Since 2016, Claudia is a Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellow (2016-2024), for a project in partnership with the University of Westminster (London), titled: “Building Urban Resilience for Self-Reliance in African Cities”.  She was also Principal Investigator for the South African team of the ISULABANTU project (www.isulabantu.org ) focused on Community-led Upgrading for self-reliance in informal settlements in South Africa. This project is a 3-year ESRC/NRF Urban Transformation in SA Grant in partnership with the University of Westminster, University College London, the eThekwini Municipality and a local NGO called uTshani Fund.

Both of these collaborative projects are providing opportunities for community engagement (fieldwork, community events), training (in-field community training) and capacity building (in the areas of project management, construction management, and environmental management).

She is also collaborating on valuable research projects in South Africa with local governmental institutions, NGOs and local communities, such as the uMngeni Resilience Project aimed at increasing resilience of vulnerable communities in a rural area in KwaZulu-Natal and the informal settlement upgrading of Khan Rd settlement in Pietermaritzburg.

Since 2018, she is Member of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) International Development Peer Review College as expert reviewer.

Since 2022, she is an NRF C2-rated researcher.

Since 2012, she is a Green Star South Africa Accredited Professional with the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).