Celebrating Researchers 2024 – Your Path to Independence 

Recognising the achievements of research staff at Liverpool

Every year, the University celebrates the individual achievements, successes and strengths of our research staff by appreciating and recognising their contributions. The nominations on this page highlight the appreciation of the rich tapestry of who they are and what they bring.

Research Culture and Research Community Champions

This year, in addition to nominating researchers for all their contribution to work and life at University of Liverpool - research staff could be nominated for Champion Awards. These nominations were judged by a panel of postgraduate researchers, academic staff and professional services staff. The winners of the awards are shown below:

Research Culture Champion 2024

Dr Stella Morgana

Headshot of Stella Morgana

What her nominator(s) said:

  1. I work with Stella Morgana as a co-chair of the RSA. It is a pleasure to work with her as she always goes above and beyond on our projects. She continues to make a positive impact on our activities that foster career development for researchers, including lunch and learns and the annual research conference. Stella Morgana is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and an active member of the British Academy ECRs Network, Co-Chair of the UoL Research Staff Association, Member of the UoL Concordat Steering Group led by the pro-VC Anthony Hollander, organising member of the HLC MENA network and active member of the Women@Liverpool network (founded by Prof Catherine Durose). At the UoL, she organised and chaired an event for ECRs with the Academy at UoL on Academy publishing, one workshop on the Gig economy of the Middle East featuring speakers with 10 different countries and at different career stages. She is co-organising an event with an ECR from the UoL Heseltine Institute on the Politics of Labour and Inequality in the Global South, and co-working on organising a roundtable on Art and Agency in the Middle East for the HLC MENA network with an ECR from the University of Birmingham.

  2. I nominate Dr Stella Morgana for both Research Staff Champion Prizes. In the short time since joining us as a British Academy Post-doctoral Fellow, Dr Morgana has built community and shaped research culture through partnerships across the University and with a global reach. She organised and chaired an ECR event with the Academy on publishing. She also organised a range of workshops that have established her as a research leader on labour and the gig economy, drawing on partnerships across UoL: (i) On the Gig economy of the Middle East with participants from 10 countries; (ii) On “Politics of Labour and Inequality in the Global South” co-organised with a Heseltine Institute ECR; (iii) On “Art and Agency in the Middle East” for the HLC Middle East & North Africa network with artists from Iran and Turkey. Dr Morgana's research on the Gig Economy in Iran is globally leading, ground-breaking research that changes our world for the better. All her initiatives have helped to foster and build communities of researchers within the University of Liverpool, helping to make a positive impact in the region she researches, not least through the partnerships she builds.

  3. I have known Stella since joining the Research Staff Association (RSA), where she has been a co-chair after being a deputy co chair for two years. Stella has demonstrated exceptional dedication to fostering and building communities of researchers within the University of Liverpool and broader research communities. As a member of the RSA, Stella has organised and chaired numerous events for research staff and early career researchers (ECRs) at the University of Liverpool. She is also a member of the UoL Concordat Steering Group, led by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Anthony Hollander, an organising member of the HLC MENA network, and an active participant in the Women@Liverpool network, led by Professor Catherine Durose. Stella is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and an engaged member of the British Academy ECRs Network.

  4. I am nominating Dr. Stella Morgana to celebrate their contributions to the UoL as well as the broader researcher community. They are a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and an active member of the BA ECRs Network. They are also a member of the UoL Concordat Steering Group as a Co-Chair of the UoL RSA, organising member of the HLC MENA network and active member of the Women@Liverpool network. They've organised and chaired an event on academic publishing for ECRs with The Academy, a workshop on the Gig economy of the Middle East featuring speakers with 10 different countries and at different career stages. They are also co-organising an event on the Politics of Labour and Inequality in the Global South with another ECR from the UoL Heseltine Institute, and co-working on organising a roundtable on Art and Agency in the Middle East for the HLC MENA network with an ECR from the University of Birmingham. I congratulate her for these amazing contributions and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

