Research Culture Awards
The Research Culture Awards are an important way that Sussex recognises, rewards and celebrates contributions to strengthening and growing our positive Research Culture.
We want to shine a light on those developing and implementing great ideas and new ways of working that make a real difference to how we do things, at any size or scale.
The Research Culture Awards are an important way that Sussex recognises, rewards and celebrates contributions to strengthening and growing our positive Research Culture.
We want to shine a light on those developing and implementing great ideas and new ways of working that make a real difference to how we do things, at any size or scale.
Awards are for contributions from any discipline and across the research community, with categories for academics at all levels, ECRs, PGRs and PS staff.
Please see our 2024 winners and shortlisted entries below. The 2025 Research Culture Awards competition will open in January 2025.
- Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration Award
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About the award
Sussex 2025 states: 'We will reimagine ‘interdisciplinarity’ as a driving force for our research…Our research will create new agendas, contribute new knowledge and provide new ideas and solutions that will help to shape the world. We will challenge conventional thinking and discourses, offering inspiring and creative ways to understand and solve global issues.'
With collaboration a core value: 'We will put collaboration at the heart of all that we do, seeking out productive and creative relationships. We will acknowledge and celebrate everyone’s contribution.'
The Interdisciplinary research award will recognise a “collaboration” of researchers (any grouping of researchers, whether or not formally recognised as a team, group or centre) at any level who are conducting innovative research, synthesising theory and methodology from multiple disciplines of study, especially work at the interface between science, social sciences and humanities. The work must demonstrate novelty, effectiveness, and have created opportunities to bring people from different disciplines together.
Winner:
Dr Joanna Smallwood (LPS) with Dr Evan Killick (Global Studies), Professor Fiona Mathews (Life Sciences), Dr Maria Clara Castellanos (Life Sciences) and Dr Alexander Antonarakis (Global Studies) – Implementing the Rights of Nature, the rights of the Andean bear and the rights of local communities to land titles in the Ecuadorian Andes.
The project team encompasses research experts from Sussex in law, ecology, anthropology and geography and we work closely together in a truly integrated and collaborative way along with our NGO partner in Ecuador, the Cambugan Foundation (https://www.cambugan.org/). So far, we have conducted 2 field trips to the Ecuadorian Andes where we are researching and facilitating the land title process and the development of land management plans for forest restoration with local communities and have begun to collect data on the human-wildlife conflict with the endangered Andean bear. On both trips, we met with the 5 local communities individually and facilitated two workshops bringing all the communities together to facilitate land titles and this has led to the progression of applications for land titles. We have met with representatives from municipal, local and parish governments regarding the land titling scheme and the Rights of Nature. Our meetings with the relevant Municipal government departments has led to an agreement of cooperation between them to progress the granting of land titles. We have met and are collaborating with Ecuadorian academics and ajudge working on the interface of property rights, the rights of nature and the rights of animals and are developing a partnership between the Ecuadorian University law students and the University of Sussex Environmental Justice Law Clinic (https://www.sussex.ac.uk/law/clinical-legal-education) and exploring the possibility of strategic litigation.
Shortlisted entrants:
Prof Ann Light (ENGINF) – Creative Practice for Transformative Futures – from art to science to policy, influencing the UN and commended for collaboration.
The CreaTures Framework is an award-winning resource developed for creative practitioners, policy-makers/funders, and researchers interested in linking creative practice, eco-social change, and transformative futures. The project/framework challenges conventional crisis communication by offering hopeful futures, working directly with artists and designers, and involving scientists, social scientists, arts and humanities scholars to critically explore the science, design and implementation of climate adaptation and mitigation policies. It offers a “Dimensions” tool for reflective evaluation of creative practices, drawing on anthropology, human geography, political science, sustainability and complex systems science and analysing 140 creative projects with economists and sustainability scientists.
Prof Mari Martiskainen (USBS) – Developing Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC), an interdisciplinary £15m UKRI-funded centre across 13 universities.
