The ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) and Professional Liaison Network (PLN) recently held the first round of the IAA Bristol Model Placement Award.

The Award is a placement and training scheme open to Early Career Researchers (ECRs) interested in co-producing social sciences impact projects with local organisations.

All applicants interested in the Award were invited to attend a Co-production Development Workshop, to explore the key principles of co-produced research and research impact. Artist and Facilitator Hannah Mumby, used playful activities to encourage the audience to apply this to their own research projects. The workshop was well-attended by ECRs from a range of disciplines, as well as external organisations form the South West region.

Applicants were then invited to submit an application which outlined their project idea. Applications were reviewed by a panel following the ESRC IAA Application Guidelines.

Finalists

Congratulations to the following applicants who were awarded funding to undertake co-produced impact projects:

• Dr Levana Magnus and Professor Vanessa Beck, both from The University of Bristol Business School- Mapping Pathways to Good Quality Work: Creative Change with Somali and Sudanese Women in Redcliffe with the Somali Kitchen
• Lisa Waddell (School of Policy) and Dr Fidelia Law (School of Education) - Maximising Girlguiding for Young Girls – a Co-Produced Evaluation of Girlguiding’s Offer for Brownies and Rainbow with Girlguiding
• Dr Lucy Wenham (School of Education) - Thriving at Alternative Provision: Learning from Community Models of Research-Informed Practice with Streams Learning Hub

Eloise Meller, Impact Development Manager, Division of Research, Enterprise and Innovation (DREI), who leads the Impact Acceleration Account is “delighted that the IAA and PLN have been able to fund these three projects, across a broad range of topics, that will not only generate important and relevant outputs for the partner organisations based on the University of Bristol research, but also build the capacity and capability of Bristol ECRs in partnership working and co-production techniques. We hope that these projects are the start of fruitful relationships between our academics and these external partners.”

We hope to run the second round of the Award in early 2025.

What is the IAA Bristol Model Placement Award?

The Award is a placement and training scheme open to ECRs interested in co-producing social sciences impact projects with local organisations.

The Award enhances social sciences research impact and promotes knowledge exchange in areas of untapped potential and strategic importance for the University of Bristol. It builds on the success of the Bristol Model Project, and follows the established framework in which ECRs undertake placements to co-produce projects with external organisations in Bristol.

The Award is intended to develop ECRs skills in partnership working, build capacity to conduct impactful research, enhancing their employability. It also strengthens existing relationships with external stakeholders and develops new equitable partnerships to accelerate the translation of research.