• Professor Olga Demetriou (SGIA) secured a £1m ESRC research grant, in collaboration with the University of Cyprus, the University of Granada and the University of Siena: “Pro- and Anti-Migrant Mobilization in Mediterranean Refugee Reception Sites”. The project studies the governance of migration through the lens of refugee reception sites with a focus on political contestation in three Mediterranean countries, namely: Ceuta and Melilla in Spain, Lampedusa and Trieste in Italy, and Lesvos and Evros in Greece. It analyses ways that these contestations are amplified in public debate and local governance across the different sites and how mobilization dynamics relate to wider migration politics.
• Professor Helen Wilson (Geography) became an international partner on the Fuglan Veit project (Norwegian Research Council £930,000) and a co-investigator on the Urban Kittiwake project (Fram Centre: High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment £90,000). These projects focus on vulnerable seabirds that are impacted by climate change and altered coastal landscapes in Norway. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, one of the project aims is to develop new understanding of why black-legged kittiwakes are moving into urban areas and with what implications, with the intention of supporting new forms of human-avian coexistence and understanding of marine environments. The Urban Kittiwake project was also the subject of Ballad of a Changing World, which was commissioned by Arctic Arts and the Cheltenham Music Festival.    
• Professor Paul Denny (Biosciences) secured over £300,000 MRC and EPSRC for a research programme with ICCBS Karachi: A Differential Diagnostic for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis – Bench to Field. The outcomes will ensure an enduring international research partnership designed to relieve the impact of this devastating Neglected Tropical Disease which causes physical distress and social exclusion, leading to economic losses and poor mental health.
• Associate Professor Kevin Waite (History) secured a £200,000 Collaborative Research Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the research project “The Long Road to Freedom: Biddy Mason and the Making of Black Los Angeles”. Within the space of a few years, Biddy Mason went from property to property-holder. Born into slavery in the Georgia cotton belt, Mason was forcibly transported to Mississippi, then to Mormon Utah, and finally to Southern California by the early 1850s. Although California was technically a free state by that time, her master kept Mason and thirteen others in bondage until 1856, when they finally won their freedom in a fiercely contested court ruling. Scholarly articles, public presentations, and an interactive website will tell the story. For scholars and generalist audiences alike, these publications will reveal a new, continental history of slavery and freedom, as well as the little-known African American origins of one of the US’s most important cities.
• Professor Graham Philip (Archaeology) and Assistant Professor Kristen Hopper (Archaeology) secured £100,000 for collaboration with the Georgian National Museum as part of a £800,000 grant for the continuation of the Arcadia Foundation funded Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project.  The EAMENA project uses the remote sensing of satellite imagery to rapidly document and monitor archaeological sites across the MENA region. Assistant Prof Hopper is currently involved in documentation of and research into archaeological landscapes in Georgia, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

For more information about Global Engagement Grants and other funding opportunities involving global partnerships, please contact international.partnerships@durham.ac.uk.