the research project synonym

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noun as in examination, study

Strongest matches

analysis , exploration , inquiry , investigation , probe

Strong matches

delving , experimentation , groundwork , inquest , inquisition , probing , quest , scrutiny

Weak matches

fact-finding , fishing expedition , legwork , R and D

verb as in examine, study

analyze , consult , explore , investigate , probe , scrutinize

experiment , inquire

do tests , look into , look up , play around with , read up on

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Example sentences.

The duo spent the first year in research and engaging with farmers.

Dan Finn-Foley, head of energy storage at energy research firm Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, compared Google’s plan to ordering eggs for breakfast.

Users will give Deep Longevity the right to conduct anonymized research using their data as part of the app’s terms and conditions, Zhavoronkov said.

There’s also the Wilhelm Reich Museum, located at “Orgonon” in Rangeley, Maine, which was previously Reich’s estate—where he conducted questionable orgone research in the later years of his career.

When we started doing research on these topics, we were too focused on political institutions.

Have you tried to access the research that your tax dollars finance, almost all of which is kept behind a paywall?

Have a look at this telling research from Pew on blasphemy and apostasy laws around the world.

And Epstein continues to steer money toward universities to advance scientific research.

The research literature, too, asks these questions, and not without reason.

We also have a growing body of biological research showing that fathers, like mothers, are hard-wired to care for children.

We find by research that smoking was the most general mode of using tobacco in England when first introduced.

This class is composed frequently of persons of considerable learning, research and intelligence.

Speaking from recollection, it appears to be a work of some research; but I cannot say how far it is to be relied on.

Thomas Pope Blount died; an eminent English writer and a man of great learning and research.

That was long before invention became a research department full of engineers.

Related Words

Words related to research are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word research . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

noun as in inspection, examination

• investigation

verb as in put in a specific context

• investigate

verb as in dig into task, action

• leave no stone unturned
• really get into
• turn inside out

verb as in investigate; discover

• bring to light
• come across
• come up with
• search high and low
• turn upside down

Viewing 5 / 43 related words

On this page you'll find 76 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to research, such as: analysis, exploration, inquiry, investigation, probe, and delving.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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What is another word for research project ?

Synonyms for research project re·search project, this thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word research project ., princeton's wordnet rate this synonym: 0.0 / 0 votes.

scientific research, research project noun

research into questions posed by scientific theories and hypotheses

Synonyms: scientific research

Matched Categories

How to pronounce research project, how to say research project in sign language, how to use research project in a sentence.

Clint Watts :

The single most important source of political information was links to unverified WikiLeaks stories. We believe there was automation pushing those links around but that is our next research project. part of the reason active measures worked in the U.S. election is because the commander in chief used Russian active measures at times against his opponents.

I look at the Tree of 40 Fruit as an artwork, a research project and a form of conservation.

Brian Behlendorf :

If this were the web, what year would we be in? i've felt that we were in 1995, but with this release I am ready to say we are in 1996, when you started to see enterprises saying 'Now it is not just a research project.'.

Joseph Kornegay :

There’s not another way, i’m a dog lover, I’m a veterinarian, I’ve had dogs all my life. So every time we have a research project we want to be as sure as we can that the research will be valuable because the dogs are valuable. Not financially valuable, but valuable as individuals.

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Are we missing a good synonym for research project ?

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Add to chrome, add to firefox, browse synonyms.com, are you a human thesaurus, what is the synonym of altercation, nearby & related entries:.

• research colloquium noun
• research director noun
• research facility noun
• research lab noun
• research laboratory noun
• research project noun
• research rocket noun
• research staff noun
• research worker noun
• research-action
• research-based

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Synonyms and antonyms of research in English

• TO STUDY SOMETHING

Synonyms and examples

Research | american thesaurus.

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have your head in the clouds

to not know the facts of a situation

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Synonyms of project

• as in to protrude
• as in to plan
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Thesaurus Definition of project

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arrangement
• master plan
• ground plan
• contrivance
• counterplan
• counterstrategy
• specific(s)
• specification(s)

Thesaurus Definition of project  (Entry 2 of 2)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• scheme (out)
• choreograph
• strategize (about)
• contemplate
• premeditate

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun project contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of project are design , plan , plot , and scheme . While all these words mean "a method devised for making or doing something or achieving an end," project often stresses imaginative scope and vision.

When would design be a good substitute for project ?

Although the words design and project have much in common, design often suggests a particular pattern and some degree of achieved order or harmony.

In what contexts can plan take the place of project ?

The synonyms plan and project are sometimes interchangeable, but plan always implies mental formulation and sometimes graphic representation.

When is plot a more appropriate choice than project ?

The words plot and project are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, plot implies a laying out in clearly distinguished sections with attention to their relations and proportions.

When might scheme be a better fit than project ?

In some situations, the words scheme and project are roughly equivalent. However, scheme stresses calculation of the end in view and may apply to a plan motivated by craftiness and self-interest.

Thesaurus Entries Near project

Cite this entry.

“Project.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/project. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on project

Nglish: Translation of project for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of project for Arabic Speakers

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50 Useful Academic Words & Phrases for Research

Like all good writing, writing an academic paper takes a certain level of skill to express your ideas and arguments in a way that is natural and that meets a level of academic sophistication. The terms, expressions, and phrases you use in your research paper must be of an appropriate level to be submitted to academic journals.

Therefore, authors need to know which verbs , nouns , and phrases to apply to create a paper that is not only easy to understand, but which conveys an understanding of academic conventions. Using the correct terminology and usage shows journal editors and fellow researchers that you are a competent writer and thinker, while using non-academic language might make them question your writing ability, as well as your critical reasoning skills.

What are academic words and phrases?

One way to understand what constitutes good academic writing is to read a lot of published research to find patterns of usage in different contexts. However, it may take an author countless hours of reading and might not be the most helpful advice when faced with an upcoming deadline on a manuscript draft.

Briefly, “academic” language includes terms, phrases, expressions, transitions, and sometimes symbols and abbreviations that help the pieces of an academic text fit together. When writing an academic text–whether it is a book report, annotated bibliography, research paper, research poster, lab report, research proposal, thesis, or manuscript for publication–authors must follow academic writing conventions. You can often find handy academic writing tips and guidelines by consulting the style manual of the text you are writing (i.e., APA Style , MLA Style , or Chicago Style ).

However, sometimes it can be helpful to have a list of academic words and expressions like the ones in this article to use as a “cheat sheet” for substituting the better term in a given context.

How to Choose the Best Academic Terms

You can think of writing “academically” as writing in a way that conveys one’s meaning effectively but concisely. For instance, while the term “take a look at” is a perfectly fine way to express an action in everyday English, a term like “analyze” would certainly be more suitable in most academic contexts. It takes up fewer words on the page and is used much more often in published academic papers.

You can use one handy guideline when choosing the most academic term: When faced with a choice between two different terms, use the Latinate version of the term. Here is a brief list of common verbs versus their academic counterparts:

Although this can be a useful tip to help academic authors, it can be difficult to memorize dozens of Latinate verbs. Using an AI paraphrasing tool or proofreading tool can help you instantly find more appropriate academic terms, so consider using such revision tools while you draft to improve your writing.

Top 50 Words and Phrases for Different Sections in a Research Paper

The “Latinate verb rule” is just one tool in your arsenal of academic writing, and there are many more out there. But to make the process of finding academic language a bit easier for you, we have compiled a list of 50 vital academic words and phrases, divided into specific categories and use cases, each with an explanation and contextual example.

Best Words and Phrases to use in an Introduction section

1. historically.

An adverb used to indicate a time perspective, especially when describing the background of a given topic.

2. In recent years

A temporal marker emphasizing recent developments, often used at the very beginning of your Introduction section.

3. It is widely acknowledged that

A “form phrase” indicating a broad consensus among researchers and/or the general public. Often used in the literature review section to build upon a foundation of established scientific knowledge.

4. There has been growing interest in

Highlights increasing attention to a topic and tells the reader why your study might be important to this field of research.

5. Preliminary observations indicate

Shares early insights or findings while hedging on making any definitive conclusions. Modal verbs like may , might , and could are often used with this expression.

6. This study aims to

Describes the goal of the research and is a form phrase very often used in the research objective or even the hypothesis of a research paper .

7. Despite its significance

Highlights the importance of a matter that might be overlooked. It is also frequently used in the rationale of the study section to show how your study’s aim and scope build on previous studies.

8. While numerous studies have focused on

Indicates the existing body of work on a topic while pointing to the shortcomings of certain aspects of that research. Helps focus the reader on the question, “What is missing from our knowledge of this topic?” This is often used alongside the statement of the problem in research papers.

9. The purpose of this research is

A form phrase that directly states the aim of the study.

10. The question arises (about/whether)

Poses a query or research problem statement for the reader to acknowledge.

Best Words and Phrases for Clarifying Information

11. in other words.

Introduces a synopsis or the rephrasing of a statement for clarity. This is often used in the Discussion section statement to explain the implications of the study .

12. That is to say

Provides clarification, similar to “in other words.”

13. To put it simply

Simplifies a complex idea, often for a more general readership.

14. To clarify

Specifically indicates to the reader a direct elaboration of a previous point.

15. More specifically

Narrows down a general statement from a broader one. Often used in the Discussion section to clarify the meaning of a specific result.

16. To elaborate

Expands on a point made previously.

17. In detail

Indicates a deeper dive into information.

Points out specifics. Similar meaning to “specifically” or “especially.”

