World news story

South Africa awarded 15 Newton Advanced Fellowships

Researchers in Brazil, China, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey will collaborate with research partners in the UK.

This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government

The Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy and the Royal Society announced the first round of recipients of their new

research funding scheme, the Newton Advanced Fellowships. The scheme provides established international researchers with an opportunity to develop the

research strengths and capabilities of their research groups through training, collaboration and reciprocal visits with a partner in the UK.

Researchers in Brazil, China, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey will collaborate with research partners in the UK. It is anticipated the skills and knowledge

gained through these partnerships should lead to changes in the well being of communities and increased economic benefits for partner countries. Partner

agencies in participating countries are also offering their own schemes which UK researchers can apply for.

The recipients receive funding for diverse research projects which include studying the anthropogenic pollution effects on clouds in the Amazon; evaluating

the role of youth employability programmes in South Africa; understanding how risk behaviour shapes foreign capital flows to Turkey; designing

photocatalysts for solar fuels; working on child obesity in Mexico; examining the effects of affirmative action in college admission on social mobility in Brazil;

and a study on antibiotic resistance.

South Africa recipients and their UK partners are as follows:

Professor Hasani Chauke, University of Limpopo and Professor Richard Catlow, University College London

Computational Modelling for Titanium Development

Dr Karen Cohen, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town and Professor Munir Pirmohamed, University of Liverpool

Drug induced liver injury due to anti-tuberculosis treatment: predictive mechanism-based biomarkers and genetic associations.

Professor Keertan Dheda, University of Cape Town and Dr Taane Clark, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Using whole genome sequencing to identify genetic features of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that correlate with drug susceptibility and clinical

outcome in a prospective study of patients with XDR-TB.

Dr Nico Fischer, University of Cape Town and Professor Graham Hutchings, Cardiff University

Phase transformations of nano-particulate heterogeneous catalysts captured in-situ

Dr Lauren Graham, University of Johannesburg and Professor Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow

Youth transitions to work in South Africa: Evaluating the role of youth employability programmes

Dr Chandre Gould, Institute for Security Studies and Professor Brian Rappert, University of Exeter

Cataloguing Secrets, Transforming Justice: An Innovative Manuscript and an Interactive Archive

Dr Julia Goedecke, Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council and Professor Brian Walker,

University of Edinburgh

Non-communicable disease risk in black South Africans: dissecting the role of glucocorticoids.

Dr Agostino Pietro Maria Inguscio, University of Cape Town and Professor Deborah Oxley, University of Oxford

Establishment of the Programme in Global Economic History at UCT

Dr Pieter Levecque, University of Cape Town and Professor Andrea Russell, University of Southampton

Advanced X-ray and Fundamental studies of Pt electrocatalysts supported on doped SiC and B4C

Dr Lisa Micklesfield, University of the Witwatersrand and Dr Soren Brage, University of Cambridge

Physical activity and components of body composition and growth in cohorts of black South African participants at different stages in the life

course

Professor Marlien Pieters, North-West University and Dr Fiona Green, University of Surrey

The role of plasma levels and genetics of haemostatic factors in cardiovascular disease development in Africans

Professor Geo Quinot, Stellenbosch University and Professor Sue Arrowsmith, University of Nottingham

Developing the scholarship of African public procurement regulation

Dr Joseph Raimondo, University of Cape Town and Professor Colin Akerman, University of Oxford

Cellular mechanisms of epilepsy in neurocystercicosis

Dr Deborah Seddon, Rhodes University and Dr Andrew van der Vlies, Queen Mary University of London

An Arc to the Future: Preserving and Promoting Orature in the South African Literary Imaginary

Professor Stephanus Jacobus van Zyl Muller, Stellenbosch University and Dr Jonathan Eato, University of York

South African Jazz Cultures and the Archive

The Newton Advanced Fellowships are supported through the Newton Fund, a £375 million fund (£75 million a year for five years) which, through science and

innovation partnerships, aims to promote the economic development and welfare of poor people in developing countries. The fund is overseen by the

Department for Businesses Innovation and Skills (BIS) and delivered through 15 delivery partners in collaboration with 15 partnering countries.

The Fellowships awarded will last for up to three years and are support researchers across the natural sciences, medical sciences, social sciences and

humanities. Recipients will receive up to £37,000 for each year.

Further information on the scheme is available on each of the academies websites:

www.britac.ac.uk/newton-advanced-fellowships

www.acmedsci.ac.uk/careers/funding-schemes/newton-advanced-fellowships/

https://royalsociety.org/grants/schemes/newton-advanced-fellowships/

Updates to this page

Published 29 June 2015