We’re delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Faraday Institution Community Awards. Join us in celebrating members of the community who demonstrate excellence and behaviours in line with our mission and values – and who go above and beyond what would normally be expected.
There is huge strength and depth in our research community, and we are so pleased to highlight just a few of them here.
Congratulations to our winners
Collaboration Award
Winner: Oxford Battery Modelling Symposium (Professors David Howey, Charles Monroe, Jon Chapman & Colin Please)
This award recognises exceptional innovations in collaborative networks between diverse groups of researchers, industry partners and policy makers.
This year the collaboration award goes to the organisers of the Oxford Battery Modelling Symposium – Prof. David Howey, Prof. Charles Monroe, Prof. Jon Chapman and Prof. Colin Please (all from the University of Oxford) – for fostering a thriving international and interdisciplinary community on battery modelling.
Over the past few years, the Oxford Battery Modelling Symposium has amassed a large international community of leading academics and industry partners, facilitating extensive networking and allowing researchers from all career stages to disseminate their research in a positive environment. This is no mean feat and exemplifies collaboration at its best, with far reaching positive impacts, on a scale that is hard to quantify. The organisers of this event have demonstrated the resilience and teamwork required to establish this initiative and ensure its continued success during the pandemic via an online format.
An additional acknowledgement goes to Prof. David Howey for his pivotal role in establishing this community and creating invaluable online forums and resources, which also allow greater global accessibility to this network.
Many congratulations to this team for all their achievements! Read the #Faraday500 blog post about Dave Howey.
Due to the strength of the nominations we’re making separate awards for both public engagement and STEM outreach this year.
Public Engagement Award
Winner: The SafeBatt Team (Dr Wojciech Mrozik, Prof Paul Christensen, Prof Paul Shearing, Dr Julia Weaving, Martin Dowson and Dr Mark Buckwell)
The public outreach award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the wider understanding of an area of science, through clear and effective communication, or through the leadership or training of others.
We congratulate the SafeBatt team for their outstanding contributions to communicate their research on battery safety to the wider scientific community, first responders, policy makers and the general public.
Following their scientific research on the specific nature and challenges of lithium-ion battery fire safety the SafeBatt team identified and filled a gap for quality training for a variety of audiences, especially the first responder community. They have shown outstanding commitment in raising awareness of hazards and sharing best practice. They do so via a wide range of events and engagement methods aimed a large number of national and international audiences, including policy makers and standards committees. The reach and quality of work undertaken is impressive. The resources from the SafeBatt project showcase the world leading research being undertaken by the project and help position the UK as a world leader in battery safety research.
Read more about the outreach work of the SafeBatt team.
STEM Outreach Award
Winner: Megan Penrod (University of Cambridge)
The STEM outreach award recognises the efforts of an individual or a team who provides engaging and inspirational activities for young people in their local or national communities.
The winner of this award is Megan Penrod from the University of Cambridge working on the Battery Degradation project.
Megan has gone above and beyond in taking a leading role in providing STEM outreach activities focusing on electricity and energy storage to young people whilst growing and empowering an enthusiastic outreach team. A primary focus has been to inspire young people about the wonder of batteries and associated careers, gaining praise from volunteers and teachers alike. The enthusiasm and hard work involved in making these events a success clearly shows Megan’s commitment and how she embodies the core values of the Faraday Institution, making her a worthy winner of this year’s STEM outreach award.
Well done on all your work and achievements Megan! Read a #FaradayPathways post about Megan.
Researcher Development Champion
Winner: Prof Peter Slater (University of Birmingham)
This award is in recognition of an individual that goes above and beyond what would normally be expected in the role of supervisor or mentor to guide early career researchers in their research and career paths.
We are pleased to announce that the winner of this award is Prof Peter Slater from the University of Birmingham.
Peter has cultivated a diverse and supportive research environment for researchers both within his group and the wider projects he is a part of. There are countless examples of how his support and mentorship have progressed the careers of early career researchers , who have gone on to have success both in academia and industry, clearly outlining the positive impact Peter has made. The wealth of examples of excellent practice (including EDI initiatives) and proactive dedication to developing researchers, reaffirmed by testimonials from grateful beneficiaries, highlight the extensive benefits of this investment of time. This effort is in addition to his management and contributions to multiple research projects across the Faraday Institution and beyond. Peter’s commitment to the mentorship of those around him encapsulates the qualities of a Research Development Champion and this award.
Do join us in congratulating Peter! Read Peter’s #FaradayPathways post.
Highly Commended
We would also like to recognise the achievements of a second member of our community in two of the categories.
Collaboration Award
Highly Commended: Lois Warne (North East Battery Alliance)
We are delighted to recognise the efforts and achievements of Lois Warne in establishing the North-East Battery Alliance.
In the short space of 18 months, Lois has been integral in the establishment of the North-East Battery Alliance, a consortium of five universities, industry partners and the public sector. Lois is commended for taking a leading role in organising key networking opportunities including two 2-day conferences, attended by 170 people, and monthly forums for academics to disseminate research. Lois has proven invaluable to the battery community in the North East and we look forward to continuing to see the growing impact of this initiative she leads.
Congratulations Lois! Read more about the success of NEBA that Lois has enabled.
Researcher Development Champion
Highly Commended: Andrew Abbott (University of Leicester)
We highly commend Prof Andrew Abbott from the University of Leicester for his commitment to the continued career development of those he works with, both in his group and across the wider ReLiB project.
Andrew has gone the extra mile by organising and leading a wide range of seminars and development opportunities, capitalising on the lessons he has learnt across his career to better inform the next generation of researchers and give a holistic view of the skills and expectations required in academia and beyond. His dedication to creating a supportive working environment and championing early career researchers to take on additional responsibilities to further their development provides a model that other research groups can follow and, as such, is highly commended.
Congratulations Andrew! Read Andrew’s #FaradayPathways post.
Please join us in extending congratulations to all the individuals and teams that we have recognised with these awards. Thank you to all those that nominated these groups and individuals.
Our thanks to chair of the panel Magda Titirici, as well as Billy Wu, Yige Sun and Sean Scott of our researcher community, and Jennifer Channell (formerly of Innovate UK) and Fran Long of FIHQ for their service in selecting winners.
Who do you value in our community? Whose contribution should be recognised? Which other successes should we celebrate?
Applications for next year’s awards will open at the ECR Conference & Training Event in March 2024. Look out for details.
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