The Highly Commended awardees have collaborated with policymakers, NGOs, industry partners and other academics around the world to bring about positive change in a diverse range of societal challenges.
These range from improved conditions for workers in the gig economy and increased public understanding of COVID-19 precautions, to the safeguarding against abuse by humanitarian aid workers, and improved routes to justice for victims of transnational human rights violations. They also extend to the fields of foreign language teaching practices, the ethical use of AI, and discrimination law in India, as well as to public and government awareness of climate change attitudes.
The news follows the earlier announcement of the overall Winners of the Awards: Dr Gemma Briggs (The Open University), Dr Jamie Lachman and Professor Lucie Cluver, Professor Melinda Mills, Dr Jennifer Beam Dowd and team, and Dr Sarah Spencer and Mr Nicola Delvino (University of Oxford).
The Highly Commended awardees will join the overall Winners in a celebration of social sciences research impact at the O²RB Excellence in Impact Awards ceremony on 19th October 2021.
To join the celebration and to hear our winners’ inspirational stories, register to watch the Awards ceremony, live-streamed from Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History on 19th October 2021, from 6pm: Excellence in Impact Awards | Social Sciences Division (ox.ac.uk)
Full list of Winners and Highly Commended Awardees:
Winners:
Dr Gemma Briggs (School of Psychology and Counselling, The Open University), awarded for: Advising the national campaign to educate drivers on the dangers of hands-free phone use
Dr Jamie Lachman and Professor Lucie Cluver (Department of Social Policy & Intervention, University of Oxford), awarded for: Scale-up of evidence-based parenting programmes for more than 196 million people during the COVID-19 pandemic
Professor Melinda Mills, Dr Jennifer Beam Dowd, and team (Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford), awarded for: The Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science data driven policy interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Sarah Spencer and Dr Nicola Delvino (Centre on Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS), School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford), awarded for: Partnership with European cities to change policy and practice on irregular and destitute migrants
See the winners’ announcement at Winners of the O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards 2021 announced | Social Sciences Division (ox.ac.uk)
Highly-commended awardees:
Dr Stephen Fisher, Mr Dan Snow, Ms Martha Kirby and Dr Zack Grant (Department of Sociology, University of Oxford), highly commended for influencing public and government awareness of climate change attitudes through global media engagement.
Prof Rosa Freedman (University of Reading), highly commended for significant international impact on policy and practice to safeguard against abuse by humanitarian aid workers.
Prof Mark Graham and The Fairwork Foundation Team (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford), highly commended for significant impact on corporate and government policies leading to improved working conditions for workers in the digital gig economy around the world.
Prof Suzanne Graham (University of Reading), highly commended for significant international impact on foreign language teaching practices and student achievement.
Prof Trish Greenhalgh (Nuffield Department of Primary Healthcare Sciences, University of Oxford), highly commended for significant contribution to policy discussions and public understanding of COVID-19 precautions internationally.
Prof Tarunabh Khaitan (Faculty of Law, University of Oxford), highly commended for significant impact on judicial approaches to discrimination law in India, as well as influencing legislative reform and shaping public discourse
Dr Francesca Lessa (Oxford Department of International Development and Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford), highly commended for improving routes to justice for victims of transnational humans rights violations in South America.
Prof Sandra Wachter and Dr Brent Mittelstadt (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford), highly commended for significant international impact on law, policy and business practice around the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence.