2019-20 UCL-Wits Seed Funds recipients announced

25 March 2020

Eight projects were awarded joint funds from UCL and University of the Witwatersrand to support collaborative research initiatives

Exterior view of the Great Hall at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg

UCL and University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) have awarded just under £40,000 to eight projects in the first annual UCL-Wits seed funding call.

Applicants were invited to submit proposals for funds of up to £5,000 per project to support the development of research collaboration between UCL and Wits in the areas of material, energy and nanotechnology and migration.

Congratulations to all the successful 2019-20 applicants:

Lead UCL Applicant	Research Area	Project Summary
Dr Rachel King	Institute of Archaeology – SLASH	Examination of migration in archaeological thought and research, with a specific focus on southern Africa.
Dr Mark Buitelaar	Department of Physics and Astronomy – MAPS	Research into the development of Quantum information processors or Quantum Computers with a focus on the development of new types of quantum bits (Qubits).
Dr Jonathan Wilden	Department of Chemistry – MAPS	Investigation into the role of Peroxidasin (PXDN) in cancer progression, with the aim to develop a proof-of concept assay to screen for compounds that inhibit PXDN activity.
Prof David Scanlon	Department of Chemistry – MAPS	Research on the synthesis of new materials where their chemistry and physics is not well understood. Modelling the materials and corrrelating the results with experimental results will provide insight to the materials.
Prof Kwang-Leong Choy	Institute for Materials Discovery – MAPS	Collaboration on the synthesis and characterisation of advanced inorganic materials (quantum dots) that will be used to improve the power conversion efficiency of fully-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and thin films.
Dr Hanna Baumann	Institute for Global Prosperity – The Bartlett	Exploration of the links between migration and intra-urban divisions in Johannesburg, with a view to igniting an interdisciplinary conversation about walls and migrations in a range of postcolonial cities.
Dr Miriam Orcutt	Institute for Global Health – Population Health Sciences	Bringing together diverse, multidisciplinary perspectives on migration and health to inform future research and generate meaningful avenues for evidence-based policy in migration health.
Dr Philippa Hetherington	School of Slavonic and East European Studies	This project will focus on the connections between marriage, modern slavery, and human trafficking, with a specific emphasis on cases within Africa and Eastern Europe.

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