Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Award Nominations Shortlist 2024

Newcomer of the year Award

The community panel could not distinguish between the five very strong nominations on the longlist for this award, and have therefore decided to put all five forward for the shortlist. 

• Dr Anne Marie Sowerbutts, Researcher Development Officer at University of Manchester. Nominated by Dr Cathal Rogers.

• Hanan Fara, Researcher Training and Development Officer at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Tim Giles.

• Klaudia Jasionwska, Former Researcher Developer at Edinburgh Napier University. Nominated by Dr Vani Naik.

• Megan Chance, Research Impact Development Manager at University of Birmingham. Nominated by Sarah Egan.

• Ola David, Data Science & Digital Skills Delivery Manager at University of Nottingham. Nominated by Victoria Sedman.

Outstanding contribution award

• Dr Alison Tidy, Research Fellow at University of Nottingham & Co Chair of UKRSA. Nominated by Dr Anjali Shah.

• Dr Julie Reeves, Senior Teaching Fellow / Professional Developer in HE at University of Southampton. Nominated by Dr Neelam Wright and Professor Francesco Shankar.

• Sarah Ashworth, Researcher Developer at University of Manchester. Nominated by Amy Smith.

Innovative and inclusive practice award

• Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities and Energy (C-DICE) at University of Loughborough. Nominated by Professor Malcolm Cook for developing innovative approaches to support inclusivity for postdoctoral researchers. 

• Jack Fitzpatrick, PhD Candidate at Liverpool John Moores University. Nominated by Craig Hammond for his work and research in understanding and changing neurodiversity-informed practices in the workplace.

• Dr Jenni Jones, Associate Professor in Coaching and Mentoring at University of Wolverhampton. Nominated by Tracey Devonport for her work on a reverse mentoring programme that establishes opportunities for Global Majority Postgraduate Researchers to positively influence senior leads and decision-making.

Research culture impact through researcher development award

• Anna Price, Rui Pires Martins, Amanda Langley - Researcher Development Team at Queen Mary, University of London. Nominated by Emma Caseley for their organisation of the Postdoc Conference, a flagship event of the Queen Mary Researcher Development calendar which enables key issues such as postdoc salaries to be addressed and acted upon, and is an important way of implementing the Environment and Culture aims of the Researcher Development Concordat.

• Dr Justin Hutchence, Research Training and Development Manager at University of Oxford. Nominated by Dr Anjali Shah for significantly enhancing researcher development through diverse training programs, EDI innovations, and impactful mentorship, fostering a vibrant and inclusive research community, and for establishing representative structures to ensure that the voice of research staff are heard and can influence positive research culture change.. 

• Researcher Development and Culture Team at University of Leeds. Nominated by Emma Spary for their work on The "Research Culture Uncovered" podcast, a pivotal platform for sharing best practices and fostering dialogue to improve research culture. Featuring diverse voices from across the research community, the podcast's 78 episodes have had over 7,800 downloads, reaching 4,700 listeners in 80 countries, sparking international collaboration and engagement.