Research Funding Support

How your support is enhancing vital conservation and boosting biodiversity

Edinburgh Napier University’s Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science (CCRS) hosts world-leading expertise in the conservation and restoration of mangrove forests and seagrass meadows. 

Working alongside local communities and the Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services (ACES), our researchers established the pioneering Mikoko Pamoja project in Kenya in 2013 – the world’s first community-based mangrove conservation initiative to sell carbon credits on the voluntary market. This inspired the development of Vanga Blue Forest in 2018, a mangrove conservation project 30km from Mikoko Pamoja, which is currently working with the community to establish and protect vital seagrass meadows through the Vanga Seagrass Project (VSP).

Creating locally managed marine areas

Although seagrasses account for less than 0.2% of the world’s oceans, they annually sequester approximately 10% of the carbon buried in ocean sediment. Seagrass meadows are a vital habitat for many marine and coastal species, including species that are culturally and commercially important for sustenance and income of local communities.

Vanga Bay contains around 14% of all seagrass in Kenya. The VSP is helping the local community to fund the conservation work needed to protect the vitally important seagrass meadows and the species that rely on them. Over 220 hectares of seagrass are now protected through fishing restrictions, land and sea patrols, and restrictions on damaging fishing equipment and techniques, supported through outreach and awareness raising campaigns across the community.

A Biodiversity Standard for ethical investment 

“Not only are we working to protect the important seagrass meadows of Vanga Bay and improve its ability to sequester carbon, but this project is at the forefront of innovation in the biodiversity market, finding new ways to channel ethical investment to local communities to incentivise the conservation and restoration of nature and biodiversity,” explains Professor Mark Huxham of CCRS. “And when certificated, it will be a world-first in terms of carbon and biodiversity credits being generated side-by-side in the marine environment.”

Seagrass carbon sequestration is notoriously difficult to calculate (due to high variability between species and locations). In partnership with Plan Vivo, a leading certification organisation for nature-based projects in climate and nature markets, VSP is collaborating in the development of Plan Vivo’s Biodiversity Standard (PV Nature), which provides a key opportunity for nature-based projects where carbon certification isn’t suitable to access environmental markets.

The initiation of this project has been funded by Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy and by the UK Government, and is supported by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. It is the first PV Nature project with an approved Project Idea Note (PIN), the first step on the pathway process to certification.

Your support is protecting Scotland's marine assets

Scotland has an incredibly rich marine environment that supports a wealth of habitats and species. It is one of the most important assets of the country’s ecological and economic prosperity, estimated to generate more than £2.2 billion for the Scottish economy.

Scientific research into marine environments, however, faces a ‘funding gap’, with studies suggesting that marine research receives only between 0.04% and 4% of total research and development expenditure worldwide. This means that philanthropic funding is vitally important and an essential aspect of discovery, understanding, and solution generation for marine conservation.

Developing the critical expertise that’s needed

At Edinburgh Napier we are deeply grateful for trust, foundation, and donor support of the multi-disciplinary and innovative marine research our Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science (CCRS) progresses. Its researchers are establishing benchmarks for data, and the subsequent long-term monitoring required, for Scotland to effectively protect and manage the marine assets it is renowned for.

We are developing critical expertise in genuine community engagement – skilling-up local people so they can play an active role in research that has a bearing on their lives and their surroundings – and working together with on-the-ground stakeholders and like-minded partners to progress ambitious projects which seek to gain the insight needed to inform solutions and bring about real-time change.

Vital marine species research 

One example is the West of Scotland Herring Hunt (WOSHH) – funded by the William Grant Foundation and the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) – which was a finalist in the 2025 Nature of Scotland Awards. This project brought together scientists, fishers, local organisations, and coastal communities to track herring using a mix of cutting-edge science, local ecological knowledge, and targeted field work to locate herring spawning beds along Scotland’s west coast. Herring are a keystone species in Scottish marine ecosystems, acting as a vital link in the food web, and a high-priority species for conservation due to their role in supporting diverse marine life, as well as their historic, cultural, and economic importance to coastal communities.