19. This means that

Explains implications and/or interprets the meaning of the Results section .

20. Moreover

Expands a prior point to a broader one that shows the greater context or wider argument.

Best Words and Phrases for Giving Examples

21. for instance.

Provides a specific case that fits into the point being made.

22. As an illustration

Demonstrates a point in full or in part.

23. To illustrate

Shows a clear picture of the point being made.

24. For example

Presents a particular instance. Same meaning as “for instance.”

25. Such as

Lists specifics that comprise a broader category or assertion being made.

26. Including

Offers examples as part of a larger list.

27. Notably

Adverb highlighting an important example. Similar meaning to “especially.”

28. Especially

Adverb that emphasizes a significant instance.

29. In particular

Draws attention to a specific point.

30. To name a few

Indicates examples than previously mentioned are about to be named.

Best Words and Phrases for Comparing and Contrasting

31. however.

Introduces a contrasting idea.

32. On the other hand

Highlights an alternative view or fact.

33. Conversely

Indicates an opposing or reversed idea to the one just mentioned.

34. Similarly

Shows likeness or parallels between two ideas, objects, or situations.

35. Likewise

Indicates agreement with a previous point.

36. In contrast

Draws a distinction between two points.

37. Nevertheless

Introduces a contrasting point, despite what has been said.

38. Whereas

Compares two distinct entities or ideas.

Indicates a contrast between two points.

Signals an unexpected contrast.

Best Words and Phrases to use in a Conclusion section

41. in conclusion.

Signifies the beginning of the closing argument.

42. To sum up

Offers a brief summary.

43. In summary

Signals a concise recap.

44. Ultimately

Reflects the final or main point.

45. Overall

Gives a general concluding statement.

Indicates a resulting conclusion.

Demonstrates a logical conclusion.

48. Therefore

Connects a cause and its effect.

49. It can be concluded that

Clearly states a conclusion derived from the data.

50. Taking everything into consideration

Reflects on all the discussed points before concluding.

Edit Your Research Terms and Phrases Before Submission

Using these phrases in the proper places in your research papers can enhance the clarity, flow, and persuasiveness of your writing, especially in the Introduction section and Discussion section, which together make up the majority of your paper’s text in most academic domains.

However, it's vital to ensure each phrase is contextually appropriate to avoid redundancy or misinterpretation. As mentioned at the top of this article, the best way to do this is to 1) use an AI text editor , free AI paraphrasing tool or AI proofreading tool while you draft to enhance your writing, and 2) consult a professional proofreading service like Wordvice, which has human editors well versed in the terminology and conventions of the specific subject area of your academic documents.

For more detailed information on using AI tools to write a research paper and the best AI tools for research , check out the Wordvice AI Blog .

Synonyms of 'project' in British English

Additional synonyms, synonyms of 'project' in american english.

Browse alphabetically project

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Berkeley Space Center at NASA Ames to become innovation hub for new aviation, space technology

UC Berkeley will develop a 36-acre site to house companies, labs and students in heart of Silicon Valley

By Robert Sanders

Field Operations and HOK

October 16, 2023

The University of California, Berkeley, is teaming up with NASA’s Ames Research Center and developer SKS Partners to create research space for companies interested in collaborating with UC Berkeley and NASA scientists and engineers to generate futuristic innovations in aviation, space exploration and how we live and work in space.

The  Berkeley Space Center , announced today (Monday, Oct. 16), aims to accommodate up to 1.4 million square feet of research space on 36 acres of land at NASA Ames’ Moffett Field in Mountain View, leased from NASA.

The new buildings, some of which could be ready for move-in as early as 2027, will house not only state-of-the-art research and development laboratories for companies and UC Berkeley researchers, but also classrooms for UC Berkeley students. These students will benefit from immersion in the Silicon Valley start-up culture and proximity to the nation’s top aeronautical, space and AI scientists and engineers at Ames.

“We would like to create industry consortia to support research clusters focused around themes that are key to our objectives, in particular aviation of the future, resiliency in extreme environments, space bioprocess engineering, remote sensing and data science and computing,” said  Alexandre Bayen , a UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and associate provost for Moffett Field program development.

Brandon Torres for NASA Ames

“We’re hoping to create an ecosystem where Berkeley talent can collaborate with the private sector and co-locate their research and development teams,” he added. “And since we will be close to NASA talent and technology in the heart of Silicon Valley, we hope to leverage that to form future partnerships.”

Ever since Naval Air Station Moffett Field was decommissioned in 1994 and NASA Ames acquired an additional 1,200 acres, NASA has been focused on developing those acres into a world-class research hub and start-up accelerator. Initiated in 2002, NASA Research Park now has some 25 companies on site, including Google’s Bay View campus.

“We believe that the research and the capabilities of a major university like Berkeley could be a significant addition to the work being done at Ames,” said NASA Ames Director Eugene Tu. “In a more specific way, we would like the potential of having proximity to more students at the undergraduate and graduate level. We would also like the possibility of developing potential partnerships with faculty in the future. The NASA mission is twofold: inspiring the next generation of explorers, and dissemination of our technologies and our research for public benefit. Collaboration between NASA and university researchers fits within that mission.”

UC Berkeley hopes eventually to establish housing at Moffett Field to make working at the innovation center easier for students — without a 47-mile commute each way. Bayen noted that Carnegie Mellon University already occupies a teaching building at Moffett Field. With the addition of UC Berkeley and the proximity of Stanford University, he expects the intensity of academic activities in the area, both instructional and research, to increase immensely.

“We have major facilities here at Ames — the world’s largest wind tunnel, NASA’s only plasma wind tunnel to test entry systems and thermal protection systems, the agency’s supercomputers — and the university will likely build facilities here that that we might leverage as well. So, I look at that as a triad of students, faculty and facilities,” Tu added. “Then the fourth piece, which is equally important: If the project is approved to move forward, the university will likely bring in partners, will bring in industry, will bring in startups, will bring in incubators that could be relevant to NASA’s interest in advancing aeronautics, science and space exploration.”

“What they’re doing at NASA Ames is transformational, but in order to make it heroic, in order to make it even larger than what is now possible, they have to use the combined resources of the number one public university in the world, private industry and the most innovative place on the planet, which is Silicon Valley,” said Darek DeFreece, the project’s founder and executive director at UC Berkeley.

Automated aviation

Bayen emphasized that many academic institutions are now becoming global universities: New York University has demonstrated the ability to operate independent campuses on different continents — the Middle East and Asia — while Cornell has successfully opened a second campus in Manhattan, five hours from Ithaca. In the same vein, UC Berkeley is innovating by launching this research hub that, over the decades to come, could evolve into a campus as instructional and research and development activities grow.

“This expansion of Berkeley’s physical footprint and academic reach represents a fantastic and unprecedented opportunity for our students, faculty and the public we serve,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. “Enabling our world-class research enterprise to explore potential collaborations with NASA and the private sector will speed the translation of discoveries across a wide range of disciplines into the inventions, technologies and services that will advance the greater good. We are thrilled. This is a prime location and a prime time for this public university.”

Claire Tomlin, now professor and chair of electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley, conducted her first research on automated collision avoidance systems for drones at Moffett Field, and foresees similar opportunities there for UC Berkeley students, especially those enrolled in the College of Engineering’s year-old aerospace engineering program.

“With our new aerospace engineering major, it is the right time to get started at Moffett Field. It offers an outdoor testbed for research on how to integrate drones or other unpiloted aerial vehicles, which are being used increasingly for aerial inspection or delivery of medical supplies, into our air traffic control system,” she said. “I anticipate great collaborations on topics such as new algorithms in control theory, new methods in AI, new electronics and new materials.”

Tomlin envisions research on networks of vertiports to support operations of electric autonomous helicopters or e-VTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles), much like UC Berkeley’s pioneering research in the 1990s on self-driving cars; collaborative work on how to grow plants in space or on other planets to produce food, building materials and pharmaceuticals, similar to the ongoing work in UC Berkeley’s  Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space  (CUBES); and collaborations on artificial intelligence with top AI experts in the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research lab (BAIR).

Noah Berger for UC Berkeley

“This is the decade of electric automated aviation, and the Berkeley Space Center should be a pioneer of it, not just by research, but also by experimentation and deployment,” Tomlin said. “We’re interested in, for example, how one would go about designing networks of vertiports that are economically viable, that are compatible with the urban landscape, that are prone to public acceptance and have an economic reality.”

“Advanced air mobility and revolutionizing the use of the airspace and how we use drones and unpiloted vehicles for future air taxis or to fight wildfires or to deliver cargo are other areas of potential collaboration,” Tu added.

Hannah Nabavi  is one UC Berkeley student eager to see this proposed collaboration with NASA Ames and industry around Silicon Valley, even though she will have graduated by the time it comes to fruition. A senior majoring in engineering physics, she is the leader of a campus club called SpaceForm that is currently tapping NASA Ames scientists for research tips on projects such as how materials are affected by the harsh environment on the moon.

“I think one of the primary advantages to UC Berkeley of having this connection is it allows students to obtain a perspective on what’s happening in the real world. What are the real-world problems? What are the goals? How are things getting done?” said Nabavi, who plans to attend graduate school on a path to a career in the commercial space industry. “It also helps students figure out what they want to focus on by providing an early understanding of the research and industrial areas in aerospace.”

But beyond the practical benefits, she said, “I think that seeing all of these scientists and engineers tackling issues and questions at the forefront of aerospace can serve as a huge inspiration to students.”

