Real Impact
Awards
Are you a ground-breaker in research impact?
First launched in 2018, the Real Impact Awards recognise and reward research and research practices or processes that are making an impact beyond academia and driving real change.
Over the years, the research community have shared so many inspirational stories, showcasing their commitment to leading the way and going above and beyond to make a real difference to society.
Thank you for all your contributions and involvement and letting us share your stories.
Submissions for The Real Impact Awards will reopen again later in 2024.
Please keep a look out on our social channels for submission dates.
The aim of the awards
- Raise the profile of individuals, teams and institutions that are committed to real impact through their research
- Recognise innovative approaches to achieving real impact
- Bridge the gap between research and practice by celebrating truly collaborative ways of working
- Tell the real impact success stories and celebrate those driving the debate
What do we mean by real impact?
We refer to impact as the provable effects of research in the real world. It's not judged or measured by traditional methods – such as citations or academic attention – it’s measured by changes of things we can see and feel or do, whether they are big or small.
Impact emerges differently across various disciplines, but ultimately it is about connecting academic research to the world around us.
Meet our 2022/3 Real Impact Award winners
To recognise all the winners and highly commended entries, each of their stories are celebrated in our annual Real Impact Showcase Book.
This book tells the stories of their commitment to making a significant difference to our communities, societies, cities, and the world at large. This is just one of the ways of showing our appreciation for their outstanding contributions to the research community and beyond.
Read the 2022/3 stories
Download showcase book
Read the 2021 stories or download the showcase book.
Eligibility
The Real Impact Awards are open to residents of any country (proof of address may be required) excluding (a) anyone connected in a professional capacity with the Awards and that person’s immediate family members, and (b) employees and contractors of Emerald Publishing Limited (Emerald) and its affiliates. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older.
Entry implies acceptance of these terms and conditions, and any amendments to them, which are final and binding in all respects. Emerald reserves the right to disqualify any entrant from the Real Impact Awards if, in its sole judgement, the entrant has not complied with these terms and conditions, has tampered with the operation of the Award criteria, or has engaged in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to Emerald, the Real Impact Awards, or any other entrant.
The Early Career Researcher Recognition Award is solely for those who are 5 years or less post PhD Viva date.
Prize
There are four Real Impact Awards to be won (the "Prize"), in the following categories (i) Driving the Impact Agenda and subcategory (ii)Early Career Researcher Recognition Award (iii) Mobilising Research into Action (iv) Library Commitment to Real Impact. The prize for each category consists of:
- a winners’ certificate
- a winners’ trophy
- an invite to an awards celebration in Leeds, UK (2023)
- their impact commitment celebrated within our Real Impact Awards Showcase Book
Two highly commended in each category will also have 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 book which will awarded to each winner and finalist. Participation in the Awards requires internet access to be able to access the nomination forms for each category and to submit.
The prize may not be transferred or substituted, except that Emerald may, at its sole discretion, substitute any prize won with a prize of equal or greater value. Any unclaimed prize remains the property of Emerald.
Opening/closing date and time
The Real Impact Awards opens to entries 30 November 2022 and closes at 23.59 on 30 January 2023 (UK GMT) (the "Prize Period").
How to enter
To enter, entrants must visit emeraldpublishing.com/awards to access and complete their chosen category nomination form and submit the entry during the Prize Period.
In the event of any dispute, all submitted entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the person whose details are completed on the entry form. Entry to the Real Impact Awards can be by nominating yourself, your team or the institution at which you are based. You may nominate for as many categories as you wish but you must complete a separate nomination for each category. You can also make more than one nomination to a single category, as long as entries are distinctive and unrelated. If you are self-nominating, then you must include details of a reference with your submission.
Emerald will only accept entries that are completed and submitted in the format designated. Incomplete entries will not be accepted. Duplicate entries are not permitted and will be disregarded.
Winner selection
The judging process will be in two stages.
During stage one, our Impact Advisory Board, a board of primary stakeholders in impact, will review and score all eligible nominations, alongside the Publishing Director of Emerald Publishing, based on the judging criteria outlined for each category at emeraldpublishing.com/awards. A shortlist of entries will be decided.
For stage two of the judging, all those shortlisted (the finalists) will be notified by email using the contact details provided on the entry form and given the opportunity to provide further information and evidence based on the judges feedback. Our Impact Advisory Board will review and judge the additional information given, alongside the scorecard from stage one, and a winner and highly commended will be decided from each category.
All those shortlisted will be notified by email using the contact details provided on the entry form by 21 April 2023 ("Notification").
If a selected winner (or any substitute winner) is ineligible, cannot be reached, or fails to claim their Prize within ten (10) days of receiving the Notification, that winner (or substitute winner) will forfeit the Prize and it will be awarded to a substitute winner. If, having attempted to contact a winner and a substitute winner, Emerald is unable to award a Prize, Emerald reserves the right to consider the Prize unclaimed.
This process is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Non winners will be notified via e-mail. The name of the winner and their county of residence will be provided on receipt of a written request sent to [email protected].
By accepting a Prize, entrants understand that we will use their name, job title, organisation and county of residence in connection with this Prize without payment, except where prohibited by law.
Miscellaneous
(a) Promoter: Emerald Publishing Limited (03080506), Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds, England, LS1 4DL is the promoter of the Real Impact Awards.
