Royal Society of Edinburgh funding for Heriot-Watt research projects
Three research projects at Heriot-Watt University are being awarded a share of almost £730,000 in funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), which supports research to tackle society’s most pressing challenges.
The awards are part of the Society’s Research Awards Programme, which aims to support Scotland's research sector by nurturing promising talent, stimulating research in Scotland and promoting international collaboration.
The Heriot-Watt projects are among 73 “exceptional research projects” to receive more than £729,000 as part of the RSE’s spring 2025 Research Awards open call. All three Heriot-Watt awards are Research Collaboration Grants.
We are thrilled to receive this award.
In our School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, historic building materials expert Dr Craig Kennedy is collaborating with Professor Michael Penman, a historian from the University of Stirling, to develop new ways of conserving stained glass using advanced scientific techniques and historical and archival research. The project is called, Developing a multidisciplinary approach to evidence-led conservation of stained glass, and will involve the development of a network of researchers and heritage professionals.
Dr Kennedy said: “Our research combines historical and scientific research with existing craft to find new ways of understanding our heritage of stained glass windows and to develop new ways of conserving them for the future. We are thrilled to receive this award.”
In our School of Social Sciences, our sign language interpreting and linguistic inclusion expert Professor Jemina Napier is leading a collaborative research project exploring domestic abuse in signing deaf communities. The project is called CEDARS: Collaborative Exploration of Domestic Abuse Research in Signing deaf communities.
Professor Napier, who is Chair of Intercultural Communication at Heriot-Watt University, said: “UK research on domestic abuse hasn’t really considered deaf British Sign Language users. The CEDARS project aims to bring together key domestic abuse researchers, stakeholders, practitioners, and deaf domestic abuse survivors. They will explore how various methodological approaches and disciplinary expertise can be harnessed to better understand the needs of domestic abuse survivors and perpetrators who are deaf signers – producing a roadmap for a new research agenda. So the RSE’s award will help us progress this important work.”
Also in our School of Social Sciences, Assistant Professor in Languages and Intercultural Studies, Dr Mette Sommer, is collaborating with Dr Kate Rowley, a deaf psycholinguist at University College London, and Dr Dai O’Brien, Associate Professor of British Sign Language and Deaf Studies at York St John University, on a project to shape deaf studies teaching across generations. The project is called Shaping deaf studies pedagogy across generations.
Alongside lead investigators from 16 of Scotland’s 19 universities, the RSE said its spring 2025 awards also included collaborators representing 39 institutions in total, including international institutions in the United States, Australia, Italy, Rwanda, Germany, Portugal and Brazil.
RSE Vice President, Research, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE, said: “The RSE's Research Awards Programme plays a vital role in strengthening Scotland's dynamic research community. I do not doubt that the recipients of these prestigious RSE awards will advance knowledge and make meaningful contributions to Scottish society. On behalf of the RSE, I congratulate these exceptional researchers and their international partners, and I eagerly anticipate the impact of their work.”
The RSE's Research Awards Programme runs twice a year in spring and autumn.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters and was established in 1783 to deploy knowledge for public good.