Eight prizes have been awarded to researchers in the UK for excellence in engaging the public with science. The Engage Awards 2014 were launched by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) to find and celebrate the most innovative and effective public engagement work taking place in the UK.
The judges chose winners and runners-up in eight categories, from more than 230 entries.
The winners included an interactive atomic simulation that visualises members of the public as energy fields (Art, Design and Culture Award); a theatrical experience in which the audience has to help scientists save the city from a deadly pathogen (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Award); and a project that draws upon research to create book clubs in prisons (Established Projects Award). Other categories were Working with Young People; Health and Wellbeing; Collaboration; and Individual-led Project.
The overall winner of the Engage Awards was Cardiff University for its CAER Heritage Project, a collaborative research project that brings together archaeologists and historians with local residents and pupils to participate in cutting-edge archaeological research in two of the most deprived areas of Cardiff, Wales.
Short films on all eight categories and more information about the winners can be found here.
The NCCPE is an organisation set up to inspire and support universities to engage with the public and is funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust. The Centre is hosted between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.
