UNIVERSITY OF YORK

Their core work

The University of York is a research-intensive UK university with exceptional strength in archaeology, heritage science, and environmental history — fields where it ranks among Europe's top institutions. It applies advanced analytical techniques such as ancient protein analysis (proteomics), DNA metabarcoding, and rare earth element soil analysis to reconstruct past human-environment interactions. Beyond its humanities and environmental core, York contributes to air quality monitoring, emissions measurement, and neurocognitive research. Its H2020 portfolio is heavily weighted toward individual researcher excellence (MSCA fellowships, ERC grants), making it a magnet for top early-career and mid-career scientists across Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2014–2018, York's H2020 activity was dominated by heritage, public engagement, and foundational archaeological science — projects like YorNight, EuroStemCell, and numerous MSCA fellowships in ceramics, landscape archaeology, and historical theology. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward environmental sustainability, climate impact scenarios, and advanced analytical chemistry (NMR, hyperpolarization, proteomics). This evolution reflects a broader institutional move from documenting the past toward using historical evidence to inform present-day climate and sustainability challenges.

York is increasingly positioning its archaeological and environmental expertise to address climate adaptation and sustainability questions — expect future proposals linking deep-time evidence to present-day environmental policy.

How they like to work

York operates as both a project leader and a flexible partner, with a near-even split between coordinator (69) and participant (72) roles — unusual for a university, indicating both the ambition to lead and the willingness to contribute specialist expertise. Its 987 unique partners across 66 countries reveal a hub-style network rather than a closed circle of repeat collaborators. However, many of its coordinated projects are individual fellowships (MSCA-IF), so its "leadership" often means hosting excellent researchers rather than managing large consortia.

York has collaborated with 987 distinct organizations across 66 countries, making it one of the more broadly connected UK universities in H2020. Its network spans all of Europe with notable reach into non-EU countries, reflecting the global nature of its archaeological fieldwork and environmental monitoring activities.

What sets them apart

York's distinguishing strength is the combination of world-class archaeology and heritage science with hard analytical chemistry — few universities in Europe can offer ancient protein analysis, DNA metabarcoding, rare earth element soil profiling, and NMR spectroscopy under one roof. This makes them an ideal partner when a project needs to bridge humanities evidence with natural science methods. For consortium builders, York brings both research excellence credibility (strong ERC/MSCA track record) and practical lab capabilities that are hard to replicate elsewhere.

Highlights from their portfolio

• WANDERINGMINDS
  York's largest single grant (EUR 1.8M ERC), a coordinator-led neurocognitive study — shows the university's ability to win top-tier competitive individual funding.
• SELECTION
  EUR 1.4M coordinated project on teacher selection and educational outcomes — demonstrates reach beyond STEM into social science and education policy.
• MDS-RIGHT
  EUR 1.35M health project on myelodysplastic syndrome — York's largest participation-role project, showing its clinical and health research capacity.