Vanderbilt University and England鈥檚 University of Liverpool have announced the inaugural recipients of a new joint seed grant program, which supports faculty teams pursuing innovative projects designed to grow into larger collaborations and external funding.听
program has its origins in a recent music event in Manchester, England, where visiting members of Vanderbilt鈥檚 leadership connected with their counterparts at Liverpool. A discussion about Nashville鈥檚 and Liverpool鈥檚 contributions to music led to a realization that the universities also shared similar academic strengths鈥攊n music, health, national security and AI, specifically.听听
The notion of joining forces to generate even more impact in those areas was music to everyone鈥檚 ears, and each institution has committed to match funds for the three-year seed grant program developed by the Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, and the Curb Center.听
鈥淭his program reflects our shared belief that strong partnerships start with small but strategic investments,鈥� said Elizabeth Zechmeister, interim chief research officer and senior associate provost for research and development.听听
The goal is to seed projects that lead to publications, new intellectual property and major grant proposals while deepening connections between the faculty of Vanderbilt and Liverpool. 鈥淏y supporting these collaborations at the earliest stages, we鈥檙e creating the foundation for larger research endeavors that can have global reach and impact,鈥� Zechmeister said.听听
Seven Vanderbilt鈥揕iverpool faculty teams received inaugural grants in 2025:听
- Tucker Biddlecombe (Vanderbilt), professor of music, and Sarah Price (Liverpool), lecturer in music industries
Scoping the choral ecology in the UK and US听 - Ravindra Duddu (Vanderbilt), associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Janine Kavanagh (Liverpool), chair of volcanology
Phase-field fracture modeling of fluid-driven fractures for investigating ice-sheet鈥揷limate interactions and volcanic processes听 - Alex Frenette (Vanderbilt), Cornelius Vanderbilt Dean鈥檚 Faculty Fellow in the College of Arts and Science, and Mat Flynn (Liverpool), senior lecturer in music industries and director of the Institute of Popular Music
Comparing and Contrasting Models of Music Industry Internships in Nashville (USA) and Liverpool (UK)听 - Yuankai Huo (Vanderbilt), assistant professor of computer science, and Yalin Zheng (Liverpool), professor of AI in healthcare
Launching the Vanderbilt鈥揕iverpool Eye-AI Working Group: A Transatlantic Collaboration in Multimodal Medical Imaging AI听 - Taylor Johnson (Vanderbilt), A. James and Alice B. Clark Foundation Faculty Fellow and associate professor of computer science, and Xiaowei Huang (Liverpool), professor of computer science
Workshops on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Generative Artificial Intelligence听 - David Thorstad (Vanderbilt), assistant professor of philosophy, and Robin McKenna (Liverpool), senior lecturer in philosophy
Sociotechnical AI safety for generative artificial intelligence听 - Angela Sutton (Vanderbilt), research associate professor of communication of science and technology, and Jessica White (Liverpool), lecturer in history
Legacies and histories of transatlantic slavery Global Fellowship programme听
The universities are exploring additional opportunities for collaboration.听
In May, Leah Lowe, director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt, visited Liverpool to explore opportunities with faculty and research centers in music, health and culture. Liverpool faculty leaders plan to travel to Nashville to continue building these connections.听听
A connection that began with music has grown into a collaboration with the potential to resonate across research, innovation and a literal ocean.听听