AI and machine learning

In addition, data science and AI/machine learning are rapidly disrupting the aviation and space industry landscape as it evolves toward automation and human-machine interaction and as ever bigger datasets are being produced. The workforce needs retraining in these rapidly evolving fields, and UC Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) is well positioned to provide executive and professional education to meet these needs.

Photo courtesy of Space Technologies and Rocketry/Berkeley Engineering

“Berkeley Space Center offers the possibility for CDSS students to work on these new challenges, particularly in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics, planetary science and quantum science and technology,” said Sandrine Dudoit, associate dean at CDSS, professor of statistics and of public health and a member of the Moffett Field Faculty Steering Committee.

DeFreece noted that there are NASA collaborations already happening on the UC Berkeley campus. Many leverage the mission management and instrument-building skills at the Space Sciences Laboratory, which is responsible for the day-to-day operation of several NASA satellites and is building instruments for spacecraft that NASA will land on the moon or launch to monitor Earth and the sun.

UC Berkeley researchers are already investigating  how to print 3D objects in space ,  how to create materials to sustain astronauts on Mars , how to test for life-based molecules on other planets and moons, and whether  squishy robots  could operate on other planets. UC Berkeley spin-offs are developing ways to  monitor health in space  and provide  low-cost insertion of satellites into orbit .

“The Berkeley Space Center could be a place where half of the day students are collaborating with center neighbors, and the other half of the day they might be taking classes and seeing their mentors who are supervising class projects on the satellite that is hovering over their heads at that very moment,” Bayen said. “Experiences like these just don’t exist anywhere else at the present time.”

UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Berkeley Law are also working on issues surrounding the commercial exploitation of space, including asteroids and other planets, and the laws that should govern business in space.

“Space law and policy are also areas where I think there’s some tremendous opportunities to collaborate with the university,” Tu said. “What are we going to do when we find resources on the moon, and other countries do as well, and companies want to make money from that?”

A focus on sustainability

In return for its investment and partnership, UC Berkeley will receive a portion of the revenues that the real estate development is projected to generate. While market-based returns are always subject to change, the joint venture conservatively estimates that the research hub will receive revenues more than sufficient to ensure that Berkeley Space Center is self-sustaining, as well as provide new financial support to the core campus, its departments and colleges, and faculty and students.

UC Berkeley also expects significant additional revenue from other, project-related sources, including new research grants, industry participation and partnerships, and the incubation and commercialization of emerging companies born from translational research and technologies created at the site.

SKS Partners , a San Francisco-based investor and developer of commercial real estate properties in the western U.S., will lead the venture. The planning team for the Berkeley Space Center will pursue LEED certification for its buildings — a mark of sustainability — by using solar power, blackwater and stormwater treatment and reuse, and emphasizing non-polluting transportation.

While construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026, subject to environmental approvals, UC Berkeley is already creating connections between Silicon Valley companies on the NASA Ames property, including executive education programs.

“In the next couple of years, we could conceivably have a semester rotation program, where UC Berkeley students spend one semester at Berkeley Space Center, take three classes taught there, do their research there, are temporarily housed there for a semester, just like they would do a semester abroad in Paris,” Bayen said. “Ultimately, we hope to build experiences that currently do not exist for students, staff and faculty and create an innovation ecosystem where breakthroughs that require public-private partnerships are enabled.”

The development team includes as co-master planners HOK, an architecture, engineering and planning firm, and Field Operations, an interdisciplinary urban design and landscape architecture firm.

RELATED INFORMATION

• Berkeley Space Center
• SKS website for Berkeley Space Center
• Perspective: The role of public–private partnerships in fostering outer space innovations  (Oct. 16, 2023)
• NASA’s Ames Research Center
• SKS Partners

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• Cultural and media studies
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Despite much research on the media coverage of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the specific language and ideological underpinnings used in this discourse have received little attention. This study compares the discourse surrounding the GERD construction in Egyptian and Ethiopian news sources to identify variations in word choice and underlying biases. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the study analyzes two online English news corpora, totalling over a million words across 2655 articles. The analysis involves identifying statistically salient keywords in each corpus and examining their context through a contrastive collocation analysis. The study investigates the data in light of Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework, which considers the text, discourse practice, and social practice, and applies van Dijk’s concept of the ideological square to explore patterns of self-positive and other-negative representation. The findings reveal distinct patterns of bias in the news coverage from both countries. Egyptian news outlets often frame the GERD project as a source of crisis, depicting Ethiopia as violating international law and exacerbating political tensions. In contrast, Ethiopian news sources tend to portray Egypt as dismissive of Ethiopia’s development rights and as monopolizing the Nile’s resources. These discursive strategies reflect a broader trend of media bias, where lexical choices and framing techniques align with national interests and diplomatic stances.

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Introduction.

The mass media hold a significant power to present things in particular ways, primarily through language usage (Fairclough, 1995 ). This power can influence public opinion and shape individuals’ perspectives on various issues. As a primary source of understanding the world, the media’s power and impact on discourse have clear implications (Talbot, 2007 ). The current study focuses on news discourse, a genre that is distinct from other forms of discourse in that it has the potential to alter how we view reality. While news reporting is intended to keep the public informed about current affairs, it becomes evident that news representation is not neutral or value-free and that journalistic practices, such as lexical choices, play a pivotal role in influencing the narrative (Fowler, 1991 ).

Constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, starting in 2013, has triggered a huge conflict and intense political confrontation among the Nile basin countries. Both local and international news outlets have played a critical role in this conflict by covering the status of regional diplomacy and the internal political implications of the GERD (Abtew and Dessu, 2019 ). However, very little research has been conducted on how the media presented the issue. Most studies to date have only looked at the issue from a media perspective, leaving a gap in research on the linguistic analysis of news coverage.

Historically, the Nile water-sharing issue between the Nile Basin states has a long-standing political tension. Egypt has dominated the control of the Nile for decades, but upstream countries have been challenging this dominance. Egypt believes its historical share of the Nile waters should be guaranteed based on the two ancient water agreements signed in 1929 and 1959, while Ethiopia insists on equitable allocation (Lawson, 2017 ). Ethiopia has challenged the two agreements as unfair colonial-era treaties. Thus, Ethiopia’s launch of the GERD, the largest hydropower project in Africa, challenged the long-established status quo along the Nile.

This paper holds significance due to the importance of the issue, the unique perspective, the methodological approach, and the extended analysis period. Primarily, the study delves into the discourse surrounding the construction of the GERD, a highly important and controversial issue. Second, its significance lies in adopting a critical perspective towards media discourse analysis. This approach seeks to unveil the influence of political and ideological stances on media bias. Additionally, by combining critical discourse analysis (CDA) with the analytical tools of corpus linguistics (CL), the study contributes to the evolving body of work at the intersection of these methodologies. Lastly, the extended timeframe (2013–2020) selected for analysis addresses a gap in the existing literature, where many CDA and linguistic studies on news discourse often offer detailed examinations of specific news items but cover relatively short periods (Carvalho, 2008 ).

The primary objective of this paper is to compare the lexical choices utilized in the news reports within the two datasets at hand. This will be realized by identifying the highest-salient keywords in each corpus, followed by an in-depth examination of their collocating words, semantic preferences, and the prosodies inferred from these collocations. In addition, the study aims to reveal the ideological implications in the news reporting on the GERD. The study seeks to address the following two research questions:

What are the lexical items collocating with the highest statistically salient keywords related to the GERD in Egyptian and Ethiopian newspapers?

What does the collocation analysis of keywords reveal about the different stances adopted by the two conflicting countries regarding the GERD issue?

Literature review

Mass media studies of the representation of the gerd.

Several studies have explored the media representation of the GERD conflict (Bealy, 2014 ; El-Tawil, 2018 ; El Damanhoury, 2023 ; Sayed El Ahl et al. 2023 ). Bealy ( 2014 ) analyzed the frames used in the coverage of the GERD by The Reporter, an Ethiopian private newspaper. Using content analysis, the study identified six frames: “development”, “national image”, “right”, “victimhood”, “mutual benefit”, and “war”. El-Tawil ( 2018 ) examined the framing of the GERD construction as a crisis threatening Egypt’s security. The paper analyzed social media posts and Egyptian online newspapers from September 2017 to Mar 2018 using content analysis and found that the most dominant frames were “conflict” and “problem”, while the theme of “denial” emerged. El Damanhoury ( 2023 ) conducted a media study using content analysis to examine the relationship between China, Qatar, and the UK’s proximity to Egypt and Ethiopia. The study analyzed how China Global Television , Al Jazeera English , and BBC framed the GERD conflict between 2019 and 2021. The findings revealed that proximity played a role in the news coverage of the dispute. Sayed El Ahl et al. ( 2023 ) conducted a comparative mass media study of online newspapers’ coverage of the GERD issue in 2019. Examining three governmental newspapers, Ahram Online , The Ethiopian Herald , and Sudan News Agency , the study found that each news outlet framed information in a way that served their national interest. Although these studies have identified the emphasized areas in the news coverage of the GERD, a methodological gap exists. Many extant studies rely on qualitative analyses of limited data and overlook critical linguistic analysis for interpreting differences between news outlets.

