Introducing nine new 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs - outstanding academics who bring expertise in key areas.
The University of Birmingham has appointed its third cohort of 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs – nine new academics taking the total number to 50.
Professor Clare Anderson, Professor Simon Gosling, Professor Deena Harji, Professor Christoph Kelp, Professor Lucy Mayblin, Professor Paul Monks, and Professor Andy Westwood join the University as 125th Anniversary Chairs. The new 125th Anniversary Fellows are Dr Niall Curry and Dr Renuka Dias.
These new academics come to Birmingham from a variety of high-profile backgrounds, including the British Academy, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Philip Leverhulme Prize winners.
Congratulations and welcome to the latest group of outstanding academics joining the University of Birmingham as 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs. We may have finished celebrating our milestone anniversary, but 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 new Fellows and Chairs will help to build strength in key research areas, including climate change, migration, paediatric endocrinology, environmental science, history, public policy, linguistics, philosophy, and colorectal surgery - driving the University’s ambition to become a top 50 global university.
Professor Rachel O’Reilly MBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) said: “Congratulations and welcome to the latest group of outstanding academics joining the University of Birmingham as 125th Anniversary Fellows and Chairs. We may have finished celebrating our milestone anniversary, but 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 third phase of a campaign to recruit 125 new Fellows and Chairs, marking the University’s 125th anniversary in 2025. The latest appointments bring the total number of academics appointed through the programme to 50.
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 68th in the 2027 QS World University Rankings and an academic community that includes six Highly Cited researchers recognised among the world’s most influential academics, according to Clarivate.
The new Fellows and Chairs will begin work across the University's colleges over the coming academic year, leading research, teaching and international collaborations.
For more information, please contact the University of Birmingham Press Office on +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, educators and more than 40,000 students from over 150 countries.
England’s first civic university, the University of Birmingham, is proud to be rooted in one of the most dynamic and diverse cities in the country. A member of the Russell Group and a founding member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities, the University of Birmingham has been changing the way the world works for more than a century.
The University of Birmingham is committed to achieving operational net zero carbon. It is seeking to change society and the environment positively and use its research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about our approach to sustainability.
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.
