Northumbria University, Newcastle, among recipients of £2.25m Universities UK International (UUKi) funding

Northumbria’s Centre for International Development has been awarded prestigious Government funding to give three Palestinian academics the opportunity to work in the UK.

The project, which will take place in partnership with An-Najah National University in Nablus in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, will see three early career researchers with expertise in civil society and citizenship join Northumbria’s expert research team for a year. The initiative is being led by Professor Matt Baillie Smith, Director of Northumbria’s Centre for International Development, and draws on the research of Dr Mark Griffiths, a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University.

Dr Griffiths’s research in the Occupied Palestinian Territories focuses on the embodied aspects of the occupation in the West Bank. His collaboration with Dr Sana Al-Sarghali was a key factor in making this exciting project possible.

He said: “We’re particularly pleased to be awarded this grant because it gives research mobility and capacities to Palestinian academics.

“I’m excited at the prospect of bringing three capable scholars to come to work alongside us at the Centre for International Development at Northumbria.”

Northumbria is one of 17 universities to receive a share of £2.25m from the new UUKi Rutherford Fund Strategic Partner Grant Scheme, funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The new funding has been created to enable UK universities to bring early career researchers from international partner institutions to the UK; helping to build partnerships, attract global talent and strengthen the UK’s research base.

Professor Matt Baillie Smith, Director of Northumbria’s Centre for International Development, said the award was a reflection of the University’s world-leading expertise in volunteering and development.

Northumbria’s Centre for International Development is a dynamic group, bringing together academics, practitioners and students on issues of global poverty and inequality. The Centre’s specialist areas of focus include governance, environmental resources and sustainability, volunteering, and civil society, as well as participatory design and digital civics. For more information about the Centre click here.

Northumbria is a research-rich, business-focused, professional university with a global reputation for academic excellence. To find out more about our courses go to www.northumbria.ac.uk