Corpus-based CDA studies of news representation of the GERD

Few discourse analysis studies, based on corpora, have investigated newspapers’ portrayal of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) using different methodologies. Elieba ( 2022 ) compared the lexico-syntactic features within English newspaper discourse in Egypt and Ethiopia from 2011 to 2021. Elieba analyzed content words, sentence types, verb frequency, vocabulary size, nominalizations, keywords, and complement clauses. The study identified significant differences between Egyptian and Ethiopian news reports on GERD but did not employ the CDA framework to discern bias or elucidate ideological implications in lexical choices. Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ) conducted a corpus-based critical analysis of the coverage of GERD by Ethiopian and Egyptian newspapers. Their study focused mainly on identifying recurring themes and semantic domains without analyzing the lexical selections or keyword collocations. The present research builds on Elsoufy and Ibrahim’s study by conducting a deeper analysis of lexical choices in news discourse to detect bias and examine the discursive strategies that contribute to ideological polarization. This study approaches the topic from a unique perspective that has not been thoroughly explored in existing literature.

Linguistic studies of other discourses on GERD

Some linguistic studies have examined different discourses on the GERD. El Shazly and El Falaky ( 2023 ) conducted a cognitive-linguistic analysis of the language of press releases on the GERD. The study has explored the representations of Ethiopia’s and Egypt’s hydro-political stances. Their study collected data from statements by the Egyptian Foreign Minister and the Ethiopian United Nations ambassador. Similarly, Siraw ( 2023 ) conducted a qualitative document review and discourse analysis of speeches given by state officials in Egypt and Ethiopia. Siraw analyzed the discourse surrounding Nile water, which often leads to conflicting interests. It is worth noting that none of these studies has analyzed the choices of words employed in the officials’ statements.

To sum up, most existing studies investigated how media outlets in Nile riparian countries have framed the issue of the GERD. However, most of these studies, largely falling within the domain of mass communication, lacked a language-centered approach. Notably, only two studies, Elieba ( 2022 ) and Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ), have conducted a linguistic analysis of news data at the lexical level. Furthermore, the present paper differs from relevant research with regard to context and data sources. For instance, some previous studies focused on how the GERD is covered solely by Ethiopian newspapers over one year (Bealy, 2014 ). Additionally, the present study derives its data from a genre of media different from that of most extant research. Specifically, some previous studies collected data from social media posts (El-Tawil, 2018 ); press releases (El Shazly and El Falaky, 2023 ; Siraw, 2023 ); and TV news (El Damanhoury, 2023 ). Finally, only Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ) have combined the analytical frameworks of CDA and corpus linguistics, while most other studies have relied mainly on purposive sampling techniques. This represents a gap in the literature, as argued by Partington and Marchi ( 2015 ), who state that most non-corpus-based discourse analysis studies tend to focus on analyzing a small number of texts.

Theoretical framework

This section offers an overview of the theoretical underpinnings informing the study. It begins with an exploration of the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, introducing the concept of ideology as a key factor in the critical analysis of news discourse. Next, the section elucidates Fairclough’s ( 1995 ) three-dimensional model as the comprehensive approach to CDA, and van Dijk’s ( 1998 ) notion of the ideological square as a model for interpreting ideological implications. Finally, the synergy of CDA and Corpus Linguistics is discussed.

Critical discourse analysis (CDA)

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an approach to examining language use, taking a critical perspective that involves analyzing how social practices shape discourse (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997 ). Specifically, within the CDA paradigm, discourse analysis becomes critical when socio-cultural and historical contexts surrounding the events and issues being studied are considered (Fairclough, 1995 ; Richardson, 2007 ). CDA involves discovering hidden connections, such as the relationship between ideology, power, social actors, and discursive practices (van Dijk, 1993 ). In addition, CDA possesses a unique quality of being both a theory and a methodology utilized to examine how individuals and institutions use language. Another crucial principle of CDA is that it does not rely on a singular theoretical framework, drawing upon various approaches to textual analysis. Lastly, CDA offers valuable tools for comprehending how discourse shapes and is shaped by ideologies.

In the study of news discourse, the term ideology refers to a group of social beliefs, values, and perspectives that influence how information is interpreted (van Dijk, 2001 ). Ideology can play a significant role in how news events are presented, highlighting certain aspects while ignoring others. The way different social groups are portrayed in news language can reflect the ideological perspectives of the writers. Scholars such as Fairclough ( 2003 ) and Van Dijk ( 2006 ) view ideology as a form of power that controls and organizes socially shared beliefs. In this study, I adopt this critical approach to ideology and seek to examine how underlying ideologies can shape the narrative of news stories.

Fairclough’s approach to CDA

This study adopts Fairclough’s ( 1995 ) model of CDA as the general critical approach to discourse analysis. This approach integrates social science and linguistics within a unified theoretical and analytical framework, fostering a dialogue between the two disciplines (Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999 ). According to this model, discourse analysis entails more than textual analysis, involving three analytical focuses: (a) linguistic analysis of the text, known as description, (b) analysis of discourse practice, referred to as interpretation, and (c) analysis of the social practice, referred to as explanation. The first level involves describing the linguistic properties of the text, including vocabulary, grammar, and cohesion. The second focus entails interpreting the text by analyzing changes occurring during production, which can be influenced by journalistic practices. According to Fairclough ( 1995 ), it is at this level that implicit meanings and ideologies can be uncovered. The third layer involves analyzing various factors, such as economic, political, and cultural contexts. This level of analysis may involve examining the immediate situational context of an event or the broader social and historical contexts in which the event is embedded.

Van Dijk’s ideological square model

The present study also builds on van Dijk’s ( 1998 ) notion of ideological square to interpret the findings. Van Dijk introduced a socio-cognitive approach to ideology analysis in CDA. According to this approach, ideologies are the fundamental conceptual structures used by social groups (social dimension) to organize their shared beliefs (cognitive dimension) and actions. Therefore, the discourses of a group reflect its ideologies, which serve the interests of the group. In the present study, the content that is examined for ideological assumptions is the discourse of the two news corpora’s representations of the GERD. At the same time, the social dimension of ideology is considered by revealing the attitudes and stances of the two conflicting countries.

Van Dijk ( 1998 ) presented the notion of the ideological square, which explores the “us” versus “them” portrayal. This idea is based on polarization, which is evident in the positive representation of the in-group and the negative representation of the out-group. When it comes to the media, this model exposes how newspapers tend to categorize participants into good and bad sides during a conflict while speaking positively about their group and expressing negative opinions about their opponents or perceived adversaries. Van Dijk ( 2011 ) refers to this phenomenon as the complex meta-strategy of the ideological square.

The present study seeks to identify the discursive representation strategies utilized in the datasets. These strategies are applied in discourse to create a division between in-groups and out-groups, establishing the “us” versus “them” dichotomy (van Dijk, 2000 , 2011 ). These include the “attribution of agency” strategy, in which we attribute positive actions to ourselves or our allies and negative actions to others. Another strategy is “dramatization” or “victimization”, which is a way of exaggerating facts to make one’s argument seem stronger (van Dijk, 2000 ). Additionally, there is the ideological strategy of “description”, which refers to the level of the description of polarized opinions. Utilizing this strategy entails that in-group good actions and others’ bad ones tend to be described in detail at a specific level.

The synergy of corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis

The present study combines the eclectic framework of CDA and the analytical tools of corpus linguistics. This synergy is defined by Partington et al. ( 2013 ) as the set of studies incorporating the use of computerized corpora in their analyses. A corpus is defined as a collection of electronically accessible and readable language samples that represent a language variety, serving as a data source for linguistic research (Sinclair, 2005 ). In the critical analysis of news discourse, this combination allows researchers to analyze large amounts of data at multiple linguistic levels and identify repeated lexical and grammatical patterns that shape how events are described. These patterns are often loaded with ideological meanings that may not be easily observable manually.

Consequently, using corpus linguistic tools when studying media discourse can help identify new research questions, eliminate research bias, and recognize both linguistic norms and exceptions (Baker, 2006 ). Finally, incorporating CL tools addresses a major criticism against CDA approaches, particularly the concern of relying on “cherry-picking” data. According to Widdowson ( 2004 ), this term refers to the tendency of some CDA researchers to selectively choose small data sets that align with their research objectives and are more likely to produce results that answer their research questions.

Methodology

Data collection.

Creating a reliable corpus requires a balanced and representative dataset specific to the studied language variety (McEnery and Baker, 2015 ). Therefore, the data collection process involved meticulously selecting news articles based on specific criteria such as corpus size, balance, and representativeness. To reflect the targeted discourse type, all the available news articles published between 2013–2020 have been collected, resulting in 2655 articles. Two comparable datasets were created by collecting a roughly equal number of articles for each corpus. The inclusion criteria were limited to hard news reports, excluding opinion articles and editorials for being beyond the scope of the study. Each corpus contained over 500,000 words.

The choice of news reports as the primary data source is deemed appropriate, as it reflects the ideological stances and biases of the news outlets in each country. Choosing the online versions of newspapers was based on their quick and widespread accessibility. Online news mirrors the content of traditional print copies and ensures easy access for readers. Further, using online news to retrieve the present study data provides seamless access to news reports through specialized search engines.

