Awards showcase research impact

University of Leeds researchers and support teams who strive to make a meaningful difference in the world have been recognised for their exceptional contributions.

The 2024 Research Impact and Engagement Awards turned the spotlight on staff who exemplify Leeds' ambition for maximising positive impact, driving down inequalities and addressing social and economic challenges.

This is achieved by influencing policy, driving economic growth, promoting cultural enrichment, improving health outcomes, building social capital or fostering sustainable development.

Research impact is often hard-won. It takes time, effort, patience and researchers who are willing to go the extra mile.

By recognising the wide-ranging forms of impact achieved through collaboration and perseverance, the awards aim to inspire others to undertake and engage in equally transformative research.

Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, said: "In my short time at the University so far, I've been incredibly impressed with the talented people we have here on this fabulous campus, and the commitment I can see every day to improving lives and making the world a better place.

"I genuinely believe that universities should be focused on quality, the values that we hold and the impact we have on society, students and the world - including through our research.

"Research impact is often hard-won. It takes time, effort, patience and researchers who are willing to go the extra mile. It was therefore a great privilege to recognise and celebrate the work of our research community."

Building on the successful Engaged for Impact Awards in 2022, presentations were made across six categories: Cultural, Economic, Environmental, Health, Policy and Societal Impact. Applications for the awards nearly doubled year-on-year.

Each category featured two winners - one for emerging impact, the other for mature impact.

Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation, said: "At the heart of our University strategy is the desire to work together, across our internal community and with external partners to tackle inequalities, benefit society and drive change.

"We're highly focused on impact and making a positive difference in the world, and we want all our colleagues to be recognised for the role they play in this.

"The awards are a great opportunity to showcase our incredible colleagues who support and deliver excellent research that's focused on the needs of global and local populations, and I hope the nominees and winners inspire others to maximise impact in all that we do."

For a full list of winners and those that received special mentions, visit our dedicated awards page.

Award winners

Emerging impact categories

Cultural impact

Research enriches lives through arts and culture. It supports the production of new cultural artefacts and inspires new forms of artistic expression. This award recognises innovative, high-quality research with the potential for impact on culture, creativity or civil society.

Winning project - Touching the past: broadening heritage access using tactile models of geoscience data.

Lead - Dr Adam Booth (School of Earth and Environment)

Contributors - Dr Raymond Holt and Dr Briony Thomas (School of Mechanical Engineering); Tegwen Roberts (Wakefield Council, formerly Barnsley Museums); and Gemma Clarke (Barnsley Museums).

Economic impact

Research has the potential to drive economic growth and financial wellbeing. Economic impact might be achieved via a new spinout or social enterprise, or through collaboration with a public sector organisation or business to improve productivity or stimulate investment. This award recognises innovative, high-quality research with the potential for impact on the economy.

Winning project - Forecasting extremes using statistical machine learning: pushing academic research to economic innovation and impact.

Lead - Dr Leonid Bogachev (School of Mathematics)

Environmental impact

Research is playing a pivotal role in addressing arguably the biggest challenge facing the world today. Interventions designed to tackle climate change and global warming are critically underpinned by research. This award recognises innovative and high-quality research with the potential to have a positive impact on the environment.

Winning project - Improving national early warning capability for flooding.

Lead - Professor Cathryn Birch (School of Earth and Environment)

Contributors - Dr Steven Boeing, Dr Ben Maybee and Joseph Smith (School of Earth and Environment); Professor Mark Trigg (School of Civil Engineering); Julia Perez (Flood Forecasting Centre), Aurore Porson (Met Office); Kay Shelton (JBA Consulting); and Dr Linda Speight (University of Oxford).

Health impact

Research has the potential to make lives longer, healthier and more enriched. This award recognises high-quality, innovative research with significant potential for impact on human health and wellbeing or animal welfare.

Winning project - HOPE (Homelessness & Oral Health), a network for stakeholder partnership engaging for change.

Leads - Dr Karen Vinall-Collier and Dr Julia Csikar (School of Dentistry)

Contributors - Professor Gail Douglas (School of Dentistry), Lisa Chambers (St George's Crypt), Dr Stefan Serban (University of Glasgow), Sally Eapen-Simon (NHS England), Hayden Ridsdale (West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board), Elizabeth Kirby (Inclusion Health), Becky Joyce (Homeless Street Angels), Shelley Joyce (Homeless Street Angels), Dominic Maddocks (York Street Medical Practice), Rebekah Besford (Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust), High Ash and Hunslet dental practices.

Policy impact

Research plays a critical role in law and policy-making processes, ensuring policies are robust, evidence-based and astute. This award recognises research that has the potential to underpin policy at the local, national or global levels.

Winning project - Understanding, preventing and disrupting cuckooing victimisation.

Lead - Dr Laura Bainbridge (School of Law)

Contributors - Dr Amy Loughery (School of Law), Anne Rannard (National County Lines Coordination Centre), Jennifer Griffiths (West Yorkshire Police), Heather Ashby (Leeds City Council) and James Allen (Horton Housing)

Societal impact

Research can have a transformative effect on people and communities. This award recognises research that has the potential to change lives for the better.

