Apex awards: 2020 recipients announced and 2021 round now open

Eight researchers and their collaborators have been awarded funding in the 2020 round of the APEX awards. The grants, which promote collaboration across science, engineering, social sciences and humanities, are jointly awarded by the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, with the generous support of the Leverhulme Trust.

The APEX award scheme offers up to £100,000 to researchers wanting to pursue interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven research that benefits wider society.

This year’s cohort also includes the first recipients of additional funding, worth £10,000, to support researchers to deliver public engagement activities related to their APEX award. 

The eight successful applicants are:

Dr Philip Cox
University of York
Functional morphology and the biomechanics of feeding in squirrels
Awarded additional funding towards public engagement activities

Dr Simon Gill
University of Leicester
What controls magma pathways through the Earth’s crust?

Professor Christine Hine
University of Surrey
Emergent everyday ethics in infrastructures for smart care
Awarded additional funding towards public engagement activities

Dr Jennifer Hiscock
University of Kent
The role of qualitative research approaches in enhancing interdisciplinary teams’ reflexivity and creativity in the gendered environment of supramolecular chemistry
Awarded additional funding towards public engagement activities

Dr Marco Iglesias
University of Nottingham
Thermophysical imaging for the characterisation of buildings’ walls thermal performance

Dr Lisa Mol
University of the West of England, Bristol
Remote scientific support for sustainable conservation of heritage damaged by explosives
Awarded additional funding towards public engagement activities

Dr Douglas Stewart
University of Leeds
Probing biogeochemistry of alkaline waste impacted systems

Dr Jamie Ward
Goldsmiths, University of London
Exploring social interaction using theatre and wearable sensing
Awarded additional funding towards public engagement activities

The 2021 APEX award round is now open for applications, and the additional funding for public engagement will also be available to the successful 2021 applicants. Further details about the APEX award scheme are available on the website and via a webinar for prospective applicants on 7 September 2020 at 11am. For further information please contact apex@royalsociety.org.