Three newspapers from each country were carefully chosen to build the Egyptian and Ethiopian news corpora. For the Egyptian corpus, selections included Ahram Online , the English-language digital edition of Al-Ahram , Egypt’s largest state-owned newspaper known for extensive circulation and historical significance. Additionally, Egypt Independent , the English version of Al-Masry Al-Youm Daily, and Daily News Egypt , a prominent English-language news website, were incorporated. These two are highly regarded private newspapers in Egypt, offering comprehensive coverage across political, business, and cultural domains. For the Ethiopian corpus, selections comprised The Ethiopian Herald , a state-owned newspaper published by the Ethiopian News Agency , the official news agency of Ethiopia. Additionally, two private newspapers were included. The first is the Reporter Ethiopia , the most circulated English-language newspaper owned by the Ethiopian Media Communications Center. Secondly, Walta Information , a news website owned by Walta Media and Communication Corporate, was integrated. Operating in both Amharic and English, Walta Information covers many topics. Overall, both Egyptian and Ethiopian data sources were chosen for their provision of reliable hard news reports in English, representation of state-owned and private outlets, and accessibility through Factiva, the search engine utilized for retrieving the articles.

The Factiva database was used to retrieve the articles with the query term Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam . This database was selected because its interface allowed for quick retrieval of a large number of news articles from various sources. The retrieved news reports were manually reviewed and formatted to remove unnecessary information such as copyright and markup information. For efficient management, files were saved as plain text in a format consisting of the year of publication followed by a serial number.

Corpus analysis software

Two applications were used for corpus analysis in this study. The software utilized for extracting the keywords is Wordsmith Tools (Scott, 2020 ). The main reason for using this application is that it is a multiplatform with a user-friendly interface that allows for identifying statistically salient and recurring features, such as keywords. Additionally, Sketch Engine (Kilgarriff et al., 2004 ) software was used to explore collocations and their grammatical patterns. The reason for choosing this application is that it can generate a word sketch for any word, which illustrates how this particular term is used along with its collocations in different grammatical forms, such as a subject, an object, or a modifier. The application also depicts the salience of the node’s collocational behavior using a statistical measure called the LogDice score.

Keywords, collocations, and statistical metrics

In corpus-based analysis, keywords play a crucial role. A keyword is a word whose frequency in a corpus is significantly higher than its frequency in a reference corpus (McEnery, 2016 ; Brezina, 2018 ). Relevant corpus-analysis applications are used to extract keywords based on certain statistical measures. Commonly used metrics include ‘statistical significance’ and ‘effect size’. The former are beneficial in determining keyness, but they do not reflect the magnitude of frequency differences (Gabrielatos, 2018 , p. 9). Their values are also affected by the size of the two corpora being compared. Therefore, to ensure the validity of the statistical significance metrics used in the current study, two corpora of equal size were employed. Conversely, effect size statistics are independent of corpus size and are essential to determine if the frequency difference is meaningful (Gabrielatos and Marchi, 2012 ; Gabrielatos, 2018 ). Both metrics offer insights into corpus ‘aboutness’, but effect size statistics are more suitable for critical analysis (Pojanapunya and Watson Todd, 2018 , 2021 ). To obtain more reliable results, Gabrielatos ( 2018 , p. 13–15) suggests that researchers decide on the keywords that will be considered for manual analysis based on the range of effect-size values and corresponding statistical significance levels or evidence against a null hypothesis (via BIC scores), as well as the particular focus of the study.

Following Gabrielatos ( 2018 ), three metrics were utilized for calculating keyness in the current study. Firstly, Dunning’s ( 1993 ) log-likelihood (LL) ratio, a confidence-based statistical significance test, compares a word’s observed frequency in the target corpus to its expected frequency in a reference corpus, with a p-value (probability value) indicating significance. The p-value score determines whether the difference in relative frequencies is due to chance alone, with a lower p-value suggesting a stronger presence of a word in the corpus and resulting in a fewer number of keywords (Baker, 2006 ; Brezina, 2018 ). For the current study, a p-value threshold of p < 0.000001 was set. Additionally, I strengthened the significance of LL by utilizing Bayes Information Criterion (BIC). BIC combines LL and corpus size to provide evidence against the null hypothesis ‘H0’, which suggests no real difference in frequency (Calzada Pérez, 2023 ). Finally, Hardie’s ( 2014 ) Log Ratio, an effect-size binary logarithm of the ratio of relative frequencies, was utilized as the primary metric for sorting the keywords. Figures 1 and 2 display the top keywords from the Egyptian and Ethiopian corpora, ordered by Log Ratio scores. According to Rayson and Garside ( 2000 ), Log Likelihood is computed based on a contingency table structure, comparing actual frequencies with expected frequencies under the null hypothesis or the assumption that the distribution of the keyword is the same in both corpora. The expected frequency in each corpus (E1/E2) and Log-likelihood (LL) value are calculated using the following formulas.

An output of the Wordsmith Tools application, presenting some of the top keywords extracted from the Egyptian corpus and ordered by the Log-Ratio, LL, and BIC statistical metrics.

An output of the Wordsmith Tools application, presenting some of the top keywords extracted from the Ethiopian corpus and ordered by the Log-Ratio, LL, and BIC statistical metrics.

O1 is the frequency of a word in corpus 1, O2 is the frequency of a word in the corpus 2, N1 is the total number of words in corpus 1, and N2 is the total number of words in corpus 2.

Two lists of the top 50 keywords were compiled from each corpus, including items that express ‘aboutness’ or the main topic of the corpus, while excluding words that express ‘style’, such as grammatical words, names of newspapers, and days of the week. From there, a shortlist of five statistically salient nodes that were most relevant to the focus of the study was considered for further manual collocational analysis. According to McEnery and Hardie ( 2012 , p. 123), “a collocation is a co-occurrence pattern that exists between two items that frequently occur in proximity to one another but not necessarily adjacently”. This type of analysis is especially useful for linking corpus linguistics with CDA as it helps to understand the words’ contextual meanings. Words are considered in collocation when there is a statistical relationship between them, as they occur together more often than what would be expected by chance (Baker et al., 2013 ). Sketch Engine utilizes the LogDice statistical metric to calculate the salience of a node’s collocational behavior. Salience is determined based on the frequencies of the node, the collocate, and the collocation within a specific frame. (Baker et al. 2013 , p. 37). LogDice is an effect-size computational statistics tool based on the Dice Coefficient, which “measures the strength of association between two words (rather than a hypothesis-testing measure that produces a p-value for statistical significance)” (Baker and Levon, 2016 , p. 112). Curran ( 2004 ) conducted a thorough evaluation of various collocation methods and concluded that LogDice yielded the best results. (cited in Baker, 2014 , p.145). Rychly ( 2008 ) further notes that the logDice measure is unaffected by the corpus size and considers solely the frequency of a node and its collocation. As a result, it proves useful for extracting collocations and has been effectively integrated into Sketch Engine. Finally, Baker ( 2014 ) argues that the Dice Coefficient favors medium-frequency collocates and is particularly helpful in comparing corpora of small size. In addition, the analysis in the present study focused on identifying the grammatical categories of the collocating words, known as ‘colligations’. This refers to the co-occurrence of words in specific syntactic structures, such as parts of speech. The collocating items have been classified in tables according to their colligational relations and have been ordered by their LogDice saliency scores.

Semantic preference and prosody

The concepts of semantic preference and prosody were integral to the present study’s collocational analysis. Semantic preference refers to the shared semantic categories between a word and its collocates, allowing for a better understanding of meaning by analyzing its commonly associated terms. On the other hand, semantic prosody is the ability of words to establish certain meanings contextually, such as positive, negative, or ironic (Brezina, 2018 ). Some words tend to convey negative or positive attitudes, and identifying these tendencies in news discourse can provide valuable insights into the ideological meanings behind word choices.

Data analysis

Based on Fairclough’s ( 1995 ) and van Dijk’s ( 1998 ) approaches to CDA and the analytical tools of the CL, the data analysis was done at the following levels:

A textual analysis (description level) of the data was done, following the major techniques of corpus linguistics, namely, keywords and collocations. This included four steps.

A list of five statistically salient content keywords was extracted from each corpus using the Wordsmith Tools application.

The Sketch Engine software identified the collocations of each keyword.

The collocating words were categorized in tables according to their grammatical patterns.

The collocates were examined to identify their semantic preferences and prosodies.

The analysis of discourse practice (interpretation level) was conducted by identifying any possible hidden ideological strategies utilized in the news data. This was done by analyzing the lexical choices made in the data, which could reveal potential biases and reflect the political stance of the sources.

Analysis of social practice (explanation level) was done by considering the historical and social contexts of the issue.

Textual analysis (description and interpretation levels)

To answer the research questions, the analysis at the textual level involved identifying the highest salient keywords in each corpus and then providing a detailed analysis of their collocating words. Secondly, the study investigated the discursive strategies of the polarized positive-self and negative-other representation for the discourse practice analysis or the interpretation level. This level of analysis addresses the study’s overall objectives of finding out whether and at what level the representation of GERD varies between the two datasets in hand.

Egyptian news corpus

Extracting statistically salient keywords.

Table 1 shows the five keywords selected for further analysis ordered by their effect-size statistical saliency (LogR). The nodes “crisis, fears, interests, and affect” indicate a notable focus on the negative effects of the dam construction on Egypt’s share of the Nile waters. Additionally, the node “negotiations” emerges as the most frequent keyword, suggesting recurrent references in the Egyptian news data to diplomatic actions as a crucial aspect of conflict resolution between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Collocational analysis of the node crisis

Table 2 displays the lexical collocations of the keyword “crisis” grouped by their grammatical relationships and ordered by statistical saliency. Sketch Engine has categorized the word sketch of the collocates into four grammatical patterns.

