Four academics from the University’s College of Arts and Law have each been awarded a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize, recognising that their outstanding research work has attracted international recognition and that their future career is exceptionally promising.

The four recipients of a £100,000 award are:

  • Professor Rosie Harding, Professor of Law and Society at Birmingham Law School
  • Professor Fiona de Londras, Professor of Global Legal Studies and Deputy Head of Birmingham Law School
  • Dr Lucie Ryzova, Senior Lecturer in Middle East History at the School of History and Cultures
  • Professor Ian Phillips, Professor in Philosophy of Psychology at the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion

The four academics will use their grants to fund further investigation of their current research areas, and explore new ones.

The College of Arts and Laws’ Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer, Professor Michaela Mahlberg, says “These awards are well deserved recognition of the breadth, value and impact of the work of these four outstanding researchers. They must be congratulated for such an achievement. As well as the prestige that the awards bring, the financial input will further strengthen ongoing research but also open up new opportunities - an exciting prospect for the prize-winners, the College and the University.”

Every year the prize scheme makes up to thirty awards of £100,000, across a range of academic disciplines. Philip Leverhulme Prizes have been offered since 2001 in commemoration of the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip Leverhulme, the Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of William Hesketh Lever, the founder of the Trust.

The subject areas considered for the prizes in 2017 were: biological sciences, history, law, mathematics and statistics, philosophy and theology, sociology and social policy.