Read the 2024 Impact Prize stories of this year’s winners and finalists at research outcomes and impact.
Winners
Outstanding business and enterprise impact
Winner: Digit working time reduction team
Team application:
- Professor Brendan Burchell, University of Cambridge
- Dr David Frayne, University of Salford
Project title: Improving productivity and wellbeing with a four-day working week
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Researchers investigated the UK’s largest trial of a four-day working week, unearthing evidence of benefits for both employees and employers.
Read the full story: Making the case for a four-day working week
Outstanding early career impact
Winner: Dr Timo Leiter, London School of Economics and Political Science
Project title: Better prepared: new global targets strengthen climate adaptation and resilience
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
As the impacts of climate change unfold, there is an urgent need for countries to make plans to adapt.
Read the full story: New global targets strengthen climate resilience
Outstanding international impact
Winner: OSR4Rights research group
Team application:
- Professor Yvonne McDermott Rees, Swansea University
- Dr Daragh Murray, Queen Mary University of London
- Dr Phil Bartie, Heriot-Watt University
- Dr Alexa Koenig, University of California, Berkeley
- Dr Riza Batista-Navarro, The University of Manchester
- Sam Dubberley, Human Rights Watch
- Dave Mateer, HM Software
Project title: Strengthening the use of open source research in human rights investigations
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Tools and guidance to help human rights investigators, lawyers and judges use open-source information have led to more effective ways to track human rights violations.
Read the full story: Using mobile phone footage as evidence in human rights investigations
Outstanding public policy impact
Winner: Professor Charlotte O’Brien, University of York
Project title: Supporting strategic litigation to secure EU nationals’ post-Brexit rights
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
EU Exit created an unprecedented period of legal transition. The EU Rights and Brexit Hub (EURBH) is helping to navigate this frontier area of law.
Read the full story: Securing the rights of EU nationals post EU Exit
Outstanding societal impact
Winner: The Post Office Project
Team application:
- Professor Richard Moorhead, University of Exeter
- Dr Karen Nokes, University College London
- Dr Rebecca Helm, University of Exeter
- Dr Sally Day, University of Exeter
- Paul Gilbert, LBC Wise Council
Project title: The Post Office scandal: lawyers’ ethics and ruined lives
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Researchers are revealing how lawyers and the criminal justice system enabled this miscarriage of justice and how we might prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Read the full story: Exposing the driving force of the Post Office scandal
Finalists
Outstanding societal impact
Finalist: The Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent
Team application:
- Dr Tracee Green, University of Kent
- Dr Aravinda Kosaraju, University of Kent
- Emma Soutar, University of Kent
Project title: Integrating a trauma informed approach to investigating child sexual exploitation
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
An interactive simulation is training police officers how to use approaches that acknowledge past trauma in girls who have experienced child sexual exploitation.
Read the full story: Improving police responses to victims of child sexual exploitation
Outstanding business and enterprise impact
Finalist: Professor Neil Stewart, University of Warwick
Project title: Informing the Financial Conduct Authority’s measures to help consumers take better control of their spending
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Research has reshaped rules for credit card companies, saving millions in interest charges and helping people caught in the cycle of persistent debt.
Read the full story: Helping people take better control of credit card debt
Outstanding public policy impact
Finalist: Professor Gordon Harold, University of Cambridge
Project title: Reducing parental conflict to improve outcomes for children
Video credit: ESRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.
Research into the impact of parental conflict has informed a programme that is designed to support relationships between parents to improve outcomes for children.
Read the full story: Improving outcomes for children by reducing arguments at home