Your support is improving outcomes for cardiovascular healthcare

Edinburgh Napier’s Centre for Cardiovascular Health is a multidisciplinary research and education centre committed to improving global cardiovascular health. Its approach focuses on closing the evidence practice gap through patient involvement and implementation science.

Shifting how heart disease is treated and managed

“We are building smarter, faster, more equitable ways to detect and treat heart disease,” explains Professor Lis Neubeck, Head of the Centre for Cardiovascular Health. “Focusing on atrial fibrillation detection, access to care, and digital health interventions, we are working to shift how we treat and manage heart disease, and through the very applied nature of our research, we are able to make a tangible difference.”

Involving staff and patients in healthcare transformation is a critical element in ensuring that new solutions are feasible and acceptable. “It is essential that we bring the patient voice into our analysis and development of high-quality healthcare,” Professor Neubeck adds, “and ensure that we co-create solutions that actually work in clinical practice.” 

"Through the applied nature of our research, we are able to make a tangible difference."

Tackling the inequalities in care for women

While cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of women worldwide, far less women than men take part in heart disease research, which has resulted in poorer understanding of women’s symptoms and risk factors and how best to provide care. This imbalance leads to women with cardiovascular disease often experiencing worse outcomes than men.

“Working with Professor Julie Sanders from King’s College London and Heart Research UK, I am deputy lead for the Beating Bias project, which is focused on reducing the care gap for women,” Professor Neubeck explains. Beating Bias seeks the opinions of patients, carers, family members and healthcare professionals caring for women with heart disease to develop a ‘top-ten national research list’ for funding organisations and researchers to prioritise and pursue. “Within the Centre for Cardiovascular Health we are also pioneering research into Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD), a condition which disproportionately affects women under the age of 60,” Professor Neubeck adds. “This is an area where support from donors is really helping us to make an impact.”

Improving care in practice

Ensuring that knowledge improves care in practice requires closer collaboration with patients, GPs, community healthcare teams and hospitals, so that evidence is implemented where it matters most. “With donor support, we can deliver multi-strand research programmes that translate evidence into better care for patients,” explains Professor Neubeck. “As an applied university, we are well placed to bring partners together and to develop and test new models of community-based cardiovascular care that prevent disease, improve outcomes and reduce inequalities. And these models could be scaled across the UK to deliver real and lasting impact for patients and communities.”

You are enhancing pioneering research

How we are changing lives by building understanding of SCAD

A striking example of impact is the Centre for Cardiovascular Health’s research into SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection) – a potentially life-threatening condition where the lining of the coronary arteries separate or bruise, preventing blood flow to the heart. Often misdiagnosed, SCAD mainly affects women, and survivors struggle to receive the tailored treatment they need.

Individual donors such as Elizabeth Brown, and corporates such as Amarin – one of the world’s largest independent biotechnology companies – are currently supporting us in the advancement of women’s heart health. They are funding MRes student Andrew Steven, an exercise researcher who is looking into how to improve engagement of women in cardiac rehabilitation using digital technology to better support heart attack patients, work which was initially supported by The Burdett Trust for Nursing.

Through our donors’ generosity we are driving the design of a safe and effective recovery programme for SCAD patients that will help women across Scotland to live with more confidence whilst managing the condition. This is impact, that with increased support, we could scale to all survivors of SCAD in the UK and beyond.

“I had a SCAD resulting in two heart attacks. At the time there were no SCAD protocols. The effect of this project [lead by Edinburgh Napier] will be huge. And it will not just be for Scotland; it will be worldwide.”

- Jill McLaggan, patient

Your support is championing sustainable and impact-driven approaches

Scotland is a recognised world-leader in developing sustainable timber construction using Scottish homegrown timber. We are proud to be experts in these areas, and through on-going support from donors, we have focused our Impact Investment Symposium, and created an Investing for Impact Hub, to align innovation and delivery across forestry and the built environment to ensure Scotland can fully realise its potential in sustainable development.

