Staff and students from across the University have been recognised with awards for their efforts in engaging wider society with their research.
The Principal’s Prize for Public Engagement celebrates the work of researchers who strive to ensure their work is accessible, understandable and of interest to people outwith an academic setting.
The prizes were presented during the University’s May Festival by University Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Ian Diamond.
Dr Gordon Noble from the Archaeology department received the senior prize, with Dr Amy Bryzgel from the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture and Dr Alex Johnstone from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health the runners-up awards.
Dr Heather Morgan, from the Health Services Research Unit, won the Early Career award with Annie Robinson, a research fellow in Biological Sciences winning the runner-up award in the same category.
Norul Latif, a postgraduate researcher, won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Engagement in the Biomedical Sciences, supported by the University’s Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund.
Professor Diamond said: “The University of Aberdeen is committed to sharing our world-leading research and its impact, helping to raise awareness and stimulate engagement with global challenges, while inspiring the next generation of young scientists and researchers. It is fantastic to be able to recognise these researchers and celebrate their achievements with these awards.”
The annual Principal’s Prize competition complements other initiatives put into place by the institution’s Public Engagement with Research Unit to support the university community to benefit from the increasingly important role of public engagement within the research and wider academic environment.
Dr Kenneth Skeldon, Head of the Public Engagement added: “The standard of entries for this year’s prize was extremely high and with nearly twice the number of entries this year the panel was faced with a very difficult choice. Our judges, derived from across the UK and spanning fields of science, arts and humanities, faced a difficult challenge. The process has once again highlighted the diverse range of high quality engagement practice undertaken by our staff and students.”
The public engagement with research prize competition is supported by the University of Aberdeen and the Wellcome Trust. More details on the work of the Public Engagement with Research Unit can be found at www.abdn.ac.uk/engage