(b) Waiver of Liability: Emerald will not be responsible or liable for: (i) any failure to receive entries due to conditions beyond its reasonable control; (ii) any late, lost, misrouted, garbled or distorted or damaged transmissions or entries; (iii) any disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond its reasonable control; or (iv) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Real Impact Awards.
(c) General Release: By entering the Real Impact Awards you release Emerald, relevant third parties, and each of their respective affiliated companies, directors, officers, employees, representatives and agencies, from any liability whatsoever for any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Awards or with the acceptance, possession, or use of the Prize, except as prohibited by law.
(d) Marketing: When entering the Real Impact Awards, you will be asked to give contact details. We may use these details for the purposes of marketing and to inform you of our content, products and services in accordance with Emerald’s Privacy Policy, available at www.emerald.com/insight/site-policies. If you wish at any stage to stop being contacted for these purposes, please unsubscribe by contacting Emerald via [email protected].
(e) Amendment: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Emerald reserves the right to change these rules or cancel the Real Impact Awards at any time, in its sole discretion.
(f) Copyright: The Real Impact Awards and all accompanying materials are copyright protected by Emerald and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Eligibility
The Interdisciplinary Research Award 2022/3 (IDR) is open to residents of any country (proof of address may be required) excluding (a) anyone connected in a professional capacity with the Awards and that person’s immediate family members, and (b) employees and contractors of Emerald Publishing Limited (Emerald) and its affiliates. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older.
Entry implies acceptance of these terms and conditions, and any amendments to them, which are final and binding in all respects. Emerald reserves the right to disqualify any entrant from the IDR Award if, in its sole judgement, the entrant has not complied with these terms and conditions, has tampered with the operation of the Award criteria, or has engaged in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to Emerald, the IDR Award, or any other entrant.
This award is solely for research projects that have received a total funding of £30,000 (or equivalent currency) or less.
Prize
The prize for the winning project consists of:
- a winners’ certificate
- a winners’ trophy
- an invite to an awards celebration in Leeds, UK (2023)
- their impact commitment celebrated within our Real Impact Awards Showcase Book
- 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.
Two highly commended projects will also have 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 book which will be awarded to each winning and highly commended project. Participation in the Award requires internet access to be able to access the nomination form and to submit.
The prize may not be transferred or substituted, except that Emerald may, at its sole discretion, substitute any prize won with a prize of equal or greater value. Any unclaimed prize remains the property of Emerald.
Opening/closing date and time
The IDR award opens to entries 30 November 2022 and closes at 23.59 on 30 January 2023 (UK GMT) (the “Prize Period”).
How to enter
To enter, entrants must visit emeraldpublishing.com/awards to access and complete the IDR nomination form and submit the entry during the Prize Period.
In the event of any dispute, all submitted entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the person whose details are completed on the entry form. Entry to the IDR Award can be by self-nominating a project you are directly involved in or by nominating another team’s project. If you are self-nominating, then you must include a letter of reference with your submission.
Emerald will only accept entries that are completed and submitted in the format designated. Incomplete entries will not be accepted. Duplicate entries are not permitted and will be disregarded.
Winner selection
All eligible applications will be judged by a panel of Interdisciplinary experts using the criteria displayed at https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/real-impact-awards-interdisciplinary-research-fund-award
A winner and two highly commended projects will be chosen and notified by 21 April 2023 (“Notification”).
If a selected winner (or any substitute winner) is ineligible, cannot be reached, or fails to claim their Prize within ten (10) days of receiving the Notification, that winner (or substitute winner) will forfeit the Prize and it will be awarded to a substitute winner. If, having attempted to contact a winner and a substitute winner, Emerald is unable to award a Prize, Emerald reserves the right to consider the Prize unclaimed.
This process is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Non winners will be notified via e-mail. The name of the winner and their county of residence will be provided on receipt of a written request sent to [email protected].
By accepting a Prize, entrants understand that we will use their name, job title, organisation and county of residence in connection with this Prize without payment, except where prohibited by law.
Miscellaneous
(a) Promoter: Emerald Publishing Limited (03080506), Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds, England, LS1 4DL is the promoter of the IDR Award.
(b) Waiver of Liability: Emerald will not be responsible or liable for: (i) any failure to receive entries due to conditions beyond its reasonable control; (ii) any late, lost, misrouted, garbled or distorted or damaged transmissions or entries; (iii) any disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond its reasonable control; or (iv) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the IDR Award.
(c) General Release: By entering the IDR Award you release Emerald, relevant third parties, and each of their respective affiliated companies, directors, officers, employees, representatives and agencies, from any liability whatsoever for any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Awards or with the acceptance, possession, or use of the Prize, except as prohibited by law.
(d) Marketing: When entering the IDR Award, you will be asked to give contact details. We may use these details for the purposes of marketing and to inform you of our content, products and services in accordance with Emerald’s Privacy Policy, available at www.emerald.com/insight/site-policies. If you wish at any stage to stop being contacted for these purposes, please unsubscribe by contacting Emerald via [email protected].
(e) Amendment: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Emerald reserves the right to change these rules or cancel the IDR Award at any time, in its sole discretion.
(f) Copyright: The IDR Award and all accompanying materials are copyright protected by Emerald and its affiliates. All rights reserved.