Real Impact
Awards

Interdisciplinary Research Award

Award status: Closed
Open: January 2024

This award rewards an innovative research project that promotes action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals/global challenges.

If you have recently completed an interdisciplinary project that is original and innovative then this award is for you. We are interested in finding out how the different disciplines have influenced each other and shaped the questions, methods and outputs of your project. How will the research outputs promote action on a specific global challenge or UN Sustainable Development Goal?  

This award is solely for research projects that have received a total funding of £30,000 (or equivalent currency) or less.

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What do we mean by real impact?
Impact is the provable effects of research in the real world. It is the changes we can see (demonstrate, measure, capture), beyond academia (in society, economy, environment), which happen because of our research (caused by or contributed to).

Submission form questions


  1. For what global challenges or UN Sustainable Development Goals will the project deliver real impact? [max 100 words]
  2. Outline the project objectives and outcomes [max 200 words]
  3. How has working in an interdisciplinary way shaped the research questions, methods and outputs? [max 200 words]
  4. What makes your project original or innovative? [max 300 words]
  5. Who would you want to reach through Open Access publication and promotion support, and how could they put your research into action? [max 200 words]
  6. What is the approximate total funding your project has received to date? (Please note only research projects that have received a total funding of £30,000 (or in equivalent currency), or less can enter this award. Please state the currency of the funding.) [max 50 words]

Judging criteria


Overall: Is the purpose and intent of the project clear?

Evidence: How well has the entry explained how the proposed IDR project can deliver real impact to a specific global challenge or UN SDG?

Collaboration: How well has the entry specified how working in an interdisciplinary team has influenced and shaped the questions, methods and outputs?

Clarity: How well has the entry explained why their proposed project is original or innovative?

Impact: Does the entry make clear who is able to put their research into action and how?

Funding: Is the total funding clearly stated and below £30,000 (or equivalent)?

Prizes


One winning project plus two highly commended projects

Winner(s) will receive:

  • Their impact commitment celebrated through a case study written by our specialist editors. Each case study will form part of our Real Impact Awards Showcase publication, a copy of which will be provided to each shortlisted nominee(s).
  • An invitation to a celebration event in 2023.
  • The chance to publish their research Open Access in a relevant Emerald journal (subject to peer review) or on Emerald Open Research, free of charge.
  • Time with Editage to produce an infographic or video to make their findings more accessible and have support from the Emerald Marketing Team to get the research to people who can put it into action.
  • A certificate and physical award.
  • A winner’s global social campaign once the Showcase Book has been finalised which will put the spotlight on each of the winner’s stories and their commitment to impact.

Highly commended projects will receive:

  • Their impact commitment celebrated through a case study written by our specialist editors. Each case study will form part of our Real Impact Awards Showcase publication, a copy of which will be provided to each winner and finalist
  • A highly commended certificate
  • Additional publicity across global Emerald channel

2021 winning entry


Professor Martin Spinelli photo  Dr Mirela Barbu photo  Dr Shaher Abdullateef photo

Left to right: Professor Martin Spinelli, University of Sussex, UK  |  Dr Mirela Barbu, University of Sussex Business School, UK  |  Dr Shaher Abdullateef, Syrian Academic Expertise

Research project: Welcome to the Syrian Farmers Podcast! Promoting sustainable agri-food value chains in Syria through podcasting

In Syria, the support services in place for agricultural sustainability have collapsed due to the ongoing civil war. This has weakened the resilience of the country’s agricultural production and created new vulnerabilities in the internal food supply.

To address this issue, Dr Mirela Barbu, University of Sussex Business School, UK Professor Martin Spinelli, School of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex, UK and Dr Shaher Abdullateef, Syrian Academic Expertise (SAE) identified a need for capacity building in the region. Together, they launched the Agricultural Voices Syria podcast.

Read the full case study

Take a look at our other award categories