INFORMATION & UPDATES UPDATES & INFORMATION


News briefs


CELEBRATING THE IMPACT OF ESRC-FUNDED RESEARCHERS The winners of the ESRC annual Celebrating Impact Prize, in partnership with SAGE, were announced at an awards ceremony held at Central Hall Westminster on 24 June. The prizes were awarded to researchers whose work has had a substantial impact on society, from helping victims of violence to securing funding for UK businesses. The winners were awarded


£10,000 to further the impact of their research. Second prize-winners received £5,000, also to invest in impact activities. Professor Jane Elliott, Chief


Executive of the ESRC said: “I would like to thank all those researchers recognised at this year’s


ESRC ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS PUBLISHED


Impact Prize Awards ceremony for their important work. In the ESRC’s 50th anniversary year, they have reminded us of how much social science research can contribute to transforming our society for the better.” Universities and Science Minister


Jo Johnson said: “From changing the way dementia is treated to improving living standards, economic and social science has made a huge difference to the health and wellbeing of our society over the last 50 years. The ESRC’s Celebrating Impact Prize rightly awards some of the greatest contributors to this field. My congratulations go out to all this year’s winners.” The evening was hosted by


BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Laurie Taylor, and prizes were presented


BRITAIN’S FORGOTTEN SLAVE OWNERS A cutting edge two-part BBC documentary has examined the abolition of slavery in Britain and the choice by the government of the day to compensate slave owners for their loss of ‘property’. In ‘Britain’s Forgotten Slave


Our Annual Report provides information on the ESRC’s activities during the previous financial year, including a commentary on the year’s activities, and an analysis of our research and training expenditure, and our research portfolio. The Annual Report is published


and laid before Parliament annually. It covers our activities from 1 April to 31 March, a review of the year from the Chair and Chief Executive, outstanding features of the year and facts and figures at a glance. It also contains the ESRC’s full accounts for the year. To download a copy of the report,


see: www.esrc.ac.uk/news-and-events/publications/ annual-report/index.aspx


Owners’ historian David Olusoga teams up with UCL to bring to light the findings of two major research projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the ESRC, which have been delving into these archives to examine for the first time the ‘True Legacy of British Slave Ownership.’


Using the records of the millions of


pounds paid in compensation to slave- owners for the loss of their ‘property’, the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project has documented over 46,000 individual claims and awards made to those who either owned slaves or benefited indirectly from ownership. Legacies of British Slave-ownership is the umbrella for two projects based at University College London tracing the impact of slave-ownership on the formation of modern Britain: Legacies of British Slave-ownership was funded by the ESRC and Structure


and significance of British Caribbean slave-ownership 1763-1833, which runs from 2013-2015 is jointly funded by the AHRC and the ESRC.


For more information on the programme, see www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063db18


CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FELLOWS The ESRC has announced new Constitutional Change Knowledge Exchange (KE) Leadership Fellows who will maximise social science contributions to debates following the General Election, through the development of a number of knowledge exchange and public engagement activities. The fellows are: Professor Nicola McEwen, University of Edinburgh and Associate Director, ESRC Centre on Constitutional Change; Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Cardiff University; Des McNulty, Professor Adam Tomkins and Professor Duncan Maclennan at Glasgow University; Sir Bernard Crick Centre, University of Sheffield Fellows will facilitate opportunities for researchers to contribute to debates about the future of the UK in local, national and international contexts, maximising the impact of quality social science research. n


SUMMER 2015 SOCIETY NOW 29


by speakers including Ziyad Marar, Global Publishing Director at SAGE, Dr Alan Gillespie, Chair of the ESRC Council, Paul Grice, Clerk and Chief Executive of the Scottish Parliament, Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, Kelvin Hopkins, MP for Luton North and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Social Science & Policy, and Professor Jane Elliott, ESRC Chief Executive. n For more information on the prize- winners see the centre pages of this issue of Society Now


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36