With a record number of applications this year, finding just one winner in each of the categories of the Engage Awards was no easy task for the Judging Panel. After much deliberation, the winners of the Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards 2021 were announced at our online event on Friday 21 May attended by the Vice-Chancellor and expertly overseen by Jonathan Knight, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research). The Public Engagement Unit are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 Awards are......
Informing category
For outstanding projects and activities that aim to inform and share research knowledge with public groups. The winner is:
Dr Jo Daniels, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology
Jo is recognised for her extensive media engagement with her research into anxiety in medical conditions and how it related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This work reached diverse public groups, from listeners to BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat, readers of the New York Times, to followers of the Stylist Magazine's Instagram account. As a result of this high-profile media presence, Jo has raised her profile and pivoted her research focus to new cross-disciplinary and multi-institution research collaborations.
Working Together category
For projects and activities that have involved working with people and public groups. The winner is:
Dr Jenny Scott, Senior Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology
Jenny worked with people who use drugs and those who deliver frontline care from pharmacies to co-produce an intervention to improve the take-up of emergency medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the project to ensure successful delivery of the intervention, Jenny worked with local pharmacies to develop a training and support package for pharmacy teams which, since March 2020, has been rolled out to four other regions of England.
Local and Civic Engagement category
For projects, teams and individuals who have made outstanding civic contributions to the local area on behalf of the University. The winner is:
Dr Alexander Lunt, Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Alex led on and mobilised a team of 70 colleagues from right across the University who gave nearly 7,000 hours of their time to produce more than 400,000 pieces of personal protective equipment for frontline health and social care services during the COVID-19 emergency. The project ensured that keyworkers were provided with a consistent supply of equipment during the early stages of the pandemic and enhanced existing University relationships with local healthcare facilities.
Leadership category
For an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the culture of public engagement at the University by promoting the benefits of public engagement and influencing, encouraging, and supporting others to engage public groups with their research.
Professor Chris Budd, Department of Mathematical Sciences
For 20 years, Chris has led the way in activities that engage people with his research and mathematical sciences. As well as taking a leading role in delivering activities himself, most recently as Gresham Professor of Geometry delivering 24 Gresham lectures at the Gresham College, London, Chris has set up initiatives that have served to support the professional development of colleagues in public engagement. These include the science festival Bath Taps into Science, which has seen academic colleagues from across the faculties of Science and Engineering and Design develop and deliver activities that engage young people and families with their work and the Communicating Maths undergraduate module that supports students to develop key engagement and communication skills.
Acknowledgements
We would like to congratulate all the winners of the 2021 Engage Awards for their outstanding public engagement achievements and also take this opportunity to mention that all the shortlisted candidates were worthy of winning but due to the nature of an award scheme someone has to win. Congratulations to all the shortlisted candidates for their brilliant work. You can find out more about the winning and shortlisted project in our Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards 2021 brochure.
Thank you to everyone who applied for the Engage Awards and also the fantastic work that colleagues contributed to our Public Engagement Showcase.
And finally thank you to the Judging Panel chaired by Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Jonathan Knight and included Marianne Ellis (Head of Department of Chemical Engineering), Janet Bultitude (Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and winner of Leadership Engage Award 2019), Dom Galliano (Head of Public Engagement at University College London) and Emily Malik (Director of EcoWild). Special thanks, in particular, go to Jonathan Knight as this will be his last Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards before he steps down from his role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research). Thank you on behalf of all the Public Engagement Unit for your support for the Engage Awards and for helping to create a positive culture of public engagement at the University.
Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards
Established in 2013, the Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards aims to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of colleagues who engage people beyond the University with their research. Four categories of the Engage Awards focus on public engagement with research and are open to all Education and Research staff and doctoral students and added in 2021 to reflect the renewed strategic focus for the University, a new fifth award category - Local and Civic Engagement - which is open to staff from all job families and doctoral students.
The Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards will be back in 2023.
Dean Veall is Deputy Head of Public Engagement at the University of Bath
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