ITS researcher awarded flagship fellowship

An Institute for Transport Studies researcher is a recipient of a flagship fellowship aimed at addressing global challenges.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced today that Dr Charisma Choudhury has been awarded a prestigious Future Leaders Fellowship.

The UKRI scheme invests in outstanding individuals across the UK and these research and innovation leaders will be supported to develop their careers while tackling ambitious global challenges through the provision of sustained funding and resources, allowing them the time and flexibility to tackle ambitious research projects. 

Dr Charisma Choudhury’s fellowship will focus on developing the next generation mathematical models of travel behaviour that can better predict activity and travel decisions.

Technological advances, societal changes and disruptive changes, such as the current pandemic, are leading to fundamental changes in the way people work, move and think. Traditional data and travel behaviour models are unable to deal with such increased complexities and radical changes.

Her fellowship will bring together choice modelling, ubiquitous computing and machine learning techniques to developed models that will enable planners and policymakers, both in the UK and in developing countries, to meet the new mobility challenges of the 21st century.

Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, said: "The Future Leaders Fellowships are UKRI’s flagship talent programme, designed to foster and nurture the research and innovation leaders of the future.

"We are delighted to support these outstanding researchers and innovators across universities, research organisations and businesses."

The new fellows join eight existing Future Leader Fellows at Leeds, whose success was announced last year, highlighting the University’s ability to attract top talent and critical thinkers who are making a difference to the world around them.

Kirsty Grainger, Director of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships, said: "The Future Leaders Fellows represent some of the most brilliant people working in the country. We’re supporting researchers from every background – from the arts to medicine, and the social sciences to engineering – helping them become the research and innovation leaders of the future.”