ESRC Announces the 2020 Celebrating Impact Prize

by | Feb 21, 2020 | Funding Opportunities | 0 comments

The ESRC have launched the 2020 ‘Celebrating Impact Prize’. This competition is open to all researchers whose impact is directly linked to research supported by the ESRC and associates, including current and previous directly ESRC-funded researchers, ESRC centres and large investments, ESRC resources and current and previous ESRC Fellows.

We have set a School deadline of Thursday 5th March and we can help with writing applications, so please get in touch if you’re interested.

The Celebrating Impact Prize is ESRC’s annual opportunity to recognise and reward current and previous ESRC-supported researchers who have created or enabled outstanding impact. It celebrates social science researchers at all career stages whose actions have created a positive impact. This might be through changes in practice, thinking or capacity in the UK or internationally. There are five competition categories this year:

  • Outstanding Business and Enterprise Impact
  • Outstanding Public Policy Impact
  • Outstanding Societal Impact
  • Outstanding International Impact
  • Outstanding Early Career Impact

 

 

All finalists have a film professionally made about their work and its impact, and winners are awarded £10,000 to spend on further knowledge exchange, public engagement or other impact related activities. The Prize winners are announced and presented with their awards at a ceremony held at The Royal Society in London.

Colette Fagan, Vice President for Research, is keen to encourage Humanities colleagues to consider an application to this prestigious scheme. It’s a great opportunity to showcase where our research has made a real difference to society or the economy.

 

Previous Humanities Successes

Previous finalists from the University of Manchester include Jane Green (SoSS) and Harriet Thomson (SEED).

Jane and her team were finalists in the Outstanding Impact in Society category in 2017 for their work with the British Election Study (BES). Their research led to more accurate polling methods that have been adopted by leading pollsters, and BES analysis keeps millions of TV viewers informed on election nights.

Harriet won the Outstanding Early Career Impact category, also in 2017, for her PhD research into fuel poverty. She developed a new index for measuring fuel poverty, which has made evidence-based insights available to poilcymakers. Harriet also set up the EU Fuel Poverty Network, a leading online platform for information about the issue, which is used by Members of the European Parliament.

 

Timeline for Applications

  • 5th March 2020: Deadline for applications to School Research Support Manager (to allow time for institutional letters of support to be finalised)
  • 19th March 2020: Deadline for submission to ESRC
  • Early June 2020 (tbc): Interviews for shortlisted candidates
  • 10th September 2020: Prize ceremony in London

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