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MPLS Impact Awards 2024/25

This is the thirteenth year for MPLS Impact Awards, which celebrate, recognise and reward impacts achieved by researchers. Since 2012, we received 155 nominations, and recognised individual and team achievements with 69 Impact Awards and 11 Commendations. Our annual awards aim to foster, raise awareness of, and reward impact at a local level, and prepare the ground for the impact case studies that will be needed for future REF and similar exercises. We welcome nomination of MPLS Division researchers at all career stages, and particularly early career researchers and postgraduates actively contributing to progress impacts from research.

MPLS Impact Awards

In 2024-25 there are five categories of award:

 

  1. Commercial Impact: To recognise researchers at any career stage for research that has had significant commercial/economic impact since 1 August 2020. Examples could be the establishment of spin-out companies, contributions from collaborative working with business, or research that has led to licensing deals or the development of new products, tools and technologies. This category is open to those that have provided a financial return, or those that are not commercially profitable yet.
  2. Social Impact: To recognise researchers at any career stage for research that has had significant social impact since 1 August 2020.The social impact category could include a broad range of impacts of research, such as those on wider society, health and wellbeing, advocacy, ethical and cultural issues, practice, public health, social enterprise, the third sector, culture and the environment, etc. There is a separate category for public policy.
  3. Public Engagement with Research Impact: To recognise researchers at any career stage who have achieved significant impact since 1 August 2020 through high-quality public engagement with research activities. High quality public engagement with research is any project that seeks to inform and inspire, consult or collaborate with defined public audiences in a purposeful manner that utilises appropriate methods, and is suitably evaluated.
  4. Policy Impact: To recognise researchers at any career stage for research that has had significant policy impact since 1 August 2020. The award will recognise successful efforts involving use of, or communication of research that influenced policy at a local, national or international level, either through working with politicians, civil servants, practitioners, regulatory organisations or other policymakers or influencers.
  5. Technician Impact: To recognise technically skilled people and technical roles working in research teams or in research departments who have contributed significantly towards underpinning research/resources/programmes that have realised/are likely to realise economic or social impact from research.

 

Please note Early Career awards will be considered across the first four categories (Early Career – Commercial Impact, etc). This is for individuals who are within ten years of completing their DPhil (excluding any career breaks or leave for care, maternity or similar reasons). This category excludes nominations for Faculty Staff or Associate Professors, and is exclusively to recognise Early Career Researchers’ independent engagement with external organisations or end-users, as laying the foundations for future impact. Nominations should demonstrate engagement that is beyond what might be expected, as compared with their peers.

 

Eligibility

Nomination to the MPLS Impact Awards is open to all researchers in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, this includes academics, postdoctoral researchers, postgraduate research students, and technicians.

MPLS Division invites heads of department, research professionals, Oxford University Innovation staff, academics, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduates to nominate MPLS individuals or teams who have actively contributed to progress impacts from research. ‘Nominators’ are expected to have knowledge of the nominee(s)’s contributions and achievements relevant to the Impact Award. Self-nominations are also welcome from individuals and teams who wish to apply for the Award. Individuals or groups can apply directly (self-nominate), or be nominated by one or more persons (nominators).

Researchers who have submitted (or intend to submit [see Note 1]) an application for a Vice Chancellor’s Award can also be nominated for MPLS Impact Awards.

However, projects/researchers that have received either a Vice Chancellor’s Innovation and Engagement Award [see Note 2], or a commendation for Vice Chancellor’s Innovation and Engagement Award [see Note 2], or received a MPLS Impact Award, are not eligible to be nominated for an MPLS Impact Award for the same project, in a similar or related category, unless demonstrably significant progress has been made. Nominations of large research programme teams/consortia are not eligible, however, their researchers can be nominated for their individual achievements. It is required that significant effort to progress impact occurred when the nominee(s) has/have been in the MPLS Division.

The deadline for applying to the 2024-25 awards is Wednesday, 30 April 2025. For any queries, please contact epsrciaa@mpls.ox.ac.uk.

 

[Note 1] includes the current call for Vice Chancellor’s Research Engagement Award, Innovation and Commercialisation Award, and Breakthrough Researcher Award (categories 4, 5 and 7)

[Note 2] includes past Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Award/Vice Chancellor’s Public Engagement with Research Award and Innovation and Engagement Award.

 

PRIVACY NOTICE 

Our privacy notice tells you what we are doing with your data and how we will keep it safe. We are processing your data for the purposes listed in the privacy notice only because you have given us consent to do so, by completing and submitting your application form. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at epsrciaa@mpls.ox.ac.uk. In this event, we will stop the processing as soon as we can. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before your withdrawal of consent.

Download the MPLS Impact Awards guidance (PDF) or view the Impact Awards guidance as a webpage

Download the MPLS Impact Awards Nomination Form (Word doc) or view the Nomination Form content as a webpage

Previous winners:

Download a table of MPLS Impact Awards winners (Word doc) or view the previous winners as a webpage.

News stories:


MPLS Impact Award Winners

Any queries should be directed to Anuj Bhatt (Impact and Innovation Officer, MPLS) at epsrciaa@mpls.ox.ac.uk