2016 Winners

The 2016 Heriot-Watt Principal's Public Engagement Prizes were awarded at the Engage Awards Ceremony and Public Engagement. The winners, selected by an expert panel, each took home an award and £1,000.

Winners

The 2016 Team Prize went to the EnLightenment Team, led by Dr Paul Dalgarno and Prof Rory Duncan  of the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Dr Laura Wicks of the Centre for Academic Leadership  and Development. This Wellcome Trust funded project reached over 5,000 people over the past year, sharing the importance of interdisciplinary learning through smartphone microscopes.

The Early Career prize was awarded to Alex Maclaren from the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society. Alex impressed the judges with her work with community engagement partners in socio-economically deprived areas, as well as her leadership in working with undergraduates and industry partners.

The Senior Career prize was awarded to Dr Alan Gow from the School of Life Sciences, who not only engages audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe but also co-chairs ‘Research the Headlines', a blog which discusses research and the media to help the public understanding of research. This year Alan was awarded funding from the British Academy to directly engage schoolchildren and the media through his Rewrite the Headlines Campaign, engaging with over 2,100 pupils across Scotland.

This year's People's Choice Award, which was voted for by more than 200 staff and research students across Heriot-Watt, went to Postgraduates of the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering (PoBBBs). PoBBBs have enthusiastically led the way in IB3 public outreach and education with their own innovative and exciting initiatives, informing many at all ages about diabetes, DNA and the link between wellbeing and diet.

Highly commended was Dr Jonathan Morton, School of Engineering  Physical Sciences, who received £500 from the Centre for Academic Leadership and Development. Jonathan has consistently delivered high quality engagement activities, has enthused others about the importance of public engagement, and was the STV star of the illumiNations event.