University of Kent Research Prizes

I wrote last year about the development of a research prize competition here at Kent. If you read the post you'll know that it wasn't a straightforward gestation; however, when we launched it there was a good deal of interest, and we received 40 applications by the deadline in January.

After the hours of fretting, worrying, and of explaining the potential benefit to a sceptical audience, I was really pleased to see this interest. Moreover, I was pleased to see the quality and diversity of the research that had been put forward. It demonstrated a vibrant research culture, and I felt humbled to be a part of this world, both at the University, and as part of a national and global endeavour.

There were 12 winners in total: three faculty winners in each of the three categories, and three overall winners. They were:

• Research Prizes
• The University Prize for Research: Prof Jon Williamson (SECL) 
• The Faculty of Humanities Prize for Research: Prof Nicola Shaughnessy (Arts)
• The Faculty of Sciences Prize for Research: Prof Colin Robinson (Centre for Molecular Processing)
• The Faculty of Social Sciences Prize for Research: Prof Theresa Gannon and team (Psychology) 
• Early Career Research Prizes 
• The University Prize for Early Career Research: Dr Harmonie Toros (Politics & International Relations) 
• The Faculty of Humanities Prize for Early Career Research: Dr Helen Brooks (Arts) 
• The Faculty of Sciences Prize for Early Career Research: Dr Jeremy Rossman (Biosciences) 
• The Faculty of Social Sciences Prize for Early Career Research: Dr Nikolas Rajkovic (Kent Law School) 
• Postgraduate Research Prizes 
• The University Prize for Postgraduate Research: Giovanni Travaglino (Psychology) 
• The Faculty of Humanities Prize for Postgraduate Research: Ada Nifosi (SECL) 
• The Faculty of Sciences Prize for Postgraduate Research: Emily Dennis (SMSAS)
• The Faculty of Social Sciences Prize for Postgraduate Research: Igor Merheim-Eyre (Politics & International Relations) 

The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony at the end of the month, but I would like to thank all those who submitted nominations to the competition. It took a certain amount of courage to put yourself forward (or agree to be put forward) for these new prizes, but I hope they set the template for celebrating exciting, interesting work. In these uncertain financial times we, as a sector, should be doing all we can to shout about our achievements.