Prof Mari Martiskainen (Sussex) and Prof Sara Walker (Birmingham) were selected as UKRI Energy Demand Research Champions in 2022, and invited to develop a bid for a new, £15m Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC), funded by UKRI. Prof Martiskainen, as PI, led the centre proposal development together with Sussex professional services staff member Ryan Giddings, and Prof Walker and her team. The proposal development included stakeholder engagement via a survey, three deliberative workshops, interviews, and an open call for co-investigators. This resulted in an interdisciplinary centre proposal that included shared values, vision, mission, Theory of Change and main research themes. The centre funding was secured through UKRI's peer review process, with EDRC starting in July 2023 as UKRI's main investment in energy demand research in the UK.
Dr Jo Walton (MAH) – Games and Storytelling for Sustainable Futures.
Games and Storytelling for Sustainable Futures consists of a series of past, ongoing, and planned projects at the intersection of game design and sustainability / climate. Games can create "soft spaces" in which participants can explore different versions of themselves, and innovative approaches to trade-offs, impasses, and polarised perspectives. Traditionally, serious game design has often focused on simulations with a relatively ‘closed’ set of outcomes. This research is seeking to do something different, combining scientific rigour, pedagogical expertise, and the more free and open approaches of tabletop roleplaying games.
- Openness in Research Award
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About the award
The University of Sussex supports Open Research of all kinds. This award is intended to recognise and reward good, innovative practice and celebrate initiatives that increase the transparency, inclusivity, collegiality, reproducibility and efficiency of research processes to build trust and accountability.
The award focuses on aspects such as open access and open data, and promoting the use of open platforms for sharing research data, activities, outputs and impact to widen reach and/or improve research quality (of design and findings). See below for an indicative (though not exhaustive) list of the kind of practices on which an entry might be based.
Examples of the kind of open research practices we are looking for include:
- using publication under an open license to disseminate research outputs (this may include a range of outputs – publications, data, software code, web resources, etc.)
- disseminating research findings as a preprint, either independently of formal submission to a journal, or as part of a journal’s open peer review procedure
- providing an open peer review of a manuscripts submitted under a formal peer review process managed by a publisher
- creating a public preregistration of a study design, or publishing a study as a Registered Report
- incorporating open and participatory methods in the design and conduct of research (e.g., using open notebook methods, running a ‘citizen science’ project, etc.)
- introducing open research concepts and practices into teaching and learning at an undergraduate or postgraduate level
Winner:
Dr Dominique Makowski (Psychology) – Make reproducible science accessible! Building software to facilitate open research and lead by example with fully transparent studies.
My own PhD’s advancement was often hindered by a lack of availability of materials, data and tools, increasing frustration and the effort required to make “good” science. This motivated me 1) to create and make available the tools and programs I was developing (in particular, R and Python packages for data processing) and 2) to lead by example by insisting (at the cost of ruffling institutional feathers) to make my own research output open, transparent and accessible. This effort and dedication has continued during my postdoc and since I joined Sussex as a lecturer, with an impactful contribution to open science promotion.
Shortlisted entrants:
Dr Reny Baykova (Psychology) – Improving and certifying the reproducibility of to-be-published psychology research papers.
Research findings are relevant only if they are reproducible – rerunning the same analysis on the same dataset should yield the same numerical results, figures, and inferential conclusions. Last year I helped set up, and now lead, a new reproducibility certification scheme for researchers in the School of Psychology. This is one of the first schemes of its kind in the UK. Through this scheme I have helped researchers identify and remedy a variety of errors which would have otherwise made it, unnoticed, into published papers and the wider scientific sphere.
Dr Kate Shaw (MPS) – Bringing Large Hadron Collider Data to the World.
Dr Shaw has pioneered the ATLAS Open Data project to bring proton-proton collision data to the world. Since 2014 Shaw has led the team at ATLAS to process and deliver real data along with simulation of standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model Physics over an interactive educational website. Along with the data being used by 10,000 students worldwide, Shaw has led teams to deliver directly to local schools in Sussex, and online and in person to students in Bhutan.
- Research Leadership Award
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About the award
Sussex 2025 outlines the values we aspire to, including: 'collegiality and mutual support across all of our actions and activities.'
