Exeter’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Strategy commended

The Global Challenges Research Fund  (GCRF) is a £1.5bn investment by the UK government to deliver cutting edge research and ensure that UK research takes a prominent role in addressing challenges faced by developing countries.

Exeter is one of a number of higher Education institutions helping to deliver GCRF, the aim of which is to conduct cutting-edge research that will assist strengthening global peace, security and governance, promoting global prosperity, and tackling extreme poverty.

Now, Exeter’s strategic approach has been commended by Research England as one of the 10 best exemplars of engagement with the aims of GCRF funding.

In the commendation, Research England said: “The University of Exeter’s overall GCRF strategy was very clear, especially the detail they provided on illustrative research awards that will be eligible to receive GCRF to meet full economic costs, demonstrating that detail and specific information can be provided prospectively.”

Professor Brian Rappert, Chair of the GCRF Strategy Group at the University of Exeter said: “We are delighted that our 3-year GCRF QR strategy has received a commendation from Research England.

“These funds will help ensure that Exeter’s cutting edge-research will continue to tackle complex global development challenges and, in so doing, create meaningful social and economic outcomes for people living in the world’s poorest regions.”

The University is working on numerous GCRF projects covering a vast array of themes, including: using instrumented unmanned aerial systems to collect and collate pertinent information about unfolding flooding disasters in India; using historical and epidemiological approaches to understanding non-communicable diseases in the Caribbean region studying the growing and under-regulated aquaculture (fish and shell fish production) sector within Asia, and the growing use of antibiotics within this important sector of global food production; and the politics of response to the refugee crisis in Lebanon.

The Global Challenges Research Fund is an initiative from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and operates across a number of delivery partners including: the UK Research Councils, the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Society, British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and UK Space Agency.