Changing the world, together: celebrating social sciences collaborations making a difference

The outstanding contribution of Oxford’s social scientists to tackling complex global challenges in partnership with policymakers, businesses, and civil society has been celebrated at the 2025 Social Sciences Impact Awards.

From addressing multidimensional poverty in developing nations and protecting workers against unfair work practices and digital surveillance, to increasing diversity in English literature education and improving patient care in the prescription of high-dependence drugs, the ceremony showcased inspirational stories of societal impact grounded in rigorous social sciences research from the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University.

Supported by the University of Oxford’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, the Impact Awards spanned three categories – emerging, developing, and scaling and sustaining impact – highlighting the importance of high-quality engagement and knowledge exchange at all stages of the impact journey; from the earliest engagement activities to the largest long-term collaborations.

The three overall winners were:

Dr Jennifer Seddon (credit: John Cairns)	Emerging Impact: Improving patient care for people prescribed medicines with a risk of dependence. Dr Jennifer Seddon (School of Psychology, Social Work and Public Health, Oxford Brookes University), with Dr Sarah Wadd (University of Bedfordshire), Mr Dave Dicks (PPI Contributor), Dr Sion Scott (University of Leicester), Dr Anthea Robinson (General Practitioner). Watch a film about their impact.
Julia Tilford, Kath Ford, Marta Favara and Alan Sánchez Jiménez of the Young Lives team (credit: John Cairns)	Developing Impact: Young Lives evidence directly informing legislative change to prohibit child marriage in Peru. Dr Alan Sánchez Jiménez, Dr Marta Favara, Kath Ford and Julia Tilford (Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford), Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia, Santiago Cueto Caballero, Gisela Chacaltana (GRADE), Gina Crivello (In Memoriam). Watch a film about their impact.
Ana Maria Marin Morales, Corrine Mitchell, Prof Sabina Alkire, Maya Evans and Fanni Kovesdi from OPHI (credit: John Cairns)	Scaling & Sustaining Impact: Addressing multidimensional poverty in developing nations through measurement and policy applications. Professor Sabina Alkire (Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. Watch a film about their impact.

Professor Louise Slater (credit: John Cairns)

The full list of awardees can be found below.

Hosting the ceremony, Professor Louise Slater (Associate Head of the Social Sciences Division (R&I) welcomed over one hundred guests from academia, business, policy, community organisations and the third sector, as well as knowledge exchange professionals.

“Impact is undoubtedly a collaborative team effort,” said Professor Slater. “As we all know here, meaningful and responsible engagement lies at the core of social science research. We were truly impressed by the outstanding quality of the nominations—it was an exceptionally strong field.”

Laying the foundations for impact

Dr Jen Gold presents Dr Jennifer Seddon with Emerging Impact Prize (credit: John Cairns)

Guest presenting the Emerging Impact category, which recognised outstanding early-stage engagement that laid the foundations for significant potential future impact, Dr Jen Gold (Director of Research at the Economic and Social Research Council) said that the event served “as a reminder of why Impact Acceleration Accounts matter, and the vital role that social sciences research plays in improving outcomes for people, environments and the economy across the country.”

In awarding the prize to Dr Jennifer Seddon and colleagues, Dr Gold said “the judges felt theirs was an outstanding example of how co-design with patients and health care professionals can lead to important changes in clinical practice within a short timeframe. They were also impressed with the team’s approach to sharing their work with government policymakers, to build on their initial impact.”

Ongoing partnerships

Professor Tina Miller presenting the Developing Impact category (credit: John Cairns)

Awarding the Developing Impact category, which recognised the impact enabled by meaningful ongoing partnerships, Professor Tina Miller (Research Impact Champion, Oxford Brookes University) said the event underlined “why our research belongs outside our institutions as much as it does inside.”

Awarding the category winners, Professor Miller said that “the judges were particularly impressed with the way evidence from this significant longitudinal study was used in different ways to influence discourse in Peru, at both a legislative level and amongst the general public. They felt this highly important work was an excellent example of how positive change can be brought about by resolute collaboration between academic and non-academic partners, even in the face of significant political instability.”

