DPIR’s inaugural Impact Awards announced
The new DPIR Impact Awards celebrate how research in Politics and International Relations make a difference beyond academia. Two prize categories recognise ‘Impact Leaders’ and ‘Achieving Impact’.
The Impact Leader Award recognises a significant track record of achieving impact or a commitment to collaboration and engaged research.
The Changing Character of War Centre (CCWC)'s Rob Johnson and Annette Idler are both winners in the Impact Leader award. Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Professor of the International Politics of Africa, was noted as Highly Commended in the same category.
Senior Research Fellow and CCWC Director Rob Johnson’s research project has created impact included helping to influence strategic defence education and providing analysis and tools to aid military forces in working with local actors.
Senior Research Fellow and CCWC Director of Studies Annette Idler’s research has helped enhance responses to insecurity and conflict across the globe as her Conflict Platform tool is now embedded in UN practice. It has also helped inform the Colombian government’s strategy for peace in the nation’s unstable borderland regions.
And Ricardo’s research on the financial and political activities of the Angolan regime informed the global investigation – The Luanda Leaks – by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) into the daughter of the former President of Angola, Isabel Dos Santos. His research has also helped focus the international debate on the human rights impact of corruption and has informed UK policy through his engagement with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office whilst underpinning the knowledge and understanding of the UK’s Trade Envoy to Angola.
The Achieving Impact Award recognises and rewards research that has achieved, or is currently achieving, demonstrable policy, economic, societal, or cultural impacts.
Departmental Lecturer and Research Fellow in International Relations Hussam Hussein won the Achieving Impact award, with Associate Professor of European Politics Radoslaw Zubek noted as Highly Commended.
Hussam’s research is aiding the nation of Jordan in transitioning towards a sustainable use of water resources, ensuring water security and consequently political stability.
As a result of Radoslaw’s research, the House of Commons Library and Parliamentary Digital Service have used novel data and method to build a publicly available API on the parliament’s website which makes UK procedural data available to MPs and the public.
The biennial awards are part of the Department’s efforts to profile impact and recognise the investment of researchers in impact activities, with each category prize fund totalling £1,000.
Applications were reviewed by the Research Support Team, Research Director, Head of Department and four other reviewers including Aileen Marshall-Brown - the Social Science Division's Senior Research Impact Facilitator.
