Awards celebrate amazing strengths of Essex research

A glittering awards ceremony has marked the outstanding work of researchers and research support teams at the University of Essex.

The Celebrating Excellence in Research and Impact Awards highlighted the incredible range of research taking place across 14 award categories from influencing Government policy on childcare through to developing crops for the future, from developing the next generation of wireless communications to helping the Royal Ballet School refine its testing and training approach.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research Professor Chris Greer said: “This event provides us with an opportunity to mark the commitment and achievements of so many researchers to our mission as a University.

“We are dedicated to making research count by putting it into action to make the world a better place.

“The way we achieve that as a research community, working tirelessly to ensure our research has an impact in the wider world, ensures that the University of Essex continues to be recognised as a world-leading centre of research excellence.

“The implementation of our research strategy and the delivery of our research mission requires enormous effort and lots of hard work, and the contributions of everyone involved are very much appreciated.”

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Award winners

• Research Champion for Social Sciences - Professor Marco Francesconi.
• Outstanding Early Career Researcher for Science and Health - Dr Pallavi Singh.
• Outstanding Early Career Researcher for Social Sciences - Dr Sarah Kunz.
• Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher for Arts and Humanities - Dr Matthew Gillett.
• Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher Science and Health - Dr Zilong Liu.
• Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher for Social Sciences - Professor Rashedur Chowdhury.
• Best Research Impact for Arts and Humanities - Professor Lorna Woods.
• Best Research Impact for Science and Health - Dr Louis Howe and Dr Jamie Tallent.
• Best Research Impact for Social Sciences - Professor Birgitta Rabe.
• Best Research Impact by Early Career Researcher - Dr Nikhil Gokani.
• Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research - Centre for Intimate and Sexual Citizenship represented by Professor Róisín Ryan-Flood, Dr Phoebe Kisubi-Mbasalaki, Dr Laurie James-Hawkins, Professor Melissa Tyler, Dr Julie Walsh and Dr Cara Booker.
• Research Visibility Champion - Dr Paul Hanel.
• Outstanding Research Support by a Technician/Technical Team - Jon Whitby, Rob Rayner, Callum Gutteridge, Joshua Raistrick from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.
• Outstanding Research Support from Professional Services - Elizabeth Lee Reynolds.

Record research success

Professor Greer highlighted that Essex is attracting record research funding and maintaining its national leadership on knowledge exchange.

He said: “We have successfully grown our research income and are forecasting another all-time high of £37.5m, a further increase of 10% on last year. This success is the product of lots of very hard work by lots of people across the University and is a continuing and very significant success story.

“Our reputation for Knowledge Exchange is outstanding, and we should do all we can to both share and celebrate that very positive story. Our most recent Knowledge Exchange Framework results show we are 14th in the sector, 3rd in our peer group of research intensive universities, and 4th nationally for ‘working with the public and third sector’.”

The Conversation Awards

Awards were also presented to the authors of the most-read articles in The Conversation over the past year.

Professor Yseult Marique from Essex Law School for the article 'Birmingham's bankruptcy is only the tip of the iceberg – local authorities across England are at risk', co-written with Dr Eugenio Vaccari.

Dr Somdip Dey from School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering for the article 'Four ways AI will impact music, from Elvis holograms to interactive soundscapes.

Dr Elise Lobbedez from Essex Business School for the article 'La charge mentale masculine existe-t-elle vraiment?' (Does the mental burden on men really exist?) co-written with Edwige Nortier and Juliette Cermeno.