Social Sciences teams across the Division shortlisted for Vice-Chancellor’s Awards

Nine teams across the Social Sciences Division have been shortlisted for this year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards, including the Division’s own Research Impact and Engagement Team for the 2023 Hope into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards are a University-wide celebration of our outstanding people. They celebrate excellence, dedication, courage, ambition, and inspirational contributions to Oxford’s mission.  

The Research, Impact and Engagement Team have been shortlisted in the Research Culture category, which recognises those who have contributed to a positive, inclusive, and equitable research culture. The Hope into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference 2023 brought together more than 200 social scientists of all career stages, along with policy makers, business, and third sector stakeholders, research funders and impact professionals from the UK and beyond, to celebrate knowledge exchange, engagement, and innovation activities that are maximising the real-world impact of social sciences.

With a supportive, inclusive, and equitable model at its core, the Conference fostered a truly collaborative environment for delegates, as well as providing capacity-building opportunities for researchers and professional services staff, and a range of legacy materials intended to contribute significantly to Research Culture across the Social Sciences Division at Oxford.

Reacting to the team’s inclusion on the shortlist, Professor Heather Viles, Associate Head of Division (Research) said, “The Hope into Action conference was an extremely well-designed and well-received event and it is wonderful to see the RIE team’s passion, dedication and organisation rewarded.”

There were 250 award entries across the 11 categories this year, representing 1,500 individuals, so to have so many shortlisted projects is a fantastic achievement for our Division.

The Division’s other shortlisted projects are:

Support for Students Award

  •     Oxford SDG Impact Lab – Oxford Department of International Development  

Innovative Teaching and Assessment Award

  •     First Augmented Reality Experience in MBA Course Worldwide – IT Services, Saïd Business School and Department of Computer Science
  •     North Korea Crisis Simulation, Master of Public Policy – Blavatnik School of Government

Research Engagement Award

  •     REACH improving water security for vulnerable people in Africa and Asia – School of Geography and the Environment

Innovation and Commercialisation Award

  •     Improving Global Epilepsy Diagnosis Through Interdisciplinary Research and Technologies – Epilepsy Pathway Innovation in Africa, and the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Epilepsy

Research Culture Award

  •     Developing an Ethical Fieldwork Code of Conduct for Oxford University – School of Geography and the Environment     
  •     Hope into Action: Social Sciences Impact Conference 2023 – Research Impact and Engagement Team, Social Sciences Division

Community Partnership Award

  •     Global Leadership Challenge: Empowering the next generation of responsible leaders –Department of Politics and International Relations

Environmental Sustainability Award

  •     Global Youth Climate Training – School of Geography and the Environment

The winners and highly commended nominees will be announced at a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre in May. All staff will be invited to a Vice-Chancellor's Awards showcase, taking place in May, to celebrate the success of our colleagues. Registration for the showcase will open in April.  

Find out more on the awards webpage