The first group consists of words that function as modifiers of the word crisis in the [modifiers of crisis] structure. This pattern includes pre-modifiers characterizing the dam crisis in terms of its type and severity. Adjectives such as economic, current, acute, years-long, ongoing, real, and various are used to pre-modify the term crisis, with a high LogDice score of 7 or more. Attributive nouns also appear as collocates, identifying the type of crisis referred to in the corpus. For instance, the node is pre-modified by the nouns dam, GERD, food, water, electricity, flood, and Nile (LogDice score higher than 6). The second grammatical pattern, [verbs + crisis (as object)], involves the node as the recipient of various actions. The most statistically salient collocate is the verb resolve (LogDice of 11.31). This verb and other collocating verbs such as solve, end, handle, and settle (LogDice score of 8 and higher) suggest a narrative reflecting Egypt’s determined efforts to handle the crisis. The third grammatical pattern features the term crisis as the subject of certain verbs, describing the node as surrounding , facing , being , and having various characteristics. Finally, the [crisis and/or] pattern connects the crisis with other objects, such as conflict , problem , and result . Notably, the term ‘conflict’ stands out as the top-ranking collocate in this pattern, linking the dam to an ongoing dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia.

In terms of meaning, the node “crisis” has diverse collocates with distinct semantic preferences and prosodies. The first set of collocates relates to GERD-induced crises, including terms like food, water, electricity, political, economic, and internal. Additionally, the collocates Dam and Nile establish a direct association, characterizing GERD as a crisis. These modifiers, referencing various crises, indicate a strong ideological bias and reflect the discourse prosody of threat . They suggest that the Egyptian media narratives on the GERD are constructed by a victim role. This exemplifies van Dijk’s ( 2000 ) ideological strategy of “victimization”, emphasizing the distinction between in-groups and out-groups through semantic implications. As van Dijk puts it, when out-groups are negatively depicted and associated with threats, it becomes necessary to represent the in-group as a victim of these threats. The focus on this topic in the Egyptian dataset aligns with Elsoufy and Ibrahim’s ( 2022 ) findings that identify “concerns and threats” as the most recurrent theme in Egyptian news reports on the GERD conflict.

Collocational analysis of the node fears

Table 3 illustrates the collocational relationships associated with the node “fears” (both as a noun and a verb).

The collocates are categorized into three grammatical patterns. The first pattern, [modifiers of fears], includes collocates that describe Egypt’s concerns about the GERD issue, including adjectives like bad , popular , and serious . These collocates have a high statistical saliency score exceeding 6.8. Certain nouns act as pre-modifiers, such as overpopulation with the highest saliency (LogDice score of 12.9), indicating a strong collocation with the word fears . In the second grammatical pattern, [verbs + fears (as object)], the keyword occurs as an object to verbs like voice, raise, dispel, and calm. The verb ‘voice’ has the highest statistically salient association with the node fears (with a statistical score of 12.5). This strong collocation relationship indicates the explicit expression of concerns regarding GERD’s potential negative impact. In the third pattern, [fears (as subject) + verbs], the node functions as an agent of the verbs overwhelm , abound , grow , and come , with a LogDice score higher than 6.

The collocates associated with fears in the Egyptian corpus suggest certain semantic preferences. The phrase “overpopulation fears” appears frequently and carries negative discourse prosody by highlighting the idea of ‘population explosion’ in Egypt as a primary cause of concerns about water security and making the negative depiction of the GERD seem more believable. As van Dijk ( 1998 ) suggests, arguments become more credible when supported by a sequence of assertions preceding or following them. Another group of collocates, including the words bad , serious , raise , harbor , increase , overwhelm , abound , face , and grow , indicates a semantic inclination towards triggering and intensifying concerns. These terms convey a sense of frustration when discussing the issue of GERD, which suggests that Egypt perceives the situation with heightened panic. They occur in contexts loaded with ideological bias and employ the strategy of “dramatization.” As van Dijk ( 2000 ) explains, dramatization involves intentional exaggeration in favor of the group’s interests by using lexical choices that make the situation seem more intense, depicting the in-group as a victim.

Collocational analysis of the node negotiations

Table 4 displays the numerous collocates associated with this keyword in the Egyptian corpus, each revealing diverse semantic preferences and prosodies.

These collocates follow three distinct grammatical patterns. First, the pattern [modifiers of negotiations] includes adjectives such as US-brokered, tripartite, and intensive, with a statistical saliency of 6 or higher. This pattern also features specific nouns functioning as pre-modifiers to the node negotiations, such as dam and Egypt . Secondly, the grammatical pattern [verbs + negotiations (as object)] assigns the node the role of a goal of several verbs, including resume, continue, stall, and hold, with a LogDice score of 7 or more. Finally, the third grammatical pattern is [negotiations (as subject) + verbs], which involves the node occurring as an actor of a set of verbs, such as fail , reach , begin , and remain , with a LogDice score of 7 and above.

The collocates associated with the term “negotiations” carry a noticeable negative semantic tone. Examples include words like stall, suspend, limit, fail, and falter, which collectively convey a discourse prosody associated with failure. The elevated statistical saliency of this set of collocates implies that these lexical choices intensify the positive “us” and the negative “them” distinction. In alignment with van Dijk’s ( 1998 ) polarization strategy of “attribution of agency”, these terms attribute a negative disposition to Ethiopia regarding the negotiations. They occur in the Egyptian corpus in co-texts with “negotiations” within highly ideological contexts, contributing to a narrative that places blame on Ethiopia for the failure of the negotiation process while backgrounding Egypt’s role in hindering it.

Collocational analysis of the node affect

Table 5 shows the collocates associated with the keyword “affect,” categorized into three grammatical patterns.

The first structure, [objects of affect], refers to the collocates that act as recipients of actions, including terms like share , supply , and security (LogDice score of 6 and above). The second pattern, [subjects of affect], comprises a few collocates that refer to the idea of inducing a change, as observed in expressions like “dam completion affects” and “dam affects.” These collocates have a statistical saliency score of 8 and above. The grammatical structure in this subject-verb colligation emphasizes the discourse of ‘threat’ in the Egyptian news data by assigning the agent function to the GERD while positioning Egypt’s interests as the object of the verb affect . This colligation frames the dam project as a direct threat to Egypt. The final colligation pattern, [modifiers of affect], includes adverbs that pre-modify the node, such as negatively, adversely, severely, indeed, drastically, greatly, and significantly (LogDice score of 7 or higher). These modifier collocates contribute to the depiction of the GERD’s role in causing harm to Egypt.

In terms of semantic meanings, the collocates of the word affect can be categorized into distinct groups, each carrying different semantic preferences and prosodies. The first set of collocating modifiers has a semantic preference for describing the degree or intensity of something. However, this entire set of modifiers carries a negative discourse prosody, suggesting a connotation of causing harm. An exception within this set is the modifier not , which, in association with affect , introduces positive semantic prosody. The second set of collocates includes words related to the semantic feature of identifying the types and outcomes of something. Several of these collocates directly refer to the impact on Egypt’s share of the Nile waters, encompassing terms such as share, supply, water, quota, flow, amount, source, water share, and the Nile.

Collocational analysis of the node interests

The word sketch of the collocates associated with the term “interests” is shown in Table 6 . The first pattern, [verbs + interests (as object)], comprises verbs that act on the node as the object, such as harm , safeguard , and protect , with this group holding a statistical saliency score exceeding 7. The second pattern, [modifiers of interests], features terms that describe the interests , including the adjectives common, mutual, national, strategic, Egyptian, and Sudanese (with a LogDice score of 7 or higher). The modifier common is the highest-salient collocate associated with the word interests , with a statistical score of 12.5. The remaining two grammatical patterns are [possessors of interests] and [pronominal possessors of interests]. The collocates under these patterns have a LogDice score exceeding 8.

In the context of semantic meanings, some collocations like the phrases “harm interests” and “affect interests” bear a discourse prosody that implies threat and reflects the negative representation of the GERD in the Egyptian corpus. Other terms co-occurring with the node have a semantic preference for sharing something, such as common, mutual, national, and joint. Further, collocates such as own , Egyptian Sudanese , country , everyone , Egypt , people , Sudan , Ethiopia , their , our , and its share the semantic feature of ownership. The term common , with the highest statistical saliency score, positively depicts Egypt’s stance in the dispute, suggesting a commitment to the shared interests of all involved parties. This association can be seen as carrying an ideological implication. It aligns with van Dijk’s ( 2011 ) ideological discursive strategy of “description”, where several specific and detailed propositions describe the in-group’s good actions. Finally, the terms water , strategic , and security represent the semantic aspect of the specific interests that Egypt seeks to safeguard.

Ethiopian news corpus

Table 7 shows the five nodes selected from the list of keywords extracted from the Ethiopian corpus. The terms power , utilization , growth , and nation are used in contexts that outline the primary focus of the Ethiopian corpus, centering around the topic of economic development. Further, within the Ethiopian news data, the keyword “negotiation” reflects a recurrent reference to Ethiopia’s diplomatic efforts.

Collocational analysis of the node power

The collocates associated with the node power are organized into three colligational patterns, as shown in Table 8 .

