Skip to main content

Global Challenges Research Fund

Global Challenges Research Fund

Generating innovative solutions to the most intractable development issues

At Royal Holloway, our GCRF research activity is challenge led, with the aim of transforming the lives of the communities we collaborate with in developing countries.

What is GCRF?

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is a £1.5 billion UK government initiative, funded by drawing from the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget. The purpose of the initiative is to set the world on the path to sustainability, while eradicating all forms of poverty.

In order to achieve this aim, GCRF funding calls are engineered to foster research collaborations between UK institutions and institutions in Development Assistance Committee (DAC) listed countries, and to generate innovative solutions to intractable development issues.

Royal Holloway has five GCRF Cluster Groups that focus on different Global Challenge areas:

  • Sustainable Development
  • Sustainable Societies
  • Human Rights
  • Sustainable Inclusion

Our Recent Awards

British Academy, Heritage, Dignity and Violence Programme 2019: Crafting Heritage for Well-Being in Iraq, PI Dr Zena Kamash (RHUL), Co-I Dr Marie LaBrosse (AUIS), Co-I Dr Emma Palmer Cooper (University of Southampton) £227,814 - see announcement

Academy of Medical Sciences, GCRF Networking Grant Round 4, 2019: Infusing Law and Policy with the Voices of Displaced Survivors of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Prof Jill Marshall (RHUL), Dr Josephine Ndagire (Makerere University, Uganda) £24,975 - see announcement

Academy of Medical Sciences, GCRF Networking Grant Round 4, 2019: Understanding the Food Chain of Teff (Eragrostis tef) and the Application of Seed Technology in Teff Farming in Ethiopia, Professor Gerhard Leubner, Dr Tina Steinbrecher, Dr Ivica Petrikova (RHUL), Mr Said Mohammed Hassen (Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia) £24,999 - see annoucement

GCRF ESRC Hubs 2018: GCRF South-South Migration, Inequality and Development Hub, PI Prof Heaven Crawley (Lead, Coventry University), Co-I Prof Hari G Harindranath, Prof Tim Unwin (RHUL) £688,000 - see announcement

GCRF Royal Academy of Engineering, Frontiers in Development Tranche-2, 2019: WASH environments, sanitation policies and health outcomes during the first 2000 days of life, PI Melanie Luhrmann, (RHUL), Co-I Dr Isaac Akinwumi (Covenant University, Nigeria) £20,000 - see announcement

Explore Royal Holloway

Arrivals Sept 2017 77 1.jpg

Get help paying for your studies at Royal Holloway through a range of scholarships and bursaries.

clubs-societies_REDUCED.jpg

There are lots of exciting ways to get involved at Royal Holloway. Discover new interests and enjoy existing ones.

Accommodation home hero

Heading to university is exciting. Finding the right place to live will get you off to a good start.

Support and wellbeing 2022 teaser.jpg

Whether you need support with your health or practical advice on budgeting or finding part-time work, we can help.

Founders, clock tower, sky, ornate

Discover more about our academic departments and schools.

REF_2021.png

Find out why Royal Holloway is in the top 25% of UK universities for research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Immersive Technology

Royal Holloway is a research intensive university and our academics collaborate across disciplines to achieve excellence.

volunteering 10th tenth Anniversary Sculpture - research.jpg

Discover world-class research at Royal Holloway.

First years Emily Wilding Davison Building front view

Discover more about who we are today, and our vision for the future.

RHC PH.100.1.3 Founders south east 1886.w

Royal Holloway began as two pioneering colleges for the education of women in the 19th century, and their spirit lives on today.

Notable alumni Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

We’ve played a role in thousands of careers, some of them particularly remarkable.

Governance

Find about our decision-making processes and the people who lead and manage Royal Holloway today.