The Research Leadership Award recognises contributions made to create a collegiate research environment, within or beyond a researcher’s immediate research group, department or school.
It rewards efforts to support the wellbeing, and development of others; creating inclusive teams; inspiring others; and creating positive change to the research community, culture and/or capability (e.g. through guidance, training, or other initiatives).
Winner:
Prof Divya P. Tolia-Kelly (Global) – Building an inclusive research culture in Global Studies: Sussex University BAME and Women’s Coaching and Network.
Space of Inclusion and Support in GS I have successfully developed, trained and convened the BAME Women's Coaching and Mentoring Network in Global Studies since 2021. We have coached over 40 members of staff within the university including those with issues around gender, homophobia, trans-identity, BAME institutional violences, self-esteem, career progression, and aggressions in the teaching space. It is a network of coaches and mentors who are sensitised to the needs of staff in Higher Education experiencing structural and environmental stresses (including for e.g. over issues of race, gender, sexuality, health and ethnicity). We are open for ALL and remain an independent (outside of HR and SMT) support network for staff that are particularly vulnerable to prejudicial micro-aggressions in the day-to-day work and wider social environment. It is premised on the idea of building and sustaining a culture of support, development and research success for BAME staff, women, and any other colleagues facing oppressive and exclusionary cultures of academic life.
Shortlisted entrants:
Dr Sabina Avdagic, Dr Tanya Palmer, Dr Lucy Welsh (LPS) – The Writing Lab team has created a supportive and inclusive space for members of LPS to develop individual or group writing projects, with tangible outcomes.
The Writing Lab initiative, developed by Dr Sabina Avdagic, Dr Tanya Palmer, Dr Lucy Welsh and Dr Helena Howe, and supported by Helen Gaterell offers the research community in LPS a dedicated space and time for writing. Faculty and PGRs are invited to attend two full mornings every week. Sessions are facilitated with opportunities for discussion and goal-setting, plus reflection and problem-solving, which are built around periods of quiet concentration. Writing is often a solitary endeavour, which can make some feel isolated or overwhelmed – the Writing Lab supports the wellbeing of all writers by offering a platform to discuss obstacles and write together. To be more inclusive, writers can attend online. By introducing this initiative and providing dedicated and comfortable space in the Freeman Centre, the team has created a collegiate research environment in LPS. Inviting anyone, regardless of career stage, promotes inclusive teams and is hugely beneficial for building the capability of Early Career Researchers. The work of inspiring others and working collaboratively has led to tangible outcomes. It is a model of collegiality and mutual support.
Dr Christopher Brown (MPS) – Developing and strengthening the MPS research community.
For the last three years I have worked to strengthen the research culture and community within the school of mathematical and physical sciences (MPS)in many ways including conferences, charity sports events, and outreach; culminating in the MPS Post & Undergraduate (PUG) talk series. These talks provide an inclusive, accessible, and collegiate environment for early career researchers to give talks, develop presentation and communication skills, mentor junior research colleagues, and give an opportunity to broaden collaborations within MPS. They encourage undergraduates to immerse themselves in MPS research activities, integrating research into their education, and showcasing research careers. The PUG talks have been very successful so far, with engagement across all MPS research disciplines, achieving a real sense of enhanced research culture and community building. For the last three years I have worked to strengthen the research culture and community within the school of mathematical and physical sciences (MPS)in many ways including conferences, charity sports events, and outreach; culminating in the MPS Post & Undergraduate (PUG) talk series. These talks provide an inclusive, accessible, and collegiate environment for early career researchers to give talks, develop presentation and communication skills, mentor junior research colleagues, and give an opportunity to broaden collaborations within MPS. They encourage undergraduates to immerse themselves in MPS research activities, integrating research into their education, and showcasing research careers. The PUG talks have been very successful so far, with engagement across all MPS research disciplines, achieving a real sense of enhanced research culture and community building.
Dr Helen Tyson and Dr Hope Wolf (MAH) – The Centre for Modernist Studies' 'Artist in the Archives' scheme, co-directed by Dr. Helen Tyson and Dr. Hope Wolf.