  5. Stella Morgana, a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, actively participates in various academic and professional networks. She serves as the Co-Chair of the UoL Research Staff Association and is a dedicated Member of the UoL Concordat Steering Group, spearheaded by the pro-VC Anthony Hollander. Additionally, she plays an integral role as an organising member of the HLC MENA network and contributes actively to the Women@Liverpool network. At the UoL, Stella has demonstrated her leadership and organizational skills by orchestrating significant events. Notably, she organized an event on Academy publishing for ECRs in collaboration with the UoL Academy. She curated a workshop on the Gig economy of the Middle East, featuring speakers from diverse backgrounds and career stages across 10 countries. Stella is deeply committed to fostering research culture and facilitating collaborations. Currently, Stella is co-organizing a significant event with the Heseltine Institute, focusing on the Politics of Labour and Inequality in the Global South. Furthermore, she is collaborating with an Early Career Researcher from the University of Birmingham to co-organize an event on Art and Agency in the Middle East for the HLC MENA network. Through her multifaceted involvement and proactive initiatives, Stella continually contributes to academic discourse and community engagement.

  6. I am nominating Dr Stella Morgana for the Research Staff Community Champion Prize as she has been instrumental in contributing to the development of others during her time at Liverpool. In that time she has become Co-Chair of the Research Staff Association, as well as the representative for HSS, focusing in the role on fostering a more inclusive research culture. Yet this is only one aspect of her work developing supportive spaces for researchers both inside and outside of the University. In addition she is also a part of the organising group of the HLC MENA network, and alongside an ECR at the University of Birmingham is organising an event on Art, Agency and Space. Central to a lot of this work is a focus on supporting other ECR researchers through the organisation of supportive spaces, and events that also foster excellent research culture in the institution. To give just one example of this, she worked with the Academy on a 'Lunch and Learn' session aimed at PhDs and ECRs focused on academic publishing, and has co-organised multiple research events with colleagues across the University ensuring ECR development and support is at the heart of these events.

  7. Stella Morgana is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Politics working on the project titled “The gig economy of Iran: humans versus their means of production.” Stella is an exceptional member of UoL’s research community who has consistently created opportunities and events for other ECR researchers to improve their knowledge of the wider research system including hosting events on grant applications and academic publishing for UoL ECRs. Stella also shares her expertise with the UoL student community. Most recently, Stella presented her research on women in Iran at University of Liverpool Feminist Society at the Guild of Students. Stella also contributes extensively to the research culture at the University of Liverpool. Stella is co-chair of the Research Staff Association for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and part of the Concordat Steering group led by vice-chancellor Anthony Hollander to support career development for researchers. She is also an active member of the British Academy Early Career Researchers network, the Women@Liverpool initiative, and an organising member the HLC MENA network. Our department is tremendously lucky to not only benefit from Stella’s research expertise but her immense contributions to the research culture at the University of Liverpool.

Research Staff Community Champion

Dr Yu Fu

Headshot of Yu Fu

What her nominator(s) said:

I am delighted to nominate Dr. Fu for the Research Staff Community Champion Prize at the University of Liverpool. Dr. Fu's exceptional leadership and achievements make her an exemplary candidate. She secured an NIHR Advanced Fellowship worth over a million pounds for five years, demonstrating her research prowess and ability to secure substantial resources. As the department EDI lead, she champions inclusivity and equity, fostering a diverse and supportive research environment. Dr. Fu actively cultivates collaborations internally and externally, enhancing knowledge exchange and interdisciplinary initiatives. Her contributions to physical and mental morbidity research have earned national and international recognition, elevating our institution's profile. Dr. Fu's dedication to fostering a vibrant, inclusive research community is truly commendable, and I believe she deserves to be celebrated for her outstanding contributions.

 

Our nominees

We would like to celebrate all our nominees as they all contribute to and support the research environment and community at University of Liverpool. Well done!

