University of Warwick Hosts Celebration Event Recognizing World-Leading Research

The University of Warwick has celebrated the research achievements which have helped to position it as a leading global university.

The Research Celebration event, on Monday 29 April, united academics, support staff, technicians and visitors in celebration of the Warwick research community.

Those applauded included the University’s Covid Modelling Team, which guided the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) during the Covid-19 crisis.

The event also highlighted the collaborative spirit that underpins Warwick’s research culture, where interdisciplinary collaboration is central to tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges – from climate change to healthcare.

As part of the celebration, an awards ceremony recognised the contributions of individuals and teams to research successes, which included awards for:

· Research Culture

· Research Impact

· Collaboration & Partnerships

· Research Comms/Publicity

· Research Enabler (includes research support staff, technicians, project managers)

· Excellent Supervision

Those in attendance included the University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Stuart Croft, Chair of Council Sir David Normington, who presented the awards, and Professor Caroline Meyer (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research).

Professor Meyer said: “Research at the University of Warwick is internationally recognised as world class. From tackling climate change with state-of-the-art battery technology to addressing major health and societal challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, we work with purpose to create solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges.

“We are proud of our inclusive and positive research culture that supports academics, research students, technicians, support colleagues and partners at other HEIs and across industry to thrive. We play a key role in attracting and developing the next generation of talented researchers, securing new fellowships year on year across a number of prestigious funders. Our research income has reached new highs each year for the last five years; standing now at £188 million per annum.

“The excellence and originality of our work, and dedication of our research teams is the foundation of our success, and this celebration has been a great way to highlight the amazing work being done.”
Dr Edward Hill, from the SBIDER COVID-19 modelling team, said: “This award recognises the impactful contribution of research done by the group in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, work helped inform guidance provided to SAGE and its modelling subgroup. There was also a lot of research done to study the outbreak dynamics in Kenya, in collaboration with the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Centre. This was only possible through tremendous contributions from a team of staff, postdocs and PhD students, providing vital input whilst also managing existing commitments.”

The event, held at on-campus venue The Slate, also included research presentations on topics including climate change, violence against women and brain health.

According to independent global experts in the research excellence framework 2021, 92% of Warwick’s research was world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, demonstrating the world class quality of our research, our approach, and most importantly, our people