The first pattern, [modifiers of power], includes terms such as electric, hydroelectric, electrical, hydro, and geothermal, all having a LogDice score of 7 or more. The highest statistically salient collocate under this pattern is the modifier “electric” (LogDice of 12.3). The second structure, [nouns modified by power], comprises several nouns with a LogDice score of 7 and above. The third grammatical pattern, [verbs + power (as object)], shows the node as an object of certain verbs (e.g., generate, export, provide, produce, and supply) with a LogDice score of 6 and above. The analysis shows that the node power is mainly used in co-texts with several words in reference to the energy generated from the Nile dam. The high frequency of occurrence and statistical saliency of these collocates indicate a strong emphasis on the topic of development in Ethiopian news data. In context, these occurrences evoke a positive discourse prosody, underlining the beneficial outcomes attributed to the GERD. This is consistent with the findings of several previous studies, such as Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ), Bealy ( 2014 ), and Sayed El Ahl et al. ( 2023 ), which also highlighted a recurrent reference in Ethiopian news to the connection between power generation and economic development.

Collocational analysis of the node utilization

The keyword “utilization” appears in co-texts with a few collocates, categorized into three patterns, as shown in Table 9 .

The first pattern, [modifiers of utilization], includes adjectives and attributing nouns that describe the different uses of the node within the corpus. These modifiers, such as equitable , fair , unfair , water , and Nile , hold high LogDice scores of 7 or more, indicating a significant connection to the node. The second pattern, [verbs + utilization (as object)], comprises verbs like share and recognize , each having a LogDice score of 9 or higher. Finally, the pattern [utilization and/or] highlights collocates like mobilization and development that hold a high statistical score of 8 or more. These collocates typically appear in contexts that refer to using the dam project for economic development.

The occurrence of the word utilization in the corpus is closely linked to certain meanings that reflect significant discourse prosodies. The first group of collocates shares the semantic feature of designating the nature of something, including modifiers like equitable, reasonable, fair, proper, equal, harmonious, rational, and sustainable. The most notable is the term “equitable”, which stands out as the most salient, with a LogDice score of 12.4, indicating a strong collocational relationship with utilization . These collocations are used in the corpus within contexts that convey a strong positive prosody for the optimal use of resources. The ideological implications of the node utilization and its collocating words in the Ethiopian corpus are quite prominent, portraying Ethiopia as the in-group striving to achieve rightful goals in building and operating the dam. On the other hand, the word unfair appears in co-texts with utilization , carrying a negative semantic prosody that denotes the one-sided use of something. This particular collocating pair ideologically refers to the negative representation of Egypt in Ethiopian media news.

Collocational analysis of the node growth

Table 10 shows that the node “growth” has collocational relations with numerous words falling into various semantic categories.

The node “growth”, along with its collocating words, frequently appears in the corpus, particularly in reference to the topic of economic growth , as portrayed in news reports on the issue. The initial set of collocates occurs within the grammatical pattern of [modifiers of growth], where the node is pre-modified by adjectives and attributive nouns, with LogDice scores ranging between 6.6 and 11.9. The second group of collocates occurs in the pattern of [verbs + growth (as object)], portraying the node as the recipient of specific actions, with the collocates following this pattern having a saliency score of 7 or higher. The final grammatical pattern, [growth and/or…], includes nouns such as plan, development, agriculture, and stability.

The highest statistically salient collocate of the node growth is the word “economic” (LogDice score of 11.9). This collocated pair significantly indicates the primary focus on the topic of economic development. The association between the node growth and the word economic carries a positive semantic prosody, implying well-being and prosperity. Most collocates of the node growth have a semantic preference for identifying the nature and degree of something, such as fast, rapid, real, overall, sustainable, impressive, consistent, remarkable, and current. These words can be interpreted as emphasizing the image of the economic growth that the Ethiopian news media seek to cast upon the GERD project, contributing to a positive discourse prosody.

Collocational analysis of the node nation

Table 11 shows that the keyword “nation” occurs in proximity with several words, indicating diverse semantic prosodies.

Firstly, the grammatical pattern of [modifiers of nation] includes pre-modifiers, with a high statistical saliency of 7 and above. The second pattern, [verbs + nation (as object)], portrays the keyword as the recipient of actions alongside co-occurring verbs, demonstrating a statistical saliency score of 6 and higher. Next, the node nation appears as the subject of certain verbs in the pattern [verbs with the nation (as subject)], where high statistical scores of 7 and above emphasize the significance of the actions attributed to the nation. Finally, the pattern [nation and/or…] establishes a relationship between the keyword nation and other nouns in the corpus, such as nationality and people , each with a LogDice score exceeding 8.

The collocates of this node display a semantic preference for the defining traits of a nation-state, including terms like populous, dominant, independent, sovereign, nationality, people, and government. These collocates create a positive tone, representing Ethiopia as a powerful and influential country. These lexical choices exemplify van Dijk’s ( 2000 ) ideological strategy of “national self-glorification”, where the positive representation of the in-group is routinely implemented by praising the nation’s identity, actions, and attitudes. Certain other collocates, including judgmental adjectives like great , beloved , and prosperous, contribute to portraying the country’s prosperity and positive well-being. In contrast, the term “war-torn” has a negative connotation that implies destruction. This term has appeared frequently in co-text with the node “nation” to portray Ethiopia’s challenging economic circumstances in the past, rationalizing its urgent commitment to completing the GERD project as a prospect for a brighter future.

Collocational analysis of the node negotiation

Table 12 shows that this keyword frequently combines with different words in the Ethiopian corpus, indicating a variety of grammatical and semantic associations.

First, some adjectives and attributive nouns describing negotiation occur in the pattern [modifiers of negotiation], including the words technical , peaceful , Au-led , Dam , and diplomatic , all of which have a statistical saliency of 7.2 or higher. The second pattern, [verbs + negotiation (as object)], comprises verbs paired with negotiation as the object, including resume , continue , undertake , and conduct , with a saliency score of 6.4 or more. Finally, the third pattern, [negotiation (as subject) + verbs], involves the node as the subject of verbs, such as fail , center , and require , each with a score exceeding 8.5.

The collocates of “negotiation” in the Ethiopian corpus convey various semantic concepts. Some of these words refer to the parties involved in the negotiation, like trilateral, tripartite, AU-led, Washington-led, and US-led. Others identify the nature of the negotiation, including modifiers such as technical, peaceful, and diplomatic. Certain collocating words, such as complete, recommence, facilitate, and finalize, occur in the corpus within contexts that suggest a positive semantic tone that emphasizes Ethiopia’s role in pursuing diplomatic solutions and refutes Egypt’s accusations of acting unilaterally. Other collocates like “fail” occur in contexts suggesting that the failure of the negotiation is due to Egypt’s practices that solely prioritize its own national interests.

Analysis of social practice (explanation level)

Taking into consideration the historical, political, and social background of the investigated issue is of great importance to the analysis process. Over the years, Egypt and Ethiopia have employed hegemonic and counter-hegemonic strategies, revealing the longstanding dispute between the two countries (Nasr and Neef, 2016 ). This inherent dispute escalated into an ongoing conflict from 2013 to 2020, the period analyzed in this study. The discourses of the news data under investigation reflect these strategies.

This paper discusses a political conflict between two nations concerning the sensitive issue of water scarcity. The historical context surrounding GERD sheds light on the differences in how this issue is portrayed within the study data and offers insight into the biased perspectives presented. However, both Egyptian and Ethiopian media coverage cannot be viewed as entirely objective and accurate representations of the social and historical elements of the GERD crisis. Each side has expressed its own version of reality through media narratives, shaped by their respective perspectives and political stances. Each country has portrayed itself as the more powerful, cooperative, and diplomatic side while presenting the other as the aggressor. In summary, the representation of the GERD in Egyptian newspapers aims to maintain Egypt’s dominance over the Nile. In contrast, Ethiopian newspapers introduce a new discourse that challenges Egypt’s hegemony, positioning Ethiopia as the emerging dominant force.

Acknowledging the potential biases and perspectives inherent in media coverage is crucial. Media portrayals are not neutral reflections of reality but are influenced by editorial common sense and ideologies that shape media narratives. Editorial common sense refers to the implicit assumptions and values that guide editorial decisions. Overall, the news reporting process is intricate and multifaceted, involving various aspects of representation. One of the most crucial aspects of news reporting is the impartial and factual representation of events, which should be free from ideological bias. However, achieving this impartial representation can be challenging, particularly when covering contentious issues such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. These issues involve different parties, each with their own perspectives and biases, making it hard to present a balanced and unbiased view of the situation to the audience.

This study seeks to explore potential media bias in the language employed to report on the construction of the GERD in online news articles from Egyptian and Ethiopian newspapers. The investigation employs a corpus-based collocational analysis within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to address two research questions. Detailed discussions of the findings for each question will follow.

Collocates of the highly statistical-salient keywords

The lexical analysis revealed differences between the two corpora under investigation in response to the first research question. Specifically, the two lists of the extracted keywords comprised different items, except for the node negotiations that appeared in both lists. Furthermore, the analysis of the collocational behaviors of each set of keywords demonstrated differences in the ideas conveyed by the lexical choices. This finding is in line with Elsoufy and Ibrahim’s ( 2022 ) research, which revealed that the two sets of salient keywords extracted from their data represented distinct themes and semantic domains.

