The Research Culture Awards were launched just this year to recognise the work done by members of the University of Glasgow community to create a positive and collegial research environment which is conducive to supporting success in others and promoting good research culture, good research practice, and open, transparent research. The winners are at the leading edge of such activity, from facilitating workshops and peer-review to planning social events and support groups.

Without further ado, congratulations to Dr Nick Kamenos, Professor Faye Hammill, Dr Amy Nimegeer, and III NERD’s Lilach Sheiner and Angela Bradshaw for receiving this year’s awards!

Dr Nick Kamenos, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences

Nick has developed two University-wide schemes to support colleagues applying for NERC-pointing Doctoral Training Partnerships and demand managed research awards. The focus of this work is on supporting and benefiting colleagues and providing research accessibility, culture, and drive. The schemes have increased awards and accepted positions in the latest IAPETUS2 DTP round by holding workshops and feedback sessions, and Nick has provided extensive individual feedback on applications. His work is particularly helpful for ECRs (including PGRs) and flexi workers.

Professor Faye Hammill, College of Arts

By establishing an informal grant-writing group, Faye has increased awareness of funding options and the work being done by others. The group meets once a month to peer-review in-progress applications, and it provides a space for ECRs and more experienced colleagues to work together. Faye herself provides detailed, individual feedback and suggests appropriate funding schemes for project ideas. There have been several successful bids as a result of this work. Faye has also helped to facilitate the new ArtsLab Labs initiative.

Dr Amy Nimegeer, Institute of Health and Wellbeing

Amy has organised training opportunities to further develop staff and student research skills. These opportunities include workshops on conducting content analysis, critical appraisal and peer review, as well as mock interviews, viva panels, and internal writing retreats. She also plans social events in recognition of the importance of a support system beyond the working environment. Finally, she contributes to public engagement, partially through the Understanding Health Research tool.

III Network for Early career Researcher Development (NERD)

Lilach Sheiner and Angela Bradshaw co-founded NERD to support and advocate for ECRs in the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences and the Institute of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation. Since its founding in 2016, the group by ECRs and for ECRs has grown from 20 to 250 members and held 22 events. These events included a panel session on post-academic career options; workshops on CVs and fellowship writing; and social events. They use their website, Moodle and social media to signpost training and job opportunities to NERD’s membership.

Head over to the official webpage to find more detailed information about each of the winners and to see the list of the nominations who were highly commended by the judges. It’s a fantastic round-up of some of the great work being done at UofG to promote a supportive, positive environment for research (including for us PGRs).