Dr. Koster’s RDF project will focus on developing a global platform to harmonize and share thigh-worn accelerometer data and will collaborate with the following WUN partners in this pursuit: The University of Sydney, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Bristol and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A number of non-WUN partners will also be collaborating on this project for example the Norwegian University of Science & Technology.

The second approved RDF project is on ‘’A Cross-National Study of Urban Solid Waste Management: Learnings and Way Forward’’. The main WUN partners in this project include The University of Ghana, University College Dublin and our strategic partner the University of York. Again, there will be non-WUN partners such as UNU-Flores.

Aside from these two leading projects, where the UM is the principle investigator, we will also participate in two other RDF projects led by other partner universities. These additional projects focus on the WUN theme of Understanding Cultures – the first looks at “African Child and Youth Health in the Context of Migration and Displacement“ led by the University of Alberta and represented by Prof. Valentina Mazzucato on the UM side. And a second project is on “Memorials to people who have died and to those missing during migration’’ led by the University of Bristol and represented by Dr. Katie Kuschminder from the UM.

For more information on these RDF projects, please refer to the WUN-site. This RDF fund is run on a yearly basis, usually launching in July and closing at the end of October. For more information on the Research Development Fund (RDF) and WUN activities at the UM, please contact Aisling Tiernan.