Award-winning Essex research

Specialist equipment, designed by Essex scientists to image biological process in living organisms is now in use at universities and plant research institutes across Europe, the United States, China and Israel.

A team led by Professor Tracy Lawson and Dr Philippe Laissue, from the School of Life Sciences, worked with four companies to produce and market their innovative designs, and they have now won the award for best research impact in enterprise and innovation at the Celebrating Excellence in Research and Impact Awards 2021.

 The annual awards, which this year were held online with academics giving short presentations about their projects, showcase how our research is having a positive impact on people’s everyday lives.

Essex research helps to shape thinking and influence policy in this country and across the globe and this year’s winners ranged from a project to protect low-income families in Africa and Asia from the devastating economic impact of natural disasters, to campaigning work by human rights lawyer Dr Haim Abraham to get Israel’s surrogacy laws changed – putting an end to current discrimination against single and same-sex couples.

Professor Christine Raines, who will be standing down from her role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research after these awards, said: “Having overseen these awards for the last three years I am once again bowled over by the excellent work of our researchers, not only generating new knowledge, but delivering benefit to society in the UK and globally.”

Professor Chris Greer, who is taking over from Christine as Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research, added: “Our mission is excellence in education and research, for the benefit of individuals and communities. The world-class, high-impact research showcased at our 2021 Awards offers the clearest demonstration of how Essex researchers are making the world a better place.”

The awards are open to all academics, researchers and doctoral students and signal the University’s commitment to world-class research that makes a difference.

Awards were given to early career researchers, who have produced outstanding research and demonstrated strong future potential, and to research champions – more senior academics who have a significant track record of outstanding research and who have shown leadership in supporting others in their research.

 There were also awards in the following categories:, enterprise and innovation, international research, UK public policy, interdisciplinary research and best research impact by an early career researcher.

The authors of Essex’s best-read articles in The Conversation – the news-based website, written by academics, were also recognised. 

The full list of winners is available online.