In 2023, the Centre for Modernist Studies launched an 'Artist in the Archives' scheme. The aim of this initiative is to invite artists, writers, poets, and other creatives to work with the Centre for Modernist Studies to create new artworks engaging with modernist experiments from the past in new and exciting ways. It is also an opportunity to work with archives, collections or histories relevant to modernism in the Sussex region.
- Early Career Research Leadership Award
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About the award
Sussex 2025 outlines the strengths we aspire to, including: 'We will prepare staff for leadership roles early in their careers so they have the necessary depth and breadth of experience to take on roles with greater responsibility. Significant steps will be taken to achieve greater diversity among our leaders. Our leadership philosophy to embrace collaboration, trust and collegiality will be key to our future success.'
The Early Career Research Leadership Award recognises contributions made to create a collaborative, trusting, collegiate research culture, within or beyond a researcher’s immediate research group, department or school.
It rewards efforts to support the wellbeing, development and reward of others; creating or supporting inclusive teamwork; and examples of inspirational practice, bringing a positive impact to an academic community, academic culture and/or capability (potentially through guidance, training, or other initiatives).
Winner:
Dr Faiz Sheikh (Global) – Intergalactic research culture: flattening hierarchies with science fiction.
The International Relations reads Star Trek seminar series has created an open and fun research culture, bringing together undergraduates, postgraduates, junior and senior faculty from across Global Studies. During the seminar we watch specially chosen episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994), matching research interests with episode themes. For Star Trek and International Relations novices alike, the seminar creates a low-pressure environment to learn more about the work going on in the department and get to know each other. It has allowed relationships to form across the hierarchies of the institution, helping create a more collaborative and inclusive space.
Shortlisted entrants:
Ioannis Papadakis (USBS) – Established a lasting interdisciplinary reading group, securing funding and involvement from early-career economists and lawyers.
Ioannis Papadakis founded an interdisciplinary reading group, bringing together early-career economists and lawyers. He has secured funding multiple times and fostered a vibrant community where participants actively engage in discussions and knowledge-sharing. By covering expenses like catering and travel and creating learning opportunities, he ensured the group's sustainability and ongoing growth. Papadakis created a space where early career researchers from different fields come together to collaborate, explore topics, and build connections, enabling professional development and intellectual enrichment.
Dr Natacha Rossi (Life Sciences) – Co-founder of Animal Behaviour Live, an international platform promoting sustainable and inclusive events for free.
In 2020, I co-founded Animal Behaviour Live (ABL), uniting global animal behaviour researchers to challenge academic norms. ABL, streamed exclusively on YouTube, hosts sustainable, inclusive events like annual conferences and monthly seminars. At Sussex, our fourth conference drew 1,030 attendees, with 29% from Asia, South America, and Africa. In 2023, I spearheaded roundtable discussions on academia's inclusivity, addressing barriers like ethnicity and gender with international experts. ABL's growth is evident, expanding from three to 21 volunteers, with five under my leadership for the roundtable series. Through ABL, we foster critical discourse and advocate for diversity in academia.
Dr Victoria Grace Walden (MAH) – Attracting a 4 million Euro grant to establish a 5-year Digital Memory Lab at Sussex.
Launching in April 2024, the Landecker Digital Memory Lab: Connective Holocaust Memory is the culmination of 4 years of work. Starting with re-thinking how to do impactful engagement during the Pandemic, I launched www.digitalholocaustmemory.com hosting a research blog and online discussions with global heritage professionals and academics, which built a mailing list of more than 1,000 people. This developed into a series of edited collections and funded fieldwork to record interviews with those involved in the creation of digital Holocaust memory projects in Europe, the US and Australia, and a series of participatory workshops involving representatives from 69 organisations across 16 countries, and included transnational organisations such as the UNESCO, the European Commission, and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The Lab is a flagship project of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, who have invested more than 4 million Euros in this work. This is the biggest investment in digital Holocaust memory research in the world.
- Professional Services Research Culture Leadership Award
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About the award
The Professional Services Research Culture Leadership Award recognises contributions made to strengthen and grow our positive research culture at University of Sussex. We want to celebrate all those involved in contributing to research success and good practice, at any size or scale.
