Royal Society of Edinburgh launches research award

Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) launches community-spirited research award  

The new award is supported by the Williamson Trust and will be made under the banner “Healthy Planet, Healthy People”. It is designed to support community-led research with the goal of improving people’s health and the health of the environment.  

The RSE, together with the Williamson Trust, will award ten pilot projects led by community organisations, £5,000 each to conduct a research project for up to 12 months. 

Applications are open from midday on 16 October 2023, and run until midday on 22 January 2024.

Funding will be provided to support new and existing research projects, in any discipline that promotes the health of individuals by fostering healthy communities, healthy environments, and healthy foods.

Professor David Salt FRSE, Chair of the Trustees of the Williamson Trust, said: Whether it be through knowledge of a local area, or through a shared experience, communities contain the knowledge and creativity to tackle grand challenges and provide localised solutions to intractable problems.  

“With these funding awards, we are investing in the power of community-led ideas that can deliver real change in people’s lives.” 

This is the first time that a call for this type of research proposal has been conducted, as the RSE broadens its range of research awards. 

The research proposals will focus on one of three general subject areas: climate; nature; and food. 

Professor Anne Anderson, vice president of research at the RSE, said: “I am extremely pleased that we have launched this Healthy Planet, Healthy People award, in collaboration with the Williamson Trust.

“This is a new area of potential research for the Royal Society of Edinburgh to be supporting, and I feel that it is vital that we do so.

“The health of the individual and the health of the environment are inextricably linked, and it is my hope that this award fund will inspire and enable some fascinating and thought-provoking research which will lead to improvements in both.”

The awards are open to applications from groups of individuals who can demonstrate that they could lead and deliver on their proposed research project. Academics can apply for funding, however the awards must be community-led.

Any incorporated community groups can apply for the funding, and even unincorporated community groups can still apply, but will need the support of a constituted group. 

As this is the first time that this funding call has been conducted, there is scope for applicants to be innovative in their proposals. For example, a community group may establish a citizens’ assembly to develop a practical strategy to improve the food environment within a local area, with a view to supporting healthy eating. Another example may be to propose solutions to combat a lack of butterflies and bees in a local area, which is having a detrimental impact on both wild and cultivated areas.

More information about the Healthy Planet, Healthy People award can be found here.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’s National Academy was established in 1783 for “the advancement of learning and useful knowledge”.

The Society says this knowledge contributes to the social and economic wellbeing of Scotland, its people and the nation’s wider contribution to the global community.