An illustrated essay based on interviews with people in Nepal and Sri Lanka transitioning into post-war societies and the Ambassadors for Autism scheme working with the education providers, the criminal justice system and employers to adapt services for autistic service users are just two of the shortlisted projects for the 2019 Vice Chancellor’s Engage Awards.
Record number of applicants
Running since 2013 the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement – now the Vice-Chancellor’s Engage Awards - aim to celebrate and reward colleagues from across the University of Bath who are engaging non-academic audiences with their research. For 2019 we are also hosting Engage: Public Engagement in Practice, an event to showcase some of the amazing public engagement work happening across the University as part of the Awards ceremony. Join us on Wednesday 15 May in The Edge between 1-2pm to experience first-hand the diversity of different activities, you can register for the Engage: Public Engagement in Practice online.
This year we revamped the Vice-Chancellor’s Engage Awards, introducing four new categories and received a record number of applicants for the awards, giving the awards panel a harder than usual task to choose between some of the amazing public engagement work submitted. However, after three hours locked in a room, much deliberation and copious amounts of coffee the panel agreed a shortlist and we are thrilled to announce it today.
Listening
This category aims to reward projects which listen and respond to publics’ needs, knowledge and experience. The shortlisted researchers in this category are:
Peter King, Doctoral Student, Department of Economics for his project running events and focus groups with a diverse range of consumers to understand how schemes such as taxes or Deposit-Refund Schemes can play a role in reducing marine plastics by increasing recycling.
Alinka Gearon, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social & Policy Sciences for her project bringing together trafficked young people and service providers to help give the young people a voice in the services they use.
Working Together
This category aims to reward projects that involved working with others outside of academia. The shortlisted researchers in this category are:
Jade Norris, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Psychology for her Autism Ambassador project working with education providers, the criminal justice system and employers to adapt services for autistic service users.
Rebecca Yeo, Doctoral student, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies for her project working with Bristol City Council, voluntary sector organisations and trade unions to create an event to commemorate Kamil Ahmad, a disabled asylum seeker murdered in Bristol in 2016.
Christina Horvath, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies for her project working with disadvantaged urban communities in Brazil, Mexico, Britain, France, Belgium and Germany to develop creative methods to engage in dialogue with policy makers.
Informing
This category aims to reward projects that have successfully shared research knowledge with publics outside of academia. The shortlisted researchers in this category are:
Oliver Walton, Lecturer in International Development, Department of Social and Policy Sciences for his project creating an illustrated essay based on interviews with people in Nepal and Sri Lanka transitioning into post-war societies.
Sally Adams and Craig Gunn, Lecturer and Doctoral Student, Department of Psychology for their work sharing the effects of hangovers through a wide broadcast media, print and online presence and with a series of public events.
Janet Goodall, Lecturer, Department for Education for her project working with 34 local schools to create a Toolkit for Parental Engagement that aimed to raise the confidence and engagement of parents in their children’s learning.
Leadership
The award will recognise a strong commitment to engaged research and promoting learning among researchers. For this category we asked applicants to submit a portfolio of activity that demonstrated how their work in their department has influenced and encouraged others to engage with the public. The shortlisted researchers are:
Sarah Bailey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology.
Janet Bultitude, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology.
Frances Laughton, Director of Teaching & Resources, Department of Physics.
Gan Shermer, Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemistry.
As part of the awards process each of the shortlisted nominees in this category will give a six minute presentation to the awards panel and audience as part of the Engage: Public Engagement in Practice showcase event on Wednesday 15 May.
Engage Public Engagement in Practice
As part of our work to celebrate the public engagement efforts of our colleagues we are hosting a showcase event, Engage Public Engagement in Practice, which will be an opportunity to for you to experience first-hand the amazing work happening across the University of Bath.
The event is taking place in the Edge on Wednesday 15 May between 1pm and 4pm and will include the awards ceremony for the Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement. Come along and join us for the whole event by registering online or drop in from 1-2pm and 3-4pm to have step inside the Cubicle and challenge media representation of body image or play marbles to understand how new medicines are created or have a go at hunting for micro-plastics. Drinks and canapés will be provided.
Dean Veall is Deputy Head of Public Engagement
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