Curiosity-Driven Research Awards 2026
Research Committee launched a new fund to support curiosity-driven research providing researchers with the opportunity to apply for funding to connect and collaborate on ambitious, novel and exploratory ideas which have the potential to scope, seed and grow new research directions and breakthroughs.
For the 2026-27 call 45 applications were received and 16 awards were made.
| PI | School | Project Title | Type |
| Siddharth Banka | Biological Sciences | RNUopathies Network: Towards Diagnosis, Mechanisms and Treatment | External Network |
| Michel De Cian | Natural Sciences | 4D tracking at the micrometer scale | Focused Discussion and Writing |
| Elena Gramellini | Natural Sciences | A Matter of High Frequencies: Building a Quantum Listener to the Dark Cosmos | External Network |
| Deljana Iossifova | Environment, Education and Development | Architecture against inevitability (What if nothing can be otherwise?) | External Network |
| Marianne Johnson | Natural Sciences | New Frontiers of Semigroup Theory | External Network |
| Rachel Lennon | Biological Sciences | Matrix Unlocked: A Community Toolkit for Matrix Biology | External Network |
| David Lewis | Natural Sciences | The Manchester High Entropy Materials Network | Internal Ideation Network |
| Mingrui Liao | Biological Sciences | Unravelling a Hidden Physical Defense Action: How Do Pathogens Use Extracellular Vesicles to Evade Membrane-Active Antimicrobials? | External Network |
| Apala Majumdar | Natural Sciences | Liquid Crystals for Animate Systems | External Network |
| Sarah Mander | Engineering | Enabling Proactive Resilience in Our Communities | External Network |
| Johan Oldekop | Environment, Education and Development | The future of land: overlapping claims, competing futures, and a new research agenda | Focused Discussion and Writing |
| Laura Sheard | Health Sciences | Advancing Systems-Level Implementation Science: A UK-US Collaboration | External Network |
| Meini Su | Engineering | Development of life-cycle sustainable construction systems through digital integration of conventional and innovative materials and technologies | External Network |
| David Topping | Natural Sciences | The Autonomous AI Environmental Scientist: From Atmospheric Intelligence to Ecosystem Action | External Network |
| Chika Watanabe | Social Sciences | Social Infrastructures of Care: Ageing as Capacity in Contexts of Disaster | Internal Ideation Network |
| Nan Zhang | Social Sciences | Digital Care Across Borders: Ageing, Migration and Transnational Family Life in a Changing World | Focused Discussion and Writing |