Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship for UofG engineer
Published: 13 August 2025
An engineering researcher has been named as the recipient of a prestigious research fellowship.
An engineering researcher from the University of Glasgow has been named as the recipient of a prestigious research fellowship.
The James Watt School of Engineering’s Professor Dezong Zhao is one of eight UK researchers who have been awarded Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The Fellowships, which are supported by the Leverhulme Trust, allow awardees to focus on full-time research for up to a year by covering the costs of a replacement academic to take over their teaching and administrative duties.
The Fellowship will enable Professor Zhao to focus on a new project, called ‘A Leap Towards Scalable Autonomous Vehicles through Data-efficient AI’, which will harness the power of AI to help ensure self-driving cars can travel safely on public roads.
The project aims to transform how autonomous vehicles are tested by developing a new framework for scenario generation and autonomous testing. Using cutting-edge techniques in generative AI, the project will create realistic, diverse, and safety-critical scenarios - especially those rarely seen in real-world driving. These scenarios will then be used in automated testing platforms that can rapidly and cost-effectively evaluate autonomous vehicle behaviour under a wide range of conditions. This work will bridge the gap between simulation and reality, accelerate safe deployment, and help ensure autonomous vehicles are ready for the complexities of real-world roads.
Prfoessor Zhao said: I’m excited and deeply honoured to receive this prestigious fellowship, which will help bring safer, cleaner, and smarter transport a step closer to reality.
“My work will focus on making autonomous vehicles more reliable in the real world, so they can handle the unexpected and earn public trust. This is about creating benefits for everyone - from safer roads to a stronger UK economy. I’m deeply grateful to the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Leverhulme Trust for their support.”
Professor Mark Sandler FREng, Chair of the RAEng / Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships panel, said: "The LTRF award continues a proud tradition of supporting pioneering research from across the whole of engineering. This year’s eight awardees are bringing forward bold ideas and innovative approaches to address a variety of challenges. We are truly inspired by their work and proud to support such exceptional individuals from across the UK whose pioneering research will play a vital role in shaping a smarter, safer, and more sustainable world.”
First published: 13 August 2025