Biodiversity loss, archaeological insects and new uses for flax
Posted on 27 January 1997
New research grants totalling £5.46m were announced at a meeting of the University of York's Council on 23 January, continuing the trend of rapid research income growth.
The announcement follows the University's hugely successful performance in the Research Assessment Exercise announced in December, in which 83 per cent of subject areas at York achieved the top scores of 4 or 5. York's research ranking has moved up from 11th to around 8th place out of 100 universities.
New grants include:
- $175,000 from the Macarthur Foundation to study the economics of biodiversity loss in sub-Saharan Africa. The grant holder is Professor Charles Perrings in the Department of Environmental Economics and Environmental Management.
- ECU189,600 for a structural analysis of household savings and wealth position over the life cycle. The grant is awarded to Professor John Hey in Economics by the European Community.
- £11,906 for the development of accurate techniques by which the ecological preferences of archaeological insect communities can be used to reconstruct the living environments of people in the past. The grant is awarded to Mr Harry Kenward in the Environmental Archaeology Unit by the Natural Environment Research Council.
- ECU91,124 for a study of the control of wall extensibility in flax. The grant is awarded to Dr Simon McQueen-Mason in Biology by the European Community. The ability to produce longer fibres in flax has implications for the textile, paper, construction and automotive industries.
- £199,178 from the Department of Health for a study of supporting foster placement. The grant holder is Professor Ian Sinclair from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work.
- £27,800 from the Department of Social Security for an analysis of the responses to the Government Green Paper 'Improving decision-making and appeals in Social Security'. The grant holder is Dr Roy Sainsbury from the Social Policy Research Unit.
- £35,193 from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to study the employment potential of community care. The grant holder is Professor Janet Ford in the Centre for Housing Policy.
- £82,556 from the Wellcome Trust for a study of inflammation of the human Fallopian tube. The grant holder is Dr Henry Leese in Biology.
A full list of all 56 new grants is available from the Press Office, University of York, York YO1 5DD, tel 01904 432029, email: hrl1@york.ac.uk