Driving Scotland’s leadership in Green Finance and Natural Capital

Our Impact Investment Symposium (IIS) brings together leaders, investors, innovators and industry change-makers to drive Scotland’s leadership in Green Finance and Natural Capital. Founded in 2020, it has evolved into a coalition tackling sustainability challenges across forestry, biodiversity, and natural capital in alignment with key areas of Edinburgh Napier expertise.

The Investing for Impact Hub resulted from recent IIS sessions supported by leading venture capital firm, Par Equity, and sustainable management investment firm, Greenbank. Funding from the Royal Society for an Entrepreneur in Residence to support the Impact Hub has seen early-stage investment expert, Mary Jane Brouwers – a highly regarded leader in the Scottish investment ecosystem – helping us to strengthen engagement among academia, industry, innovators and investors.

Delivering Net Zero through Timber

The collective ambition to deliver net zero through timber is gaining traction and our efforts are helping to drive impact. Leading on from the IIS we have delivered an Investor Workshop, hosted by Cazenove and facilitated by Dr David Brand, Founder and Chair of New Forests, to explore forestry-led development tailored to benefit Scotland’s communities.

At our follow-on Vice-Chancellor Dinner, convened to engage MSPs and the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, we looked to enhance cross-sector ambition and build engagement with Government to identify gaps and opportunities for collaboration. Our efforts are driving a range of project development work looking to overcome delivery barriers, align public and private efforts, and accelerate real scalable solutions.

Broadening out a model that works

At last November’s IIS, a session chaired by Jim McCormick, CEO of The Robertson Trust, and involving Sarah Brown from Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) and Caroline Clark from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, focused on marine and coastal communities.

“We realised through conversations with external contacts linked to our Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science, that similar challenges to those in forestry and sustainable construction exist across marine conservation and science,” explains Barbara Kidd, Head of Development at Edinburgh Napier. “So, it seemed sensible to broaden the symposium to include consideration of impact investment in this area as well. IIS attendees consistently feedback that learning from others is crucial, and that they value how the symposium facilitates conversations across sectors to evolve a shared language and understanding, which in turn helps to collectively address gaps and deliver actions needed.”

Fast-tracked construction graduates through Trimble Partnership

Our students are stepping into industries defined by rapid technological change, so having access to advanced hardware and software throughout their studies is transformative. The on-going support we receive from Trimble is allowing them to experiment, prototype, and problem solve with the same tools used by leading construction professionals.

“The creation of the Trimble Lab at Edinburgh Napier is enabling our graduates to not only gain essential skills but the confidence and practical capability to contribute from day one,” comments Professor Robert Hairstans. “Access to this technology removes barriers and opens doors, giving students the opportunity to test ideas, build solutions and learn through doing. Over the past five years, this support has helped our learners push their creativity further and develop the real-world skills that employers value, and the impact on their readiness for professional practice has been profound.

Winner of a Queen’s Anniversary Prize – again

Edinburgh Napier is one of eight UK institutions that will take part in a new transatlantic academic collaboration. As a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education: USA Exchange 2026, the University will develop opportunities and partnerships between UK and US universities and colleges to help build skills, knowledge and the workforce of the future in sustainable construction.

Edinburgh Napier was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize, (formerly the Queen’s Anniversary Prize) in 2015, for its internationally acclaimed work in timber engineering, sustainable construction and wood science.

Showcased at the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum

Building from Forests is a current exhibit at London’s V&A Museum. Stirling Prize-winning architecture firm dRMM are a supportive partner of Edinburgh Napier and were responsible for curating the exhibit that showcases the output from a three-year research project, funded by the Forestry Commission and led by the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), in a collaboration that included Edinburgh Napier researchers, BE-ST, and Ecosystems Technologies.

Engineered wood products are ideal options to produce good quality low carbon buildings and communities, and while half of the UK’s trees are hardwood, little data is available on how this wood performs mechanically. Edinburgh Napier researchers tested the hardwood species for strength, stiffness and density and the findings were used to develop a series of construction products made of engineered wood and these are highlighted in the year-long exhibition that runs until autumn 2026.