Research into teacher wellbeing, end-of-life care in rural Scotland and support for people living with brain tumours has received more than £19,000 from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).

Four University of the West of Scotland (UWS) academics are involved in three projects selected through the RSE’s spring 2026 Research Awards programme.

Professor Moira Hulme has received a £10,000 Research Collaboration Grant for Sustaining Teaching: A Cross-National Research Collaboration on Teacher Wellbeing.

 

We are delighted to receive this £10,000 grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This funding gives us an important opportunity to bring together evidence and expertise from across the UK and Ireland, where teachers face a lot of the same pressures but their education systems are responding very differently. By working with teachers, researchers and policymakers, we hope to identify key lessons that will improve wellbeing and help sustain the workforce.

Professor Moira Hulme

 

The 18-month project will run from September 2026 until February 2028 and will produce the first systematic comparison of teacher wellbeing policy across all five education systems in the UK and Ireland.

Professor Hulme will work with Professor Gary Beauchamp of Cardiff Metropolitan University and Professor Catherine Furlong of Dublin City University, supported by other colleagues in England and Northern Ireland.

The team will examine how teacher wellbeing is understood, measured and addressed in each system enabling learning to be shared across borders.

Dr Rhona Winnington and Dr Sandra Lucas have received a £4,549 Small Grant to build a national picture of people’s experiences of palliative and end-of-life care, with a particular focus on Scotland’s rural, remote and island communities.

Their 12-month project, Scoping the landscape of contemporary palliative care in Scotland: A modified VOICES survey, will begin in September.

Many people prefer to receive end-of-life care at home, but this can remain out of reach for those living in rural areas. With rural Scotland covering around 98 per cent of the country and being home to more than 900,000 people, long distances, limited transport and a lack of out-of-hours support can leave families with no option but to call emergency services during a crisis.

This new funding will enable the research team to engage with these communities, to understand areas of unmet need and to provide evidence to support future research and shape services.

Dr Constantina Papadopoulou has received a £4,875 Small Grant for a nine-month study exploring the everyday wellbeing challenges experienced by people living long-term with low-grade brain tumours.

Her project, Supporting wellbeing after low-grade brain tumours: Understanding survivorship needs, will examine physical activity, stress, emotional wellbeing, sleep and fatigue. It will also explore how these challenges affect families and how healthcare professionals currently address them.

Although more people are living long-term following a low-grade brain tumour diagnosis, evidence about their longer-term wellbeing and support needs remains limited. Follow-up care often focuses on monitoring tumour progression, while issues such as fatigue, reduced physical activity, stress and disrupted sleep may receive less attention.

The study will involve up to 24 participants, including adults living with low-grade brain tumours, family members and healthcare professionals working in neuro-oncology care. The findings will identify where survivorship support could be strengthened and establish priorities for future research and services shaped by patients, their families and healthcare professionals.

 

UWS focuses on research with real world  impact and it is fantastic to see some of our researchers recognised through these Royal Society of Edinburgh awards. I warmly congratulate everyone involved. These awards reflect the quality and breadth of research taking place UWS. Each project has the potential to produce practical evidence that benefits people, shapes vital services and informs policymakers in Scotland and beyond, and I look forward to seeing the work as it develops.

Professor Robert MacIntosh, Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation)

 

The three projects are among 61 selected through the RSE’s spring 2026 Research Awards programme, which is providing more than £661,000 for research across a range of academic fields. Researchers from 14 Scottish universities and research institutes are leading projects in this round, with collaborators representing 22 organisations in Scotland and internationally.

 

These projects support the UN Sustainable Development Goals for Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).