NameNomination(s)

Dr Aisling Brady

Headshot of Aisling Brady

 Aisling goes above and beyond fostering cohesion of the IVES postdoc community. She has done a stellar job organizing the 2023/2024 seminar series which brings together the community for research discussions and networking. Her hard work is very appreciated!

Dr Davara Bennett

Headshot of Davara Bennett

 Davara is an extremely passionate and hard-working researcher, throwing herself into all the projects she works on. She has developed a well-earned reputation in her research field, being invited to give international lectures and winning a post-doctoral launching fellowship. Davara has also been heavily involved in reports for the Covid inquiry and Child of the North. An excellent researcher who deserves to be celebrated!

Deborah Lawson

Headshot of Deborah Lawson

Deborah Lawson is a final year PhD student who has gone above and beyond to contribute to both the PGR and wider research culture of the School of Law and Social Justice. She has fulfilled multiple roles that evidence her passion for and commitment to building an inclusive and impactful research culture including:

  • Taking on an active role in the European Children's Rights unit, a research, campaigning and training unit within the School of Law and Social Justice. She took a lead role in organising the international PhD symposium on the rights of the child in 2019, which was hosted in Liverpool and involved over 80 PGR students and their supervisors from across the world. She has continued to attend and represent the School at virtually every symposium since 2018, supporting the ongoing development a thriving international community of children's rights researchers.
  • Acting as PGR representative for 3 years (until 2023), sitting on the School's Research and Impact committee and advocating on behalf of the School's PGR community;
  • Acting as lead research assistant - including co-designing, researching, writing up and disseminating the findings of funded projects, including the innovative strategic litigation project, 'Promoting Children's Rights in the European Court of Human Rights: the Role of Third Party interventions' (chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/2-research/ecru/June,2023,-,Strategic,Litigation,-,ECRU.pdf)
  • Co-developing the European Children's Rights Unit online teaching resources on 'Children in Theory: Theoretical Methods and Approaches to the Study of Childhood', an international open-access resource to build confidence an knowledge in how to bring theoretical perspectives to bear on academic research (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/humanities-and-social-sciences/research/research-themes/children-childhood/children-in-theory/)
  • Acting as PGR representative for the Faculty Children and Childhood theme, supporting training and other opportunities for ECR researchers.
  • Making a significant contribution to core and optional teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level over the past 5 years.

Deborah is an exceptionally talented young scholar. She joined the School following a career in early years education. She has brought fresh energy and ideas to the School, generously given her time and experience to support the work of others and advanced the pursuit of high quality research in the field of children and childhood by developing open access resources that can be used by the international research community.

Dr Emmanuel Biau

Headshot of Emmanuel Biau

  1. Since joining the University in 2021 Emmanuel has published ground-breaking research showing how neural oscillations synchronise with audio-visual prosody and syllables in the speech stream to predict multisensory speech integration in the neocortex which has resulted in the award of a 5-year tenure track fellowship. More recently, he has extended this work by designing an ingenious methodology for investigating the role of theta rhythms in multisensory speech memory and has secured NHS approval for a new research stream with the Walton Centre recording intracranial EEG in epilepsy patients, to investigate the role of neural oscillations deep in memory regions during the perception of verbal stimuli across modalities.

    In addition to his Research achievements, Emmanuel has also found time to make important contributions to the local research environment by securing internal funding for a new high-density EEG system in the Eleanor Rathbone Building, and through his roles as a representative on the IPH Contract Researchers Committee and more recently the HLS Faculty ECR Leadership Group.

    Last but not least, he has worked hard to communicate his findings to the wider non-academic community. For example, he represented Psychology at the Faculty of Health and Life Science’s Meet the Scientist event at the World Museum, where he wowed the general public with his demonstrations of multisensory illusions, and his contribution entitled ‘Are you Talkin’ to me?!’ has been selected for Pint of Science in May.

