Seedcorn Fund Projects 2024 Selected and Underway!

9 July 2024

Earlier this year the BPI launched our new interdisciplinary Seedcorn Fund, designed to support and catalyse poverty-relevant research at the University of Bristol (UoB) and providing a pipeline from our activities to larger funding bids. Two exciting new ideas were selected that promise to advance knowledge and research in the poverty and social justice space. The projects are now well underway with a view to completion by the end of this academic year (31st July 2024). We wish our projects all the best as they go on their journey of discovery and incept what we hope will be just the first of many future Seedcorn funded projects!

We are excited to formally announce the first two projects funded through this scheme:

From Pen to Print: Tracing the Evolution of Poverty Narratives in The Times Over Centuries

Developing a net-zero vulnerability index for the UK

To find out more about of each of these interdisciplinary projects, please visit our Seedcorn Projects 2024 page.  

On the 19th June, the two project teams came together in our first cohort meeting to discuss their ideas, the progress of their projects and to network with each other in a spirt of knowledge sharing and mutual support. It was a fascinating afternoon of stimulating conversation as each project team picked each other’s brains and dissected their research plans! We also stepped briefly into the future and looked at how one day the green shoots of these projects could influence policy and practice and have real world impact. 

In the summer, the BPI will be launching the next round of the Seedcorn Fund for projects taking place in the 2024-25 academic year. Information about this will be circulated in due course via our normal channels. We also invite you to join us on the 25th September at 2pm for our Seedcorn Projects Showcase Event (venue to be announced) where we’ll have presentations on the above projects as well as information on the next round of funding and how to apply. This event presents an opportunity for you to ask questions directly of the project investigators and of the BPI team and we look forward to seeing you there! You can also keep your eye on our Seedcorn Funding page which will link to the relevant fund call documentation once it becomes available.  

To sign up for our mailing list to be the first to hear about the next round of funding and the showcase event, then please email bristol-poverty-institute@bristol.ac.uk. In addition, you can also sign up to receive our newsletter. 

Project Title: From Pen to Print: Tracing the Evolution of Poverty Narratives in The Times Over Centuries  

Principle Investigator: Dr. Ran Tao, Lecturer in Finance, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, University of Bristol 

Co-Investigator: Dr. Jin Zheng, Lecturer in Data Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol 

Co-Investigator: Professor Adrian Bell, Chair in the History of Finance, Faculty of Prosperity and Resilience, University of Reading 

Project Title: Developing a net-zero vulnerability index for the UK 

Principle Investigator:  Dr Ed Atkins, Senior Lecturer, Human Geography, Science and Engineering, University of Bristol 

Co-Investigator:  Dr Sean Fox, Associate Professor in Global Development, Science and Engineering, University of Bristol 

Co-Investigator: Dr Caitlin Robinson, Senior Research Fellow, Science and Engineering, University of Bristol 

Co-Investigator: Professor Martin Parker, Professor of Organisation Studies, Social Sciences and Law, University of Bristol 