Scaling and sustaining impact

Professor Chas Bountra congratulates category-winner Professor Sabina Alkire (credit: John Cairns)

The final category, Scaling & Sustaining Impact, celebrated outstanding projects that build on existing long-term partnerships and outcomes to generate and sustain further significant impact. Presenting the awards, Professor Chas Bountra (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation, University of Oxford) reflected on the breadth and complexity of challenges facing society – and especially young people – today, and the vital and central role of insights from the social sciences in confronting these. Awarding the category winner, Prof Bountra said the judges felt it was an outstanding example of a team successfully scaling their work through both extensive collaboration and meaningful capacity building to inform policy and deliver impact on a truly international scale.

Closing the ceremony, Professor Louise Slater reflected on the remarkable stories and journeys to impact shared by the awardees, adding that impact from social sciences research “is unique, because it directly addresses and influences human behaviour, societal structures, and policy-making. Its findings often lead to tangible changes in society, making it deeply interconnected with everyday life and the well-being of societies.”

Find out more

For more information about collaborating with Oxford’s social scientists, visit https://www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/collaboration-and-engagement

Save the date: Social Sciences Impact Conference at St Anne’s College Oxford 24-25 March 2026. More details at www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/impact-conference

Social Sciences Impact Awards 2025, awardees:

Emerging Impact

Dr Mona Ibrahim (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: The foundations of recovery: a new vision for social assistance in Sudan Mona Ibrahim (Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford).
Dr Michael Biggs (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: Creating reliable statistics on the transgender population in England and Wales  Dr Michael Biggs (Department of Sociology, University of Oxford).
Dr Jennifer Seddon (credit: John Cairns)	Winner: Improving patient care for people prescribed medicines with a risk of dependence Dr Jennifer Seddon (School of Psychology, Social Work and Public Health, Oxford Brookes University), Dr Sarah Wadd (University of Bedfordshire), Mr Dave Dicks (PPI Contributor), Dr Sion Scott (University of Leicester), Dr Anthea Robinson (General Practitioner).

Developing Impact

Dr Andriani Fili and Manon Louis (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: Documenting human rights violations inside immigration detention settings Dr Andriani Fili (Department of Law, University of Oxford), Border Criminologies, Mobile Info Team, and Border Violence Monitoring Network.
Dr Zaahida Nabagereka, Dr Lesley Nelson-Addy and Dr Velda Elliott (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: Lit in Colour Dr Velda Elliott (Department of Education, University of Oxford), Dr Zaahida Nabagereka (Penguin Random House) and Dr Lesley Nelson-Addy (previously of Runnymede Trust).
Dr Six Silberman and Aislinn Kelly-Lyth (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: Regulating AI at work: protecting workers against digital surveillance and control Prof Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Dr Six Silberman, Sangh Rakshita and Bharat Shivan (Faculty of Law, University of Oxford), Dr Halefom Abraha (Utrecht University), Aislinn Kelly-Lyth (Blackstone Chambers).
Julia Tilford, Kath Ford, Marta Favara and Alan Sánchez Jiménez of the Young Lives team (credit: John Cairns)	Winner: Young Lives evidence directly informing legislative change to prohibit child marriage in Peru Dr Alan Sánchez Jiménez, Dr Marta Favara, Kath Ford and Julia Tilford (Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford), Vanessa Rojas Arangoitia, Santiago Cueto Caballero, Gisela Chacaltana (GRADE), Gina Crivello (In Memoriam).

Scaling & Sustaining Impact

Dr Alessio Bertolini and Dr Jonas Valente from the Fairwork team (credit: John Cairns)	Highly Commended: Fairwork: Generating pro-worker change in the digital economy Professor Mark Graham (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford) and the Fairwork Team.
Ana Maria Marin Morales, Corrine Mitchell, Prof Sabina Alkire, Maya Evans and Fanni Kovesdi from OPHI (credit: John Cairns)	Winner: Addressing multidimensional poverty in developing nations through measurement and policy applications Professor Sabina Alkire (Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.