  2. Emmanuel Biau has joined the dept of psychology since less than 3 years (July 2021) and in this very short amount of time he both made impactful research while creating new testing space available for all staff. Specifically, he has published ground-breaking research showing how neural oscillations synchronise with audio-visual prosody and syllables in the speech stream to predict multisensory speech integration in the neocortex. He has also found time to make important contributions to the local research environment by installing new research facility both in the dept and in the Walton Center where he has started to record intracranial EEG in epilepsy patients, to investigate the role of neural oscillations deep in memory regions during the perception of verbal stimuli across modalities. And last year he was awarded a 5y Tenure-track Fellowship funded by the University of Liverpool to establish as an independent researcher and pursue his line of research on neural oscillations and multisensory speech memories, first researcher in psychology to obtain this distinction. He has also shown his leading skill through his roles as a representative on the IPH Contract Researchers Committee and more recently the HLS Faculty ECR Leadership Group.

Dr Gaia Bellomo

Headshot of Gaia Bellomo

 Gaia is an outstanding post-doctoral researcher in our team who has contributes both to a positive and supportive research performance and culture in several ways including: performing high quality and rigorous research, supervision of PGR students and RAs in the lab, supporting sustainability practices in the lab, and engaging with public engagement activities such as lab tours to patients and charities and promotional videos for our communications team. Gaia's attitude and commitment to research, sustainability, public engagement and development of other researchers improve our performance and profile and would really deserve an award in either the Research culture or the Research staff category.

Dr Hannah Sawyer

Headshot of Hannah Sawyer

 Hannah has developed a new corpus-based method for testing theories of the relation between the mistakes that toddlers make in their early language production and the language that they hear. This has allowed her to show that, contrary to the accepted wisdom, errors like ‘Mummy like tea’ and ‘Daddy want a biscuit’ reflect the learning of sequences such as ‘Mummy like’ from questions such as ‘Does Mummy like cake?’ rather than the dropping of verb endings from sequences like ‘Mummy likes cake’.
Her work, which has been published in top-tier Developmental Psychology journals and presented at National and International Conferences, is notable for its adherence to the highest standards of Open Science, with all her studies being fully pre-registered before any data was collected, coded or analysed.

Dr Janette Greenhalgh

Headshot of Janette Greenhalgh

I am thrilled to nominate Dr Janette Greenhalgh for both the Community Champion Prize and the Culture Champion Prize.

Janette's contributions to the academic community shine through her leadership positions. As the founder and Chair of the IPH Contract Research Staff Committee, she has been successful in advocating for the interests of fixed-term contract staff within the IPH. Examples include activities to increase the awareness of the Researcher Development Concordat in the Institute, overseeing the introduction of a Buddy scheme and providing input into the HLS Expertise Directory.

As a deputy co-chair of the RSA, she co-organised one of the RSA Buddy Scheme events, organised and chaired RSA Lunch and Learn Sessions and co-organised three conferences for postdocs (including the National PostDoc Conference 2021). Her innovative "well-being oasis" at these conferences has provided a much-needed quiet space for attendees.

Janette’s philanthropic work includes organizing a bucket collection for the Paper Cup charity and campaigning for the university's official support for the charity, demonstrating her commitment to making a positive difference in the community.

In summary, Dr Janette Greenhalgh's contributions as a mentor, leader, and community advocate are truly commendable and no one deserves these awards more than Janette.

Dr Jessica Gay

Headshot of Jessica Gay

 Jess has worked tirelessly to build up the Liverpool Language’s Lab’s participant database of infants, toddlers and their families in the aftermath of the pandemic. This has involved activities as diverse as organising family-focused stalls at British Science Week, hosting outreach events for local schools, producing engaging newsletters for parents and language practitioners, and, perhaps most challenging of all, organising parking for parents bringing their children into the lab to participate in EEG and eye-tracking studies. These activities have been invaluable in promoting the work of the Liverpool Language Lab and the University at large in the local community.

