In March, UIC Barcelona will incorporate a second PhD student, Ashley Howard, through the RMIT European Doctoral Innovators (REDI) Programme, funded through the European Union’s Marie Curie COFUND Grant Programme.

The project is led by the RMIT Europe and UIC Barcelona is the academic partner and host institution under the coordination of associate professor Dr. Carmen Mendoza-Arroyo. “This is an incredibly prestigious grant and helps us to develop increasingly competitive research,” Mendoza-Arroyo claimed.

The doctoral student receiving the grant, Ashley Howard, emphasised that the REDI programme is “a unique opportunity that promotes industry-backed training in an international setting, connecting future doctoral candidates with multidisciplinary experts in the field.” As a future researcher with experience in a work setting, he points out that, “the adaptability of the REDI position allows me to expand past knowledge and incorporate it in future research ideas.”

Howard’s line of research is Inclusive Design for Urban Reconstruction, and it is based on evaluating and measuring the impact of the design in housing and settlement reconstruction projects. “The process aims to create a tool that helps to better understand people’s needs and the reconstruction of their built environment, and find solutions that improve the overall health and well-being of the people in houses and settlements,” Howard explains.

Sara Eltokhy is is the first PhD student at UIC Barcelona to receive the European Union’s Marie Curie COFUND Grant. UN-Habitat is participating in the project as an industrial partner.  “My PhD project focuses on urban inclusion policies in European cities. It addresses the knowledge gap for city planners and policymakers in understanding the everyday reality of refugee women in urban areas. This is particularly crucial especially as most European countries are being faced with increasing diversity in ethnicity, language, religion and identity,” Eltokhy states.

“REDI Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship offers enormous opportunities for career development in both in and outside academia. One of the many advantages that the fellowship offers is being in an international setting with different partners across Europe and beyond,” Eltokhy explains.

Over the next five years, a total of 42 new PhD positions connected to business, art and science industries at the European level, will be supported by the REDI programme. For this reason, RMIT Europe works with over 60 academic and industry partners, including UIC Barcelona, from ten different European countries.

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101034328. This article reflects only the author's view and the Research Executive Agency and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.