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Research Culture

Warwick Research Celebration 2025 Winners

Meet the winners

Meet the winners of the Warwick Research Celebration 2025 and find out more about how they support our academic community.

Collaboration & Partnerships

Winner:
Revolution Very Light Rail (VLR) Team

For over a decade, WMG have been leading industry collaborations within a new field of Very Light Rail (VLR), collaborating with Coventry City Council and a range of industrial partners. The project draws on WMG’s rich heritage of automotive engineering excellence, aiming to drive change in sustainable rail-based public transport.

Winner:
Diamond Research Team, Departments of Physics and Chemistry

The collaboration between Warwick and Element Six (E6) is a shining example of innovation and impact in diamond research.

From revolutionising water analytics to advancing quantum-grade diamond materials, their work has won prestigious awards and secured significant funding.

Winner:
Professor Ravi Thiara, Sociology

Professor Thiara collaborates with Imkaan,Link opens in a new window advocating for policy change to end violence against women and girls.

Her research has informed reports challenging rape decriminalisation and helped secure funding for The Positive Change Partnership, providing support to women facing violence and exploitation.

Research Impact

Winner: Professor Siobhan Quenby, Warwick Medical School

Professor Quenby leads the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, bringing together academics from Warwick, Birmingham, and Imperial College London.

Their miscarriage support tool, developed using Siobhan's algorithm, is used by over 1000 women a week to help guide their pregnancy journeys.

Highly Commended:
Professor Vanessa Munro, School of Law

Professor Munro researches sexual offences policy, jury reform, and victim-survivor experiences in the justice system.

She collaborates with third-sector organisations, policymakers, and practitioners, including Rape Crisis Scotland and the Ministry of Justice. Her work aims to improve sexual and domestic abuse policy and outcomes.

Highly Commended:
Dr Heidi Ashton, Faculty of Arts

Dr Ashton’s research has seen her engage with partners to address issues facing the UK arts and cultural sector.

This includes collaborating with Campaign for the Arts on the “State of the Arts” report, which looks at arts funding, provision, engagement, education and employment. The report launched at the House of Lords in 2024.

Research Culture

Winner:
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research DTP

The MRC-funded doctoral training programme in interdisciplinary biomedicine at WMS fosters world-class research and a supportive culture.

With over 60 students, it champions inclusivity through initiatives like mental health training and LGBTQ+ coffee mornings. It has attracted multimillion-pound funding from national and international agencies.

Highly Commended:
Guido van Meersbergen, History

Dr van Meersbergen has been Director of the University’s flagship Global History and Culture Centre since 2022, during which time he has been instrumental in securing a major research donation and spearheading the “Whose Global History” initiative.

This ground-breaking project unites historians from across the world, reshaping the field of global history.

Highly Commended:
Dr Ehsan Ghadim, School of Engineering

Dr Ehsan Ghadim's work addresses mental health challenges faced by PhD students. By openly sharing his own experiences, he has sparked conversations about research culture and mental health.

His work advocating for a more compassionate, supportive academic culture at Warwick and beyond has reached broad audiences, helping PhD students take better care of their wellbeing.

Research Enabler

Scroll across to see the winners and highly commended in the research enabler category.

Winner:
Adrian Fowle, Research Development Manager (Mathematics)

As Research Development Manager for Mathematics and Statistics, Adrian plays a key role for both departments. He is known for his unwavering dedication and expertise, guiding academics through the grant application process.

Last year, the Maths department secured 27 grants totalling £8.5M - their highest achievement since 2020. Adrian’s support has helped enable career-changing and life-saving projects to succeed.

Winner:
Godwin Yeboah, Senior Research Software Engineer (RTPs)

Godwin played a pivotal role in creating a ground-breaking database of Parisian play performances leading up to Napoleon's empire. Despite challenges, such as a complex dataset in French and differing historical date systems, his problem-solving expertise and leadership ensured the delivery of a transformative research tool.

The database will help revolutionise the study of early 19th-century theatre.

Highly Commended:

R&IS Pre-Award Team

Congratulations to the R&IS Pre-Award team, who received a number of individual nominations for their “outstanding expertise” and their “excellent communication”.

They play a key role in enabling research to happen across all disciplines, going above and beyond to deliver a good service. Their support has helped deliver a growth in research income to £146M in 2024, and an increase in bid success rates of 38%.