Dr Jing Jing Khoo

Headshot of Jing Jing Khoo

 Jing is a brilliant scientist who is very generous of her time with others, having trained many Masters and PhD students, as well as more junior postdocs, over the past few years in both practical lab skills and bioinformatics. In addition to her efforts here in Liverpool, she has supported students and trainees based on the other side of the world through online coaching, while still managing to take the lead in writing several major publications. She has also succeeded in obtaining three small grant awards under her own steam in the past two years and never loses enthusiasm for discovery research while mentoring those around her. Overall, Jing is an excellent team player who is always willing to go the extra mile. 

Dr Jonathan Arlow

Headshot of Jonathan Arlow

  1. I am nominating Dr Jonathan Arlow in recognition of the excellent work he has been doing since joining the University of Liverpool. This is not only in relation to developing his own Postdoctoral Project examining Sinn Féin’s evolution into a party that is electorally competitive both sides of the Irish border since the Great Recession, but also his contribution to the Department of Politics and the broader research environment of the University. Of particular note is his support for PGRs in the Department through his role acting as a discussant for the Departmental PGR conference and the development of a Research Assistant post within his research project which will provide experience and mentorship for a postgraduate researcher.

    In addition to this he continues in the dissemination of his own current research through the delivery of papers both nationally and internationally and acts as a country coordinator for the Political Party Database, a multi-country collaborative effort to advance the study of party-based representative democracy thus ensuring his research has wider applicability beyond academia.

  2. Jonathan is a Marie Curie Research Fellow in the Department of Politics. Jonathan's outstanding research examines how radical political movements interact with the institutions of liberal democratic states, including the influence of the libertarian movement on mainstream right-wing party policy and the Antifa’s role in combating the electoral ambitions of the extreme right.

    His current project examines Sinn Féin’s evolution into a party that is electorally competitive both sides of the Irish border since the Great Recession. This two-year project compares Sinn Féin’s operations in the North to the South and contrasts its unusual all-island position (one party, two jurisdictions) to other anti-systemic European parties of the left. He is also a country coordinator for the Political Party Database Project, a multi-country collaborative effort to advance the study of party-based representative democracy. Part of the data collection and analysis for that international project will be based in the University of Liverpool.

    Jonathan has become a valued member of the UoL research community generously sharing his expertise with undergraduate students and actively participating in research forums including contributing to postgraduate conferences and research seminars throughout the university.

Dr Katie Hamilton

Headshot of Katie Hamilton

Katie has held a number of short-term funded positions in the University, moving between departments and projects, but always with the strongest work ethic and a self-less attitude that enhances prospects for others rather than herself.  She is based in Kenya, currently working on wastewater surveillance and building university impact cases.  She invests heavily in ensuring young Kenyan scientists associated with the University's work produce high-quality work, and has pushed several towards their first peer-reviewed papers, insisting on quality and rigour at every step, while managing to remain both an inspiration and positive mentor along the way.

Dr Lucy Timbrell

Headshot of Lucy Timbrell

I would like to nominate Lucy Timbrell for her work into improving research culture and practice in archaeology. Lucy had the misfortune to be starting a PhD at the University of Liverpool that required fieldwork in Africa just as the 2020 pandemic lockdowns occurred. Rather than despairing, she turned this into a unique opportunity to drive her research forward. Since then, and now as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool, a large part of Lucy’s research agenda involves developing and testing new research frameworks for ethically, reproducibly, and collaboratively producing large datasets.

She has worked on different international projects to produce scientific protocols for standardizing the digitization of stone tool artefacts, including recently with the Comparative Analysis of Middle Stone Age Artefacts (COMSAfrica) Project. Lucy has also become an advocate for dual-project development with researchers, curators, and students in African institutions, and has been awarded international funding from the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner Gren Foundation, and the Lithic Studies Society Jacobi Award to support these endeavours.

Additionally, as part of her PhD, she developed a bespoke method for inter-observer analyses across large projects (such as those Lucy herself is involved with), utilising 3D printed replicas of stone tool reference collections, whereby multiple collaborators can document the extent of error in measurements from these, and apply the results to the actual data. For this work in improving reproducibility in remote collaborative projects, Lucy was recently awarded the Dorothy Bishop Award Early Career Award 2024.

