Introducing 13 new 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs - outstanding academics who bring expertise in key areas.
University of Birmingham - Edgbaston campus
The University of Birmingham has appointed its second cohort of 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs – 13 new academics taking the total number to 35.
Professor Sonal Choudhary, Professor Gary Collins, Professor Colin Dayan, Professor Hongbiao Dong, Professor Emanuele Giorgi, Professor Linn Leppert, Professor Mari Martiskainen, and Professor Gerasimos Tsourapas join the University as 125th Anniversary Chairs.
The new 125th Anniversary Fellows are Dr Alexandra Hendry, Dr Sophie Pain, Dr James Pearson, Dr Rebecca Syed Sheriff, and Dr Peter Taylor.
Congratulations and welcome to our latest group of outstanding academics joining the University of Birmingham as 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs. As we approach the end of an exciting and eventful anniversary year, we continue to invest in talented people who can further strengthen our research excellence and help us to achieve our ambition to be a top 50 global university.
These new academics will help to build strength in key research areas, including mental health, migration, global health, AI, education, food security, energy, and microbiology - driving the University’s ambition to become a Top 50 global university and helping to change the way the world works.
Professor Rachel O’Reilly MBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) said: “Congratulations and welcome to our latest group of outstanding academics joining the University of Birmingham as 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs.
“As we approach the end of an exciting and eventful anniversary year, we continue to invest in talented people who can further strengthen our research excellence and help us to achieve our ambition to be a top 50 global university.”
The appointments are part of the second phase of a campaign to recruit 125 new Fellows and Chairs, in celebration of the University’s 125th anniversary in 2025. Phase Three is open until 11 January 2026, and applications from interested academics are welcome.
The new researchers join Diamond Ashiagbor, Susan Banducci, Amy Grove, Richard Hastings, Alfonso Ngan, Nikos Ntoumanis, Devin Peipert, Joy Porter, Nadia Schoenmakers, Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani (Chairs), Lakshya Bhardwaj, Andrei Constantin, Claire Dancer, Sulhail Dhawan, Özge Eyice, Scott Harper, Sarah Hillman, Xiaoxuan Liu, Hiroki Shin, Ali Sadaghiani, Peng Zhang, and Mary Zhang (Fellows) who became University of Birmingham academics last year.
The fellowships offer excellent opportunities for career progression and a bespoke package of high-quality support to enable those with demonstrable impactful research to excel in their field. Learn more about the anniversary researchers by visiting the 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs directory.
New academics join a university that is ranked 76th in the 2026 QS World University Rankings and an academic community that includes six researchers recognised among the world’s most influential academics, according to Clarivate. These Highly Cited Researchers are leading the way in tackling global challenges in oral health, clinical medicine, healthcare, microbiology, and climate change.
For more information, please contact the University of Birmingham press office or +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research)
Professor Rachel O'Reilly is Chair in Chemistry at the School of Chemistry. She leads the O'Reilly Group whose research targets the design, synthesis and application of uniquely derived polymeric materials.
