The International Relations Office is excited to announce that a Bath researcher has been successful in securing joint funding to develop a research project with partners in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Following the first joint call for applications Dr Jonathan Evans, Reader in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, has secured São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and Bath-FAPESP SPRINT funding for his collaborative research project. This is Dr Evans' second successful Bath-FAPESP SPRINT joint application, having previously been awarded funds in 2019 with his project on free-surface flows of complex fluids.

The joint call builds on our successful partnerships in Latin America and the research connections that our academics have built with colleagues in Brazil. Through the scheme, researchers at Bath can apply for funding of up to £5,000 per year, which is matched by FAPESP, for projects running up to two years.

FAPESP is a public foundation with the mission to support research projects in higher education and research institutions across all academic disciplines. The University of Bath has held a Cooperation Agreement with FAPESP since 2013, which has facilitated collaborative research and research staff mobility.

The High Weissenberg Number Problem in Complex Fluids

Bath PI: Dr Jonathon Evans

Brazilian Partner: José Alberto Cuminato - Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, University of São Paulo

Viscoelastic fluids have many different constitutive equations that relate stress and strain. The purpose of this project is to combine numerical and asymptotic techniques to deal with the numerical instabilities that arise for the different groups of constitutive equations in their simulation of benchmark flows. Accurately simulating the behaviour of viscoelastic flows has proven to be a difficult task. The presence of the elastic properties imposes a memory aspect to the equations represented through the Weissenberg number. As the Weissenberg number increases, the elastic effects become more important, and all current numerical schemes become unstable. This computational challenge is known as the High Weissenberg Number Problem (HWNP) and is a major outstanding problem in the area of rheology. Due to the variety of models, the project sets out a direction for the long term fundamental research of these types of complex viscoelastic fluids.

Dr Jonathan Evans commented:

Receiving the FAPESP-SPRINT award is a great privilege, enabling continued collaboration with colleagues at the University of São Paulo (USP). It allows us to progress our investigation into the mathematical and numerical behaviours of complex fluids, which have current pressing applications in the plastics, oil, and food industries. The USP group is truly world leading in numerical analysis, being headed by Prof. Jose Cuminato (FRSE). They have recently instigated the Brazilian Study Groups with Industry, which adds an additional exciting aspect to the interaction. This award will help develop and strengthen our research partnership.

As well as the above jointly funded project with FAPESP, the University of Bath will also be funding one other research project to ensure Bath academics can facilitate their projects with Brazilian collaborators and contribute to Bath's priority research themes. This additional project will be led by Prof. Nikoletta Fotaki in the Department of Life Sciences whose Brazilian collaborator, Prof. Nádia Araci Bou-Chacra at the University of São Paulo, received funding during the previous FAPESP funding call (SPRINT 2023/2). The funding will facilitate in-person collaboration activities to further develop their project, Antiparasitic drug repositioning for cancer treatment using nanostructured drug delivery systems.