To further research collaboration between INU member universities, INU Council is pleased to announce that five Researcher Mobility Awards of up to £1,700 have been awarded to the following early career researchers to spend between 2-4 weeks at another INU member university with a research centre aligned with their research interests.
The awardees are announced below, alongside their host University and research area.
| Awardee | Sending University | Host University | Department / Area of Research |
| Dr Stephen Gerome | James Madison University, USA | Rovira i Virgili University, Spain | Corpus based approaches to specialised translation in legal and financial contexts |
| Dr Jessica Eng | Malmo University, Sweden | Osnabruck University, Germany | Education/Children’s rights – with a focus on participation rights, special education, gender and policy |
| Dr Cèlia Llurba | Rovira i Virgili University, Spain | Hiroshima University, Japan | Pedagogy / Education Technology |
| Dr Lucas Bizzotto | Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina | Rovira i Virgili University, Spain | Architecture – Estrangement in the bodily experience of architectural space, / didactic scenes as a framework for critical thinking in design education. Dr. Genís Vinyals’s work on educational architecture and participatory practices involving children offers a complementary perspective. |
| Dr Lucas Erasmus | University of the Free State, South Africa | Hiroshima University, Japan | Physics – To provide a new method for understanding photonic materials and to improve the strategy for optimising them for specific applications. |
The awards are part of INU’s Researcher Mobility Program, which supports early career researchers (who have completed their PhD in the past 5 years) to develop initially bi-lateral research collaborations, with a long term view of developing these further into multilateral research collaborations between INU members.
Congratulations to the awardees!
“This award means the opportunity to take my career to a truly international level. Visiting the Division of Educational Sciences at Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences will allow me to explore how Educational Technology is integrated into teacher education from a new perspective, comparing practices, learning from Dr. Yata and his colleagues, and building the foundations for a sustained research collaboration between our institutions. I hope to return not only with new knowledge, but with a shared agenda that can genuinely improve how we prepare future teachers.”
Dr Cèlia Llurba, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain
“I am very grateful to the INU for this opportunity to expand my research horizons. I am looking forward to using this opportunity to establish a long-term collaboration with Hiroshima University. This will give our research team access to expertise and equipment to help develop the required photonic materials for future technological advancements.”
Dr Lucas Erasmus, University of the Free State, South Africa
The International University Network Award means a great deal to me. It offers a valuable opportunity to advance my research through direct interaction with other specialists in the field. I also hope to share the research being carried out by my colleagues at my home institution and to learn from the work of researchers at the host university. I expect this experience to be both enriching and transformative, while helping to strengthen the ties between our universities.”
Dr Lucas Bizzotto, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
“I am honoured to receive this award. It offers a valuable opportunity to broaden academic horizons and to pursue research interests in a new environment. Engaging with different perspectives and methodological approaches has the potential to stimulate new ideas and contribute to the development of novel research areas and future collaboration.”
Dr Jessica Eng, Malmo University, Sweden
“The INU Researcher Mobility Award offers a unique opportunity to connect with colleagues at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, exchange ideas, and strengthen collaborations between URV and James Madison University. As a scholar and educator in languages, translation, and interpreting, I value engaging with colleagues who bring diverse perspectives to shared areas of interest. The visit will support research and teaching collaboration, expand academic exchange, and help build lasting relationships that benefit students and faculty at both institutions.”
Dr Stephen Esteban Gerome, James Madison University USA