr Su Corcoran, Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Joyce Akinyi Akach, University of Nairobi; Professor Lilac Adhiambo, University of Nairobi; Dr Juliette Wilson-Thomas, Manchester Metropolitan University

Histories of Practice Za Kujiinua*: Co-designing across boundaries for youth resilience in Kenya

Research Team: Dr Archie Davies, Queen Mary University of London; Dr Diego de Matos Gondim, Universidade Federal Fluminense

Worlding Quilombo

Research Team: Dr Katharina De Vita, Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Wan Teng Lai, Universiti Sains Malaysia; Dr Teong Chuan Toh, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman; Professor Hooi Hooi Lean, Universiti Sains Malaysia; Professor Jin Hooi Chan, University of Greenwich; Dr Athena Piterou, University of Greenwich

Penang Living Lab for Advancing the Creative Economy (PLLACE)

Research Team: Dr Ayako Ebata, Institute of Development Studies; Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Khue, Vietnam National University of Agriculture; Dr Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh, Vietnam National University of Agriculture; Professor Nguyen Thi Dien, Vietnam National University of Agriculture; Dr Tong Van Loi, Vietnam National University Hanoi; Dr Vo Minh Vu, Vietnam National University Hanoi

Exploring Power Toward Sustainable Aquaculture Value Chains in Vietnam

Research Team: Dr Ben Eyre, University of East Anglia; Dr Laura Barasa, University of Nairobi; Dr Teddy Atim, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics; Dr Mario Schmidt, Busara Center for Behavioural Economics; Dr Ben Jones, University of East Anglia

Enumerating development: how interdisciplinary perspectives on the treatment of research officers can improve data for social transformation

Research Team: Dr Natasha Fothergill-Misbah, Newcastle University; Dr Mary Bitta, Aga Khan University; Dr Alastair Cole, Newcastle University

A canvas for change: co-producing art to reduce the stigma of neurological disorders in Kenya

Research Team: Dr Julian Hopwood, London School of Economics and Political Science; Dr Sophie Komujuni, Mountains of the Moon University

Sustainable tree use in Acholi, northern Uganda: A post-colonial approach to protecting an African community and environment

Research Team: Dr Hannah Hughes, Aberystwyth University; Dr Veronica Korber Gonçalves, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul/University of Brasília; Dr Marcela Vecchione Gonçalves, Federal University of Pará; Dr Diana María Valencia-Duarte, Aberystwyth University; Dr Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue, Radboud University; Professor Erzsebet Strausz, Central European University, Vienna

Centring Climate Agreement-Making in and from the Amazon Rainforest

Research Team: Dr Lilian Korir, University of Lincoln; Dr Esther Kioko, National Museums of Kenya; Dr Veronicah Ngumbau, National Museums of Kenya; Dr Prisca Tanui, Moi University; Dr Micheal Chesire, Moi University; Dr Matthew Hannaford, University of Lincoln

Histories and futures of under-utilised crops ‘reimagined’

Research Team: Dr Sarah Linn, Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Hala Ghanem, Hashemite University

Surfacing Zarqa: heritage, space and youth in Jordan’s industrial heartland

Research Team: Dr Laura Martin, University of Nottingham; Dr Jess Marah-Jones, University of Makeni

Women’s Rites: A Multidimensional Examination of Female Circumcision in Sierra Leone.

Research Team: Dr Syafiq Mat Noor, University of Leeds; Dr Zanisah Man, National University of Malaysia; Dr Siti Nur Diyana Mahmud, National University of Malaysia

Voices of the rainforest: Co-creating a traditional ecological knowledge-based climate change curriculum framework with indigenous communities in Malaysia

Research Team: Dr Caitlyn McGeer, Oxford University; Dr Mbongeni Msimanga, University of Johannesburg; Dr Mesfin Fikre Woldmariam, Addis Ababa University

Gender and Digital Repression: The Practice and Toll of Digital Repression on Women in the Authoritarian Turn

Research Team: Dr Jamie Mcphie, University of Cumbria; Dr Tran Hoai, Vietnam National University Hanoi; Dr Myles Lynch, VinUniversity, Hanoi; Dr Lisa Fenton, University of Cumbria; Dr David Clarke, University of Edinburgh

Outdoor Tourism and the Changing Cultural Narratives in Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Communities

Research Team: Dr Angela Minas, University of Manchester; Mr Ginbert Cuaton, National Research Council of the Philippines; Mr Dakila Kim Yee, University of the Philippines Tacloban; Dr Justin See, Sydney Environment Institute, The University of Sydney

Ahon: Stories and imaginaries of resilience and progress in a changing climate

Research Team: Dr Mara Cristina Nogueira Teixeira, Birkbeck, University of London; Dr João Bosco Moura Tonucci Filho, Federal University of Minas Gerais; Dr Renata Moreira Marquez, Federal University of Minas Gerais

Globalisation from below: livelihoods, trade and transnationalism in Brazil’s informal economy

Research Team: Dr John Nott, University of Edinburgh; Dr Blessings N. Kaunda-Khangamwa, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences

Population health in practice: towards a comparative historical ethnography of the Demographic Health Survey

Research Team: Dr Naomi Pendle, University of Bath; Dr Martin Ochaya, The Catholic University of South Sudan

Death during famine: the social and political meaning of deaths during famine

Research Team: Dr Geetha Reddy, Open University; Dr Nithiya Guna Saigaran, Universiti Malaya

Exploring coloniality and precarity engagements amongst Urban-Poor Resilient Malaysian Indian Women (EXCAPE- URMI)

Research Team: Dr Colin Reilly, University of Stirling; Dr Ahmmardouh Mjaya, University of Malawi; Dr Gift Kayira, University of Malawi; Professor Winford Masanjala, University of Malawi; Professor Kristinn Hermannsson, University of Glasgow

Multilingual markets: Investigating language skills for informal employment in Malawi

Research Team: Dr Beate Ringwald, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; Dr Boniface Ojok, Makerere University

Lok ber bedo study – A storytelling project with young people affected by conflict in Acholi sub-region, northern Uganda

Research Team: Dr Zahratu Shabrina, King’s College London; Dr Ramanditya Wimbadi, Resilience Development Initiative

Empowering resilience in a sinking city: a Decision Support System (DSS) for participatory knowledge exchange, urban simulation, and modelling

Research Team: Dr Holly Snape, University of Glasgow; Dr Dao Thi Tuyet Nhung, Vietnam National University

Valuing Caregivers in Vietnam: A Comparative Law and Society Exploration of Methods for Supporting Vietnam’s Informal Care Sector

Research Team: Dr Lauren Stentiford, University of Exeter; Dr Puja Ningsih, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta; Dr Nur Azizah, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta; Dr George Koutsouri, University of Exeter; Dr Eleni Dimitrellou, University of Exeter; Dr Zizheng Yu, University of Exeter

Disability Rights and In/Equalities in Higher Education

Research Team: Dr Trang Vu, University of Southampton; Dr Minh Tran, Da Nang University; Dr Sajeda Pervin, University of Southampton, Malaysia; Dr Jane Parry, University of Southampton; Professor Peter Rodgers, University of Southampton; Dr Brian Hracs, University of Southampton

Working as female entrepreneurs in the Global South. The gains, the losses and the future. Insights into the roles of culture, traditions, spirituality and relative geography

The awards listed are those for the 2024 ODA International Interdisciplinary Research Projects awards. The full list of award announcements can be found on the ODA International Interdisciplinary Research Projects past awards page.