This award rewards the achievements of those tackling shared challenges, finding solutions and creating innovative approaches. We particularly want to shine a light on great work contributing to wellbeing, development and reward of others across research teams (including academic and professional services staff within those); creating or supporting inclusive teamwork; and examples of inspirational practice, bringing a positive impact to the Sussex community, research culture and/or capability (potentially through guidance, training, or other initiatives).
Winner:
Bethany Logan (Library) – Supporting the shift to an open research culture across the University.
As the Library’s first Research & Open Scholarship Senior Manager I led the design and delivery of Library services to support the research community, embedding the principles of Open Research and Scholarship in policy, practice, and culture across the University. I delivered a number of innovative open publishing projects that, in my new role as Associate Director, I have the capacity to develop further through the creation of an open access library press.
Shortlisted entrants:
Medeni Fordham (MAH) - Leading strategic and supportive initiatives to improve MAH research culture and collaboration
I am committed to championing a sustainable approach to research leadership that prioritises inclusivity, mentorship, and staff well-being. I have consistently advocated for the importance of partnership working between PS and academic roles, and working together to enhance the quality and outcomes of research, in a collaborative (and not just administrative) capacity. I lead a 12-person team in the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, where team members work closely with academic research leadership and faculty, to deliver guidance and processes that foster and normalise more collegiate, collaborative and aspirational activity amongst MAH’s research community.
Dr Deeptima Massey (BSMS) – Making a positive difference, bringing research cultural shift, introduced an all inclusive array of research workshops and events, increased Open Access compliance, created a vibrant impact culture.
I have been playing an important leadership role in creating a healthy, inclusive and vibrant research culture at BSMS ensuring all researchers across all career stages (PhD to Professors) can thrive, delivering the University's core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage to support a broad portfolio of research activities at BSMS and promoting a "one team" culture.
Dr Yolanda Pena-Oliver (RES) – Grant Idea pitch sessions: facilitating early peer review to improve research and funding applications quality.
In the School of Psychology, we have been running regular Grant Idea pitch sessions, to facilitate early peer feedback on research proposals, at idea conception, which allows academics to bounce ideas and receive constructive criticism and advice in an informal setting. This helps to shape the proposal accordingly, to maximise chances of success when applying for research funding applications. The sessions run every three months and are open to all the research community in Psychology, especially Early Career Researchers.
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Research Award
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About the award
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Research Award recognises contributions made to strengthen and grow our positive research culture at University of Sussex. We want to celebrate all those involved in contributing to research success and good practice, at any size or scale.
This award recognises and celebrates the efforts and achievements of any team or individual tackling shared EDI challenges, finding solutions, creating innovative approaches to improve practice and bring about change to make Sussex a more equal, diverse and inclusive place to do research. One where all our people feel a sense of belonging and that their contribution is recognised and valued.
Awards will recognise work that may include, but is not limited to:
- embedding equality, diversity and inclusivity into a research project or programme
- activities or actions that aim to adapt or change procedures, policies or practices to make them more inclusive
- creating a positive shift in culture by working to change systems and environments drawing on principles of equality, diversity and inclusivity
- role models that create a sense of inspiration and motivation
- initiatives or actions that help members of research teams from underrepresented groups feel welcome and included.
Winner:
Dr Elizabeth Rendon-Morales (ENGINF) – ECR Women’s pilot: Growing leadership in women early careers researchers
Dr. Rendon-Morales is an engineer, a researcher and a senior lecturer who has more than twenty years of experience from both academia and industry. She best knows the structural and relational barriers that women face in engineering and research and because of that she campaigns to support the growth, visibility and development of women in STEM. She has been acknowledge for her technical prowess and for her advocacy to support under-represented groups.
Shortlisted entrants:
Lisette Whittaker (HR) – Ensuring Sussex staff are able to thrive through all stages of the Menopause.
Designing and delivering Menopause workplace interventions and support that will help to ensure that all staff are able to continue to work at Sussex and live Sussex’s values.
