Dr Tarek Anous and Dr Hossein Heidari have been named among the 75 UKRI Future Leaders Fellows

The FLF is a highly competitive scheme that supports the development of the most promising early career researchers and innovators in the UK. Dr Anous and Dr Heidari are two of only 75 researchers who will benefit from a share of £101 million to tackle major global issues and to commercialise their innovations in the UK. 

Dr Anous’s research project, titled “The materials approach to quantum spacetime,” aims to treat Einstein’s equations of general relativity, which govern how objects interact gravitationally, like a laboratory sample, or a material. This approach will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the big bang’s imprint on the universe’s evolution, as well as a better understanding of black holes. 

“Saying I’m excited about this fellowship is an understatement,” said Dr Anous. “This is an incredible opportunity to assemble a group of researchers dedicated to tackling important problems about how our universe evolves, from the smallest to the largest scales. And with several groups around London working on associated topics, this fellowship will serve to establish London, and Queen Mary within it, as the epicenter of this field.” 

The second laureate, Dr Hossein Heidari began his application for the Future Leaders Fellowships programme while holding a position at Queen Mary University of London but joined the UCL Institute for Materials Discovery in November 2023. He is now one of the three new academics to lead the Advanced Materials Lab at the UCL East Marshgate campus. He has been awarded FLF to fund SPARK 3D - an organ-manufacturing research project that offers a game-changing solution integrating bioprinting, biomodulation and imaging in a volumetric bioproduction system inspired by tomography.  

Dr Heidari said: “I am honoured to have received the UKRI’s flagship Future Leaders Fellowship for SPARK 3D. We will endeavour to make breakthrough advancements in delivering the bright future we all envision for regenerative medicine. I would like to thank the UKRI and all academic and industrial partners for supporting a proposal of such impact and magnitude.” 

UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: “UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships provide researchers and innovators with long-term support and training, giving them the freedom to explore adventurous new ideas, and to build dynamic careers that break down the boundaries between sectors and disciplines. 

The fellows announced today illustrate how this scheme empowers talented researchers and innovators to build the diverse and connected research and innovation system we need to shorten the distance between discovery and prosperity across the UK." 

Professor Andrew Livingston, Vice Principal of Research and Innovation at Queen Mary said: “Congratulations to both awardees! These fellowships recognise not only the excellence of his research proposal, but also his potential to develop as a future leader in his field and in research. I am very much looking forward to seeing how these projects develops and to following his journey.”