The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has awarded £470,000 of funding to help 29 academics affected by the pandemic.
Scotland’s national academy issued a funding call - the Research Reboot Grant - designed to support academics whose research had been disproportionately affected by Covid-19 restrictions.
Around 79% of the 29 awardees for the funding from the RSE are women, with 58% of all applicants identified as early career, while 67% of applicants stating they took on additional caring duties because of the pandemic.
Government restrictions resulted in the closure of laboratories, libraries and archival centres, leading to many academics being unable to carry out basic research and secure funding.
The ban on international travel also meant that academic exchanges stopped and the shipping of lab samples and other research materials often ceased.
Dr Rebekah Widdowfield, chief executive at the RSE, said: “The Research Reboot funding awards have created a ‘window of opportunity’ for awardees to reconnect with their research, regaining precious time and resources lost to Covid-19.
"They are also now part of a unique peer network with each other and RSE Fellows, giving another form of support and mentoring during this time of ongoing challenge.”
One of the awardees is Dr Rachel McPherson, a criminal law lecturer at the University of Glasgow, who's research into translating and understanding cases where women kill following domestic abuse was put on hold during the pandemic.
McPherson said: “At a time when the Scottish Law Commission is reviewing homicide and defences to murder, my project seeks to examine how cases in which women kill their abusers have been communicated to the Scottish public and how public (mis)perceptions may inform policy.”
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