- Ethical Research and PGR Ethical Research Award
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About the award
The University of Sussex Strategy 2025 outlines Sussex’s commitment to conducting world-leading research that makes a difference to people’s lives. Sussex’s core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion and collaboration all underpin good ethical practice and facilitate excellent research. The research Ethics, Integrity and Governance team, along with the wider University are seeking to recognise individuals who have demonstrated outstanding ethical practice or engagement in their work.
Nominees must demonstrate one, some or all of the following criteria for consideration:
- An excellent understanding or engagement with good ethical research practice
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A commitment to the promotion of ethics in research
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Excellent communication in ethical practice
Two prizes are on offer, one in recognition of post graduate researcher activities and the other recognizes staff research at any career stage.
Winner(staff):
Dr Alison Lacey and Dr May Nasrawy (ESW) – From recruitment to the archive: innovations in ethical research practice with seldom-heard families.
We are part of a research team that recently completed an ESRC-funded scoping study exploring possibilities of how to include seldom heard voices in large-scale datasets using qualitative longitudinal approaches (QLR). Linked to a proposed new UK birth cohort study, the project focuses on two identified seldom-heard groups (refugee/migrant families and families with experience of statutory child welfare services). Our final report includes several areas of ethical innovation with potential significant implications for qualitative and mixed-methods research.
Shortlisted Entrants (staff):
Dr Gem Aellah (BSMS) – We need to remember talk more often, and in better ways, about both regulatory and relational ethics.
I am a social anthropologist interested in thinking about what it means to understand health research ethics as embedded in, rather than something separate from, the multiple ethical dilemmas, power differences and inequalities in everyday life. Especially when working in global partnerships. I am committed to be part of helping facilitate more talk, reflection on and articulation about what this means for both the regulatory and relational ethics that govern and inform our work as a university. I have been involved in running workshops to facilitate this, in my reviewing for RGEC and in carrying this ethos to my own research and publications.
Prof Nicola Yuill (Psychology) and Dr Jacqui Shepherd (ESW) for Autism Community Research Network Sussex (ACoRNS) – Sharing ethical participatory research practices via a community autism network.
The applicants set up ACoRNS in 2021 to ‘develop, research, understand, and share good practice in services used by autistic children and their families’, building a collaborative partnership between universities, practitioners, families, children and young people. Our neurodiverse steering group1 of 10 local stakeholders across education, health and social care hold us to account. We illustrate our emerging ethical approaches with two examples: (1) an online event, Autistic Voices, with 3 autistic speakers resulting in an ethics application (ER/JSXX) enabling them to co-author a publication sharing their identifiable personal experiences of education. (2) the ESRC-funded Our Stories project co-developing new visual consent/assent procedures (e.g. ER/SH656) for active participation by autistic children with learning disabilities. 1 https://www.acorns-sussex.org.uk/people/
Winner (PGR):
Joshua Francis (Psychology) – Discovering Ethical Practices Within Youth Research Beyond Guidelines.
My overall research area is body image within young people, especially how moving from primary school to secondary school can impact their body image, as well as wellbeing. The combination of the young age of the population and sensitive nature of the topic have made conducting research difficult. In addition, a shift in the mindset of how we treat young samples (as per the UN recommendations. However, following best practices, and sincerely interacting with the population sample from the foundations of my research give me confidence in my projects. As well as ensure the integrity of my research, and protect the population.
Shortlisted Entrants (PGR):
Tiffany Murphy (MAH) – Close to My Heart: PGR Perspectives – a space to speak from the heart and connect.
This year, I organised Close to My Heart: PGR Perspectives, a symposium that invited postgraduate researchers at Sussex to reflect on their doctoral experience through a personal lens. Featuring a diverse range of presentations from postgraduate researchers across the University, Close to My Heart was a collaborative space for researchers at Sussex to explore some of the ethical challenges we face in our research, such as positionality, the role of lived experience, and tensions around ‘closeness’. Recognising how the PhD process can be isolating, and how traditional research events can leave little room for meaningful connection, Close to My Heart forged a space to connect with ourselves and each other.
Check out the Research Impact Awards shortlist here.