Highly Commended:
Research Finance Team

Managing a portfolio of 1,800 projects with budgets totalling £823 million, the Research Finance team enabled £146 million in research income last year, generating a £35 million surplus.

Their work helps to protect Warwick’s reputation and success with funders, and by doing so safeguards our ongoing financial sustainability and access to funding for world-changing research. Their diligent support allows our academic colleagues to focus on groundbreaking research.

Research Communications

Winner:
Professor David Anderson, Department of History

Professor Anderson's research focuses on the Mau Mau's missing documents, stolen from Kenya by the British.

He has delivered nearly 50 talks on colonial legacies and conflicts to academics across Africa, America, and Europe. His collaborations with international broadcasters have turned his findings into widely viewed documentaries, and his work with government institutions has informed policy debates.

Highly Commended:
Professor Elena Korosteleva, Cross-faculty Studies

Professor Elena Korosteleva has been honoured for establishing the Warwick Ukraine-Belarus Hub, which employs interdisciplinary insights to advance policy recommendations and support stakeholder interaction.

Under her leadership, the Hub has improved understanding of Belarus-Ukraine relations through six policy briefs, an international conference, and collaborations with the European Belarus Forum.

Highly Commended:
WMS Work Experience Team

The WMS work experience team offers a successful programme where regional secondary school students spend a week in Biomedical Sciences labs, conducting experiments and shadowing researchers. The programme, which has expanded annually, hosted 27 students last July, over half from deprived areas.

Few universities offer this experience for A Level students, helping them decide the next steps in their careers.

Excellent Supervision

Scroll through the carousel below to see our winners and highly commended across all three faculties.

Arts
Winner:
Dr Naomi Pullin, Department of History

Congratulations to Dr Naomi Pullin, Director of Early Modern & Eighteenth Century Centre and Associate Professor of Early Modern British History.

Her mentorship has greatly boosted her students' confidence and academic profiles. Notably, her first PhD student passed their Viva with no corrections. As a Centre Lead, she consistently shares exciting opportunities and supports her students with applications.

Arts
Highly Commended:
Professor Alastair Phillips, Film and Television Studies

Professor Phillips was nominated for his unwavering support in every aspect of PhD life. He has helped protect student wellbeing and enabled them to build confidence in the academic world.

He is the founder and director of the co-tutelle PhD programme between the University of Warwick and Nagoya University (Japan), offering invaluable opportunities to study at the two institutions, nurturing a cross-cultural perspective for research.

STEM
Winner:
Dr Nicole Robb, Warwick Medical School

Dr Robb has been recognised for her work in supporting students and fostering a positive research culture, encouraging personal and academic growth.

She is also a strong supporter of students’ mental wellbeing, making reasonable adjustments to help neurodiverse students thrive.

A student said: "Her example has shown me the kind of supervisor I aspire to be; someone who combines expertise, dedication and genuine care to foster both academic success and personal wellbeing."

STEM
Highly Commended:
Dr Sayan Bhattacharya, Department of Computer Sciences

Dr Bhattacharya is a leading academic in theoretical computer science and ERC Consolidator Grant holder. His exceptional mentorship has guided his PhD students through all stages, encouraging independence and collaboration.He's helped students publish numerous papers, with two winning best paper awards at ICALP and SODA. Sayan's support helped secure research internships at Max Planck Institute and Google Research, and his introductions to top experts have been invaluable. His dedication and expertise have profoundly impacted his students' academic journeys.

Social Sciences
Winner:
Professor Olympia Palikara, Education Studies

Professor Palikara’s mentorship blends professional excellence with unwavering personal support. She has guided her students to co-author peer-reviewed publications, present at international conferences and influence policy and practice. Her dedication to growth, resilience and integrity has profoundly shaped her students' academic journeys.

Her impact extends beyond academia, inspiring her students to thrive both professionally and personally.

Social Sciences
Highly Commended:
Professor Steve Mann, Applied Linguistics

Professor Mann was nominated for his support and guidance throughout the PhD journey, instilling independence and confidence during the challenges of Covid-19 and personal milestones in his students’ lives.

He is recognised for providing honest and thorough feedback and insight that provokes a deeper engagement with the topic, and encouraging and facilitating networking opportunities, helping to create a welcoming environment. He has also provided opportunities to co-write papers, helping to kickstart careers in academia.