Economic and Social Research Council
Research Grants
- Award winner: Victoria Canning
- Institution: Open University
- Value: ?105,328
Gendered experiences of social harm in asylum: Exploring state responses to persecuted women in Britain, Denmark and Sweden
- Award winner: Katherine Margaret Dommett
- Institution: University of Sheffield
- Value: ?153,392
Renewing party politics? Digital innovations in political campaigning
- Award winner: Samuel Vincent Wass
- Institution: University of East London
- Value: ?143,692
What is the difference between “good” and “bad” stress? Understanding possible effects of socio-economic status on learning
- Award winner: Giacomo Persi Paoli
- Institution: RAND Europe Community Interest Company
- Value: ?80,440
Behind the Curtain: an investigation of the illicit trade in firearms and explosives on the dark net
Australian Research Council
Discovery Projects
- Award winner: Andrew Herries
- Institution: La Trobe University
- Value: A$328,000
Evolving landscapes of our early South African ancestors
- Award winner: Colette Boskovic
- Institution: University of Melbourne
- Value: A$402,500
Enhancing single-molecule magnets
- Award winner: Michael McDonnell
- Institution: University of Sydney
- Value: A$211,000
War stories and the meaning of the American Revolution
Leverhulme Trust
Research Grants
- Award winner: Ruth Gregory
- Institution: Durham University
- Value: ?192,413
Challenging the standard model with black holes
- Award winner: Alistair McGregor
- Institution: Oxford Brookes University
- Value: ?160,246
How to build a spider: regulation of segmentation in Parasteatoda tepidariorum
- Award winner: John Divers
- Institution: University of Leeds
- Value: ?165,945
Thinking counterfactually: How would have been reveals what is and what must be
In detail
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Award winner: Paul David Fraser
Institution: Royal Holloway, University of London
Value: ?477,940
Optimisation of tomato fruit carotenoid content for nutritional improvement and industrial exploitation
The bright colours of most flowers, fruits and vegetables are caused by organic pigments, such as carotenoids. Carotenoids – which are responsible for the orange of carrots and the yellow of daffodils – are vital constituents of a healthy human diet, dissipating certain types of molecules that cause damage to the body. They are desirable not just to the food industry but also to the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries; although their commercial production is far from cheap or environmentally friendly. This project will focus not on producing more carotenoids but rather on how to retain them. Recent technological developments have allowed researchers to identify the enzyme, CCD4, that is responsible for degrading carotenoids. The team will investigate how the pigments are broken down, and will use gene editing technology to develop plants that can produce less CCD4 and, therefore, retain more useful carotenoids.