Winning project - Changing the Story: Youth voice, accountability and sustainable development in conflict-affected societies.

Lead - Professor Paul Cooke (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies)

Contributors - Dr Katie Hodgkinson (School of Politics and International Studies); Inés Soria-Donlan and Lauren Wray (Horizons Institute); Professor Stuart Taberner (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies); and Dr Lou Harvey (School of Education).

Mature impacts categories

Cultural impact

Research can enhance quality of life via collaboration with public arts venues, artists and cultural organisations to produce new forms of artistic expression, often leading to engagement from marginalised or overlooked audiences. This award recognises research that has made a difference to culture, creativity or civil society.

Winning project - The Dialect and Heritage Project (DHP): Transforming museums and communities through co-produced dialect research and democratised access to archival resources.

Lead - Professor Fiona Douglas (School of English)

Contributors - Dr Rosemary Hall, Dr Kerri-Ann Butcher, Kathleen McGrath and Rae Hughes (School of English); Caroline Bolton and Rosie Dyson (Libraries Service); Zoe Willems, Steven Hearn and Leila Prescott (Avoncroft Museum of Historic to Buildings); Fiona Rosher and Poppy Oldham (Dales Countryside Museum); Kate Knowlden and Laura Kloss (The Food Museum); Jennifer Smith and Claire Midgley (Ryedale Folk Museum); Lucy Hockley and Amy Stone (Weald & Download Living Museum); Robbie Beake (Ammba Digital Ltd), Mary Stones and Tracy Cragg.

Economic impact

Research can have an economic impact through the development of new technologies, processes, practices and guidelines. This award recognises research that has made a difference to the financial wellbeing and resilience of the economy, business, industry, public sector organisation, charity or any other defined user group.

Winning project - Informing food insecurity intervention in the UK through localised insights into food insecurity risk.

Lead - Dr Fran Pontin (School of Geography/Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC)

Contributors - Professor Michelle Morris (School of Food Science and Nutrition and CDRC), Dr Rachel Oldroyd (School of Geography), Robyn Naisbitt (School of Geography and CRDC), Dr Emily Ennis (formerly CRDC), Alex Hambley (formerly CRDC), Peter Baudains (formerly CRDC), Ahmed Ammash (Leeds Institute of Data Analytics - LIDA) and Abdelrahman Ibrahim (Leeds Institute of Data Analytics - LIDA).

Environmental impact

Research is making a difference to how the world addresses climate change and global warming. This award recognises research that's improving the environment through new products, processes, services, behaviour change, strategies, policies or monitoring techniques.

Winning project - Mapping wilderness to informing decisions on global biodiversity and climate targets.

Lead - Professor Steve Carver (School of Geography)

Health impact

Research can improve health and wellbeing through the development of new technologies, processes, practices and guidelines. This award recognises research that has made a tangible difference to the lives of patients, users or related groups.

Winning project - Impact of a research programme for Post COVID Condition or Long COVID (LC): Integrating translational science, clinical management and service delivery.

Lead - Professor Manoj Sivan (School of Medicine)

Contributors - Dr Darren Greenwood (LICAM and LIDA); Dr Adam Smith (LICAM and NHS England); Professor Ghazala Mir, Thomas Osborne, Barbara Silva Passadouro, Omar Khoja, Dr Joanna Corrado, Nafi Iftekhar, Rosie Solomon and Professor Daryl O'Connor (School of Medicine); Dr Stephen Halpin, Mike Horton, Amy Parkin, Madeline Goodwin, Angela Greenbank, Sarah Moses, Anika McKay and Professor Rory O'Connor (LIRMM); Roman Rocha Lawrence and Paul O'Brien (ELAROS 24/7); Professor Trish Greenhalgh, Joseph Kwon and Professor Stavros Petrou (University of Oxford); and Professor Alex Casson (University of Manchester).

Policy impact

Research can underpin new forms of governance, guidance and policymaking. This award recognises research that has fed into policy at the local, regional, national or global levels.

Winning project - Safer parks: improving access for women and girls.

Lead - Dr Anna Barker (School of Law)

Contributors - Rizwana Alam, Dr Sally Osei-Appiah and Dr Sibylla Warrington Brown (School of Law); Lauren Cape-Davenhill (School of Geography); Professor George Holmes (School of Earth and Environment); Kersti Mitchell (External Communications); Lynsey Atherton, Carl McClean, Paul Todd and Michelle Walde (Keep Britain Tidy); Tracy Brabin, Helen Forman, Alison Lowe, Vanessa Rolfe and Ian Yates (West Yorkshire Combined Authority); Nathan Capstick and Professor Adam Crawford (ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre); Josie Brookes (Freelance); James Harper, Clare Perry and Rosie Turner (Harper Perry); Jeanette Morris-Boam (Leeds Women's Aid); and Susannah Walker (Make Space for Girls).

Societal impact

Research can have a transformative effect on people and communities. This award recognises research that has changed lives for the better.

Winning project - Engaging audiences to improve trust and confidence in news and journalism through trusted regulation.

Lead: Professor Julie Firmstone (School of Media and Communication)

Contributors: Dr Maria Georgoula (School of Media and Communication) and Professor John Steel (University of Derby)

Further information

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