International Fellows complete impactful research placements at Imperial

The Global Development Hub Fellows Fund supported the latest wave of international students to carry out impactful research placements at Imperial.

This year the fellowship fund supported 19 talented PhD students from low- and middle-income countries to undertake high-impact, short-term research placements. 

The placements, lasting between two to four months, allow students to further their research, expand their professional networks, and build lasting connections with international partners. The fellowship covers essential costs, including living allowances, flights, travel, and visa fees. 

This year fellows from 12 different countries, including Ghana, Tanzania, The Gambia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan spent time with various research groups at Imperial. 

Professor Mike Templeton, co-Chair of the Global Development Hub, said: “The Fellowships programme is one of the flagship programmes of the Global Development Hub. Your broad range of research is fantastic and inspiring. We hope that this programme is the start of career-long interaction, and you are able to broaden your networks between your home institution and the groups here at Imperial.” 

Inspiring experiences 

Menka, from the Devki Devi Foundation in India spent time with Professor Sophie Day’s group in the Patience Experience Research Centre and is working on type 2 diabetes and periodontal disease. 

Menka said: “I am very much interested in community engagement and my PhD project is all about meeting people and engaging with them. As part of my placement I'm learning about qualitative research which I've never done as I have always worked on quantitative research. My supervisor, is also sharing so much insight with me and is supporting me with my thesis.” 

Rahul Gupta, from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is working on quantum systems and spent time with Dr Florian Mintert’s research group in the Department of Physics.

Rahul said: “The main objective of my project is to establish control over quantum systems which have lots of nucelar spins so that they can be used for quantum computing and information processing applications.” 

Rahul said that the Fellows programme will enable him to form potential research collaborations with colleagues at Imperial in the future. 

Sylvester Egyir, from the University of Ghana is working on climate health risk and spent his placement with Professor Templeton’s research group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 
 
Sylvester said: “Cholera has been an annual public health risk in Ghana so my study is looking at how flood risk is contributing to infrastructure failure, which is increasing cholera incidences in Ghana. 

“The Fellows programme has given me a great opportunity to learn more about the research group here and gain in-depth knowledge to complement what I'm doing. I presented my research proposal to the group and they made positive inputs to my work and I've really learnt a lot.” 

The Global Development Hub has now supported more than 50 researchers from low- and middle-income countries through mobility to expand Imperial's international engagement. 

Find out more about the Global Development Hub Fellows

Global Development Hub 

The Global Development Hub brings together Imperial’s community and our international partners to maximise the global impact of STEMB-focused research, education and innovation, engage with the United Nations Sustainable Agenda 2030, and work with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in societies where multiple global challenges are acutely concentrated. 

The Hub supports the building of equitable partnerships with partners in least developed and lower income countries to drive research impact in a global development context, and provides a platform for research and training in emerging and enabling areas of science and tech that can impact on development challenges. 

Find out more about the Global Development Hub Fellows Fund

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The programme was supported by Research England's International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) Institutional Support Grant