Dr Nataliia Hulai

Headshot of Nataliia Hulai

Nominating her for fostering an inclusive researcher culture at the University of Liverpool. She has been pivotal in sharing her research experience and mentoring PGRs and other postdocs for her knowledge area. She has been open to addressing problems and guiding early stage PGRs in challenges with crystallography, materials chemistry and general research problems, while also being the go to person for other peers working in this domain. She has thus displayed broader leadership skills and a greater understanding of the wider research challenges, while being open to share her experience and help people navigate these challenges.

Dr Natasha Bayes

Headshot of Natasha Bayes

Natasha (Tash) Bayes is a highly-valued member of the Bean Meals research project, which aims to transform the food system using UK-grown beans. Tash has single-handedly led an extensive programme of mixed methods research in UK primary schools. These data are providing important and novel insights into how we can innovate in school meals and improve children's uptake of healthy and sustainable meals. Tash’s role requires her to interact with academics from different disciplinary backgrounds as well as multiple and varied stakeholders including school staff and pupils. Tash has excelled in this setting and her communication and organisational skills are second-to-none. It is a pleasure to work with Tash and she thoroughly deserves this recognition for her hard work and important contributions to the University’s research and impact activities. 

Dr Panagiotis Boutris
  1. Panagiotis has started a postdoc on project that has greatly been delayed by COVID. In few months (7), he created stimuli to test words segmentation using artificial language, collected electrophysiological data from 20 typical adults and 4 adults with language disability, produce analysis ERP results showing that different effect are recorded in typical adult and atypical adults when they try to find words in a continuous flux. While working intensively to make up fro the delay of the project, Panagiotis also supervise students (both undergraduate and master) and taught them how to collect data with the EGI system and introduce them to data analysis of electrophysiological data. He also took on him to support the full language lab with IT and help both RAs and PIs by setting up computers for the lab.
  2. Although only a recent addition to the University, Panos has already made a huge contribution to the research culture of the Liverpool Language Lab by fostering a positive and attitude amongst all the other members of the team, and showing, by example, how much high-quality work it is possible to get done in just 6 months. 

Dr Rebecca Stone

 Rebecca (Bec) makes exceptional contributions to our UKRI-funded FIO Food project. Bec always gives 100% and works tirelessly to generate high-quality robust evidence to make important and meaningful contributions to the public and society. Bec has many academic achievements including authoring several papers in high-ranking journals and a book chapter. Her role on FIO Food requires her to interact with academics from different disciplinary backgrounds and multiple stakeholders (industry, lived experience etc). Bec's communication skills are second-to-none, and she is a natural team-player whilst also being able to proactively take control of her own projects and drive forward results and impact. Bec is a highly-valued colleague and an integral member of the FIO Food team, and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate everything that she does!

Dr Richard Anderson

Headshot of Richard Anderson

I am nominating Richard for his exceptional contribution as a postgraduate, and now post-doctoral, Department of Music research assistant since 2020. Richard is currently co-investigator on a Liverpool City Council funded project to map the Liverpool City Region’s entire music sector and deliver an economic impact report on music’s value to the region. In his role, Richard is responsible for:

  • designing and building multifunctional geotagged databases of Liverpool’s music businesses that align with related public and private economic data;
  • coordinating with the project’s programmer to deliver a publicly accessible searchable directory and map visualisation of the sector;
  • managing two post-grad research assistants to collect, collate, clean and verify music organisations’ data, and deliver stakeholder surveys, focus groups/interviews;
  • collaborating with UoL economists on devising sector valuations;
  • liaising with regional and national lobbying organisations, such as The Liverpool City Region Music Board, UK Music, The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), and various sector consultants, private data providers, representatives from various departments in Liverpool’s Combined and Local Authorities, and other local and regional authorities, to ensure the resulting directory, and economic case study, has stakeholder approval, regional and national sector support, and potential for application beyond Liverpool.

