COVID-19 research funding competitions

Study launches into COVID-19's impact on the financially vulnerable

Researchers are to assess the impact social distancing and a move to a cashless society has had on the lives of those without access to credit and other banking services.  The study will examine what effect the sudden difficulties in accessing support from family and friends, food banks, and responsible lenders, has had on the health and wellbeing of some of the most financially vulnerable people in Glasgow and London.

Volunteers will complete ‘financial diaries’, documenting all their incomings and outgoings over a six-month period, and will be regularly interviewed by the research team during 2021.  It builds on earlier innovative studies in Glasgow and London which explored the relationship between finances and health.

The COVID-19 research project, which has secured £320,000 from the Economic and Social Research Council, will be carried out by researchers from the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health.

Scottish Funding Council

On 12 June 2020, it was announced that Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) would receive just over £1m in funding from Scottish Funding Council as part of a £75m package to boost research across the sector in Scotland. These funds are intended to protect the research talent pool, support project and PhD interruptions and focus research on addressing COVID-19 related issues.

Chief Scientist Office

In the competition for six-month research projects recently conducted by Chief Scientist Office in April, GCU was successful with three projects amounting to funding of £136,290. The projects and principal investigators are as follows:

Solidarity in a time of crisis: the role of mutual aid to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • COV/GCU/20/08     Dr Alex Pollock £28,317

Effective interventions to support the resilience and mental health of frontline health and social care staff during a global health crisis and following de-escalation

How has COVID-19 social distancing amplified the mental health vulnerabilities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM)?

A special thanks should also go to Professor Kay Currie for leading and coordinating the GCU submission.

Research at GCU

Research is instrumental in tackling society’s biggest problems. The health, social and economic challenges uncovered by COVID-19 brings into sharp focus our commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all.

Sustainable Development Goals

These global goals reflect our ethos as the University for the Common Good and our mission to make a positive difference to the communities we serve. Read our institutional research strategy to find out more about our commitment to the SDGs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond.

The icons below show which of the 17 SDGs we aim to impact through the research above.