Within the Egyptian corpus, the list of keywords comprised five nodes: crisis, negotiations, fears, affect, and interests. First, the term “crisis” frequently occurs in the corpus, linked to lexical patterns framing the GERD as a national crisis, assigning blame to Ethiopia, and expressing grave concerns about dam repercussions. This somehow contrasts with El-Tawil’s ( 2018 ) findings, where a prevalent theme of “denial” was identified in Egyptian media coverage, portraying Egypt as capable of handling the dam crisis. Additionally, collocates of the keyword crisis were found in grammatical patterns with predominantly negative discourse prosodies, encompassing crisis types (e.g., water, economic, political), degree and intensity (e.g., acute, ongoing, years-long), and causes and outcomes (e.g., cause, escalate, witness, face, make, exacerbate). The term “fears” emerged as one of the most salient keywords in the Egyptian corpus, appearing in collocational patterns like “voiced fears that”, “Egypt fears”, and “overpopulation fears.” Primarily, these collocations reflected the prevailing negative discourse prosody of panic. Further, the keywords “affect” and “interests” occurred frequently and with high statistical saliency. The node “affect” appeared in frequent lexical co-texts indicative of the negative image of the Nile dam project, such as the phrases “affect the flow”, “affect the supply”, and “affect the historical share.” The negative semantic prosodies of this node’s collocates were manifested through its associations with various pre-modifiers, such as severely , greatly , and significantly . In addition, the node “interests” appeared in the corpus in contexts that referred either to Egypt alone or to the three countries of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Its collocates also carry both positive and negative discourse prosodies, with collocates like harm and protect indicating negativity, while terms like mutual suggest positive intentions.

The linguistic analysis of the Ethiopian corpus identified five primary keywords: power, nation, utilization, growth, and negotiation. Of all the keywords, “power” had the highest frequency of occurrence. It refers mainly to the energy generated from the dam and is typically linked to terms like hydroelectric, production, supply, and capacity. These terms contribute to the positive portrayal of the GERD in the Ethiopian media as a catalyst for socio-economic progress. This aligns with the research of Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ), who found that the theme of “economic development” was frequently discussed in Ethiopian news coverage of the GERD. Likewise, “growth” is recurrent in the Ethiopian corpus, often associated with contexts related to development, favorably depicting the dam project. Finally, “utilization” was linked to lexical items related to the topic of fair distribution of the Nile water. These results align with Bealy’s ( 2014 ) observations of the recurrent use of themes such as “development”, “right”, and “mutual benefits” in Ethiopian news media.

Finally, the results of the lexical analysis showed that both corpora used the keyword “negotiations” similarly. This term and its associated lexical collocates were frequently used to refer to finding a diplomatic solution. However, each corpus also had instances where this keyword was utilized in contexts expressing opposing perspectives. Specifically, both corpora used this term and its collocates to reference blaming the other side for the negotiations’ failure.

Lexical choices and the political stances of Egypt and Ethiopia

To address the second research question, the study conducted a lexical analysis of the words that commonly appear in proximity to the statistically salient keywords to understand patterns, associations, and the broader contexts in which the terms are used. Overall, the investigation revealed a notable bias and contrasting perspectives, each representing one of the conflicting countries, where narratives were presented selectively to align with their respective interests. These findings are in line with previous studies on media framing of this issue, including studies by Elieba ( 2022 ), Elsoufy and Ibrahim ( 2022 ), and Sayed El Ahl et al. ( 2023 ).

The study found that the Egyptian and Ethiopian news outlets present a clear ideological divide in their coverage of the GERD, with positive self-representation and negative portrayal of the other. Each dataset contained specific lexical choices that embody instances of van Dijk’s ( 2000 , 2011 ) discursive strategies, particularly the “us” versus “them” dichotomy. For example, the strategies of “victimization”, “polarized description”, and “attribution of agency” were observed, which primarily attribute negative actions to the out-group while downplaying the in-group’s responsibility for similar actions. The Egyptian media seems biased in portraying the dam project as a crisis and depicting Ethiopia as intentionally seeking to harm Egypt in violation of international law. They also place blame for the unresolved political conflict solely on Ethiopia while portraying Egypt as a victim. Conversely, the Ethiopian media portray Egypt as disregarding Ethiopia’s rights to development and unjustly utilizing the Nile for its own benefit. The Ethiopian data also presents bias through the repetitive positive representation of the in-group, which takes the form of national self-glorification.

This paper explored media discourse surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in depth, revealing notable biases in coverage from both Egyptian and Ethiopian newspapers. In the context of the Egyptian corpus, the collocational patterns show negative discourse prosodies that are linked to fear, shock, and frustration. In contrast, the analysis of collocations in the Ethiopian dataset reveals positive discourse prosodies that foster a sense of consensus among Ethiopians, highlight the positive outcomes of the GERD, and assert Ethiopia’s rights to fair use of the Nile water. The findings also identified certain discursive strategies and lexical items that establish clear in-group and out-group categories marked by polarization. In summary, through lexical choices, Egyptian reports depict the in-group as the powerful side with unquestionable historical rights, while Ethiopian news outlets emphasize the in-group’s good intentions. In contrast, the out-group is negatively portrayed in both Egyptian and Ethiopian reports, described as lacking credibility and taking actions that harm the opposing side.

The paper makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing insights into the representation of GERD’s image in news discourse. Unlike previous studies that primarily focus on media frames, this research delves into lexical choices, using CL techniques to substantiate the findings. Identifying the polarized representations required a deeper investigation of the contexts of the lexical items because the polarization was not based on clear-cut, ideologically biased language. In essence, the study advances our understanding of media representation in the context of the GERD conflict, shedding light on linguistic nuances that contribute to biased portrayals.

Limitations and further research

Several limitations to this study need to be acknowledged. Firstly, although the primary focus of this paper was to investigate media discourse, it did not delve deeply into the media as a discourse genre, lacking an extensive discussion on various dimensions of media representation. Therefore, it would be beneficial for future studies to examine in more detail the influence of newspapers’ standards on the writing process of news stories. Additionally, future research should focus on identifying how journalistic practices and news values are used to judge and measure the newsworthiness of events. It would also be useful to explore the relevance of these practices to the argument of objectivity versus bias in news reporting. Secondly, it is worth noting that the study data was limited to Egyptian news reports written in English. Therefore, it is recommended that more research be conducted to compare Egyptian news reports written in Arabic with other Ethiopian or international reports written in English. Another limitation of the study is that only hard news reports were investigated. Further research should expand its scope to investigate media coverage of this issue in various types of news discourse, including news editorials and opinion articles. It would also be useful to explore other forms of media discourse, like the language of political talk shows.

Data availability

Data collected for the study is available at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/FP2HK5 .

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Elsoufy, A.M. Media bias through collocations: a corpus-based study of Egyptian and Ethiopian news coverage of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 680 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03145-8

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• reasons related to COVID-19, such as home schooling or increased teaching load.

Some possible focus areas below, as examples, but any topic within the remit of the GC MHW theme is welcome:

• Social changes and their mechanisms

This includes the study of mechanisms that operate when an individual’s or group’s behaviour changes for the better as a result of changes in social factors. For example, how do we get people to exercise more, what is the mechanism through which we achieve this, and what is the impact on mental health and wellbeing? Social changes, e.g., reducing inequality-related problems and their mechanisms, are also highly relevant here, as is research focusing on social/behavioural change as leverage for biological studies.

• Development of models of mental illness (and wellbeing)

These can be animal models or other instantiations (e.g. organoids, in silico models, models of social influence) that can be used to accelerate interventions and that offer mechanistic insights. Examples could include the genetic screening of druggable targets or the creation of credible animal models of specific symptoms, dysfunctional cognitions, or social and biological processes relevant to mental health (broadly construed). We encourage applicants to consider ethical, philosophical, and legal implications in relation to biological, neuroscientific, and cognitive approaches and to involve colleagues from relevant disciplines in the applications.

• Spaces that support mental health

Projects in this area could address how the built and natural environment and buildings support or hinder mental health or how digital spaces impact on mental wellbeing. Examples could include the impact of time spent in nature, the effects of different types of home or office space, digital engagement, or external urban environments. It will be important to consider design, architectural, geographical, or digital considerations, as well as data from e.g. psychological or neurosciences to understand the interplay between the environment and the individual.

Applications for projects/activities costing between £10,000 - £25,000 will be considered under this call. In total, up to 15 projects will be awarded. Funding must be spent by 31 July 2025 – any unspent funds will be returned to UCL Finance at the end of the grant. 

Salary costs for research assistant staff are eligible, but contributions towards salary costs for contracted UCL staff members are not. A brief report of all expenditures must be submitted, alongside as an impact report.

• Eligibility
• First applicants must be UCL staff – either researchers in academic Faculties or Professional Services. 
• Secondary Applicants can be UCL staff/PhD students and / or external partners. There is no limit to the number of secondary applicants, and we therefore strongly encourage involvement of more than one UCL department/faculty , as well as consideration of external partners were appropriate. Applications that only involve one UCL department/faculty are extremely unlikely to receive funding and must justify how they meet cross-disciplinary remit of the call.
• The team must comprise at least one early career researcher (PhD student, post-doctoral researcher, or faculty member/fellowship holder within eight years of PhD graduation or within six years of their first academic appointment). 

Full guidance and eligibility criteria can be downloaded here. 

• How to Apply

Read the full guidance and eligibility criteria for the call. In order to be eligible for funding, please complete a short application form and then submit your proposal using the online portal.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Pump-Priming Call Application Form

• Upload your completed form

Download and complete the application form.

Rename the application form using the format: "First Applicant Family Name and Second Applicant Family Name".

Download the Form

Register your project using the submission form.

Upload your completed application form (please convert to pdf , if possible).

Submit Proposal

 Please Note:  Applications must be made using the online system. We will not accept emailed applications.

The deadline for applications is Monday 3 June, 17.00 (GMT).

If you have any questions, or require the form in an alternative format, please email Siobhan Morris ( [email protected] ). 

Related links

Funding from UCL Research, Innovation and Global Engagement