The diverse range of research, analysis and project management skills evident in Richard’s current role are a culmination of his contribution to numerous preceding and pending projects. He has become a valued member of the Live Music Mapping Project, where he acts as liaison between UK and European location specific teams to support their map development and updates. In May 2024, we will deliver a project with Mastercard exploring geographic spend distributions during Liverpool’s hosting of Eurovision 2023. Richard was instrumental in negotiating access to Mastercard’s data, and establishing the parameters of data presentation within the scope of the NDA. Most significantly, in collaboration with Liverpool’s Civic Data Cooperative, we are leading a review on the re-introduction of night bus services to Liverpool. The business case that convinced Liverpool’s Metro Mayor to authorise the night bus pilot in 2023, was developed by Richard, in collaboration with Merseytravel, the Combined Authority, and several community and business interest groups. These projects, all delivered while also completing his PhD on underground dance music scenes in Liverpool, testify to Richard’s ability to consistently devise and deliver impactful music cities research. Having worked with Richard to develop online maps, bus services, and co-author four academic publications, I can attest to his excellent domain knowledge, exceptional research skills, his range of experience and professional networks and ability to work across disciplines. Many of the project’s would not have been feasible or delivered without his contribution, and it would be fitting if his fantastic and consistent level of contribution was celebrated through this process.

Dr Rishav Agrawal

Headshot of Rishav Agrawal

Rishav is thriving in his postdoc in a new area of research in a multi-disciplinary team. A manuscript from this work is now under consideration by the Journal of Rheology, and he is involved in another 4 manuscripts and papers so far. He has taken responsibilities managing our new lab in the George Holt building, with day-to-day supervision of a PhD student and assisting other students in the group. In particular, Rishav has brought new skills to the group, thus expanding the scope of PhD projects with his skills and knowledge in numerical methods and fluid mechanics. Rishav has also demonstrated leadership skills by taking proactive roles in the Research Staff Association (RSA) in the University. He's been highly involved in the organisation of their events and initiatives, such as the annual conference and the buddy scheme. He is currently co-chair of the RSA. He has also been successful in generating independent funding and using these to establish new collaboration. He has secured a seed funding grant independently to develop his own ideas "Towards understanding instabilities and transition in drag-reducing polymeric flow". He has also initiated new collaborations in numerical simulations of yield stress fluids with other academics in Liverpool and Manchester. He has given talks in national and international conferences. Rishav’s excellent contribution to research culture and leadership amongst his peers should be recognised.

Dr Sara Babo Martins
  1. Sara has been with GBADs for 18 months (September 2022) and has made an impact on the outputs of The Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs), and with mentoring members of the team.
    Sara ensures we are always striving for the best and is leading 2 projects (AMR Fleming Fund, and GBADs MENA) - leading the team, delivering on time, and managing the budget. Sara has also supported additional work on Gender within the GBADs programme, providing mentorship to a recent PhD graduate.
    In the short time, Sara has been here, she has developed an external network in AMR and has improved not only her own skills but the programme as a whole. It has been amazing seeing all that she has been able to achieve, with minimal management, or issues.
    Sara goes above and beyond every day to make sure she represents the values of GBADs and The University of Liverpool.
  2. By nurturing a culture of inclusiveness, Sara has had an important and positive impact on our research group.

Dr Sercan Pekel

 I am nominating Dr Sercan Pekel as his research makes an excellent contribution to the research environment through the development and delivery of an impactful agenda. This has included contributing as a data scientist to “The Middle East Power Index” project that aims to comparatively assess distinct power capabilities of states within the region. In addition to this, his work on disaster response preparation and planning has been key for understanding global best practise and how these can be transferred into local environments. The work was particularly important in that it built in awareness of gender-focused social vulnerability. These collaborative international projects make an excellent contribution to the University’s strategic priorities with regards to international recognition and cooperation.