The results of the highly-contested awards were announced in May. The 1851 Research Fellowships are intended to give early career scientists or engineers of exceptional promise the opportunity to conduct a research project of their own instigation; an ultimate objective is to contribute to the knowledge base required for a healthy and innovative national culture.

Sinan said: “I am delighted to receive an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission. I will continue my research at CSIC because it offers the advanced research equipment, sensor deployment expertise, academic support and the industrial connections that are essential for this project.”

The focus of Sinan’s Fellowship project is the assessment of tunnelling-induced damage for heritage masonry structures. During his fellowship, Sinan will develop novel assessment techniques, which aim to integrate distributed sensing and advanced modeling data. This will help illuminate some poorly understood aspects of structural response and provide a much-needed basis for more reliable tunnelling-induced damage modeling strategies for heritage masonry structures.