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Research and knowledge exchange

KEI Fellowships 23/24 Spotlights

The KEI Fellowships delivered 31 projects in 23/24 academic year.
Find below a few spotlights of the projects funded.

Below are some for the projects we awarded and supported last academic year:

focused on shaping legal and policy responses for the governance of social media platforms. Key policy elements included advising on electoral regulations, online safety legislation, and economic regulations for digital platforms in Brazil, the UK, and the EU. Partners involved included Brazilian policymakers, the Superior Electoral Court, the Brazilian Treasury, and the Oversight Board. Next steps involve conducting research for a newly awarded policy-oriented grant, maintaining existing policy engagements, and expanding impact to adjacent policy areas such as AI regulation.

and Prof. Anna Franklin and Dr. Jenny Bosten developed the ColourSpot app to address undiagnosed colourblindness, a condition that affects over 300 million people globally. The app provides quick, affordable, and accurate diagnosis, especially for children, improving educational outcomes and wellbeing. During the fellowship, groundwork was laid for a partnership with Brightlobe Ltd., including preparing the app code, market research, and consulting with the charity Colourblind Awareness. The project is now well-positioned for future commercialisation, with an income-sharing agreement and plans for further funding and VC investment. The fellowship advanced the app’s commercialisation and broader goals of supporting those with a pervasive visual disorder, highlighting significant economic, social, and health impacts.

developed the Digital Inclusion Framework (DIF) for the health and care technology sector to design out digital exclusion by tackling barriers such as limited awareness, affordability, trust issues, poor usability, and accessibility challenges. Key activities included reviewing research on inclusive innovation, conducting workshops with digital health tech companies to develop a draft framework of DIF, and presenting findings at the DiscoveryPark event. The project enhanced understanding of reducing digital exclusion and shaping the DIF into a market-ready framework. Future plans involve seeking additional funding, presenting at industry events, and exploring commercialisation options, with potential partners identified for future collaborations.

project, “Who Owns Brighton” (WOB), addresses the financialization of housing in Brighton & Hove and the resulting housing precarity. It empowers local residents to participate in decision-making about public land use and housing development by involving them as community researchers. Using Circus Street as a case study, the project has engaged nearly 200 people and strengthened the Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust (BHLT). Future plans include securing additional funding, extending research to other areas of Brighton, and submitting a larger ESRC grant. The project aims to shape local urban development policy more equitably.

aimed to enhance diversity in heritage curation, focusing on disability inclusion through participatory arts-based methods in partnership with Wakehurst Kew Gardens. The project successfully created a more inclusive environment at Wakehurst and plans for a larger-scale funding bid to continue the work. It also had additional benefits, such as improving accessibility skills in the ��ýӰ��’s videography department and involving students and staff in sighted guide training. The project underscored the need for substantial administrative support and demonstrated the benefits of collaborative partnerships in achieving impactful outcomes.