Two research projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have been shortlisted for the Unico Impact Awards.
The shortlisted projects are:
Business Impact Award - New Strategies for Radio and Music Organisations from Birmingham City University, an AHRC Knowledge Transfer Fellowship
And
Environmental Impact Award - Bike Off 2, Catalysing anti theft bike, bike parking and information design for the 21st century from Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC), a project from the AHRC Designing for the 21st Century strategic research programme.
Thirteen UK teams and one Portuguese team beat off competition from 73 other entries to be shortlisted for The Impact Awards. All the teams have made outstanding impact through innovation.
The three award categories: Business Impact, Environmental Impact and Public Policy and Service Impact recognise and celebrate the process of transferring knowledge and expertise from the
research base of higher education and the public sector for the wider benefit of society and the economy.
Winners of The Impact Awards will be announced at The Impact Awards ceremony, held at the Unico Conference Gala Dinner, Brighton Racecourse, on Thursday evening, 11 June 2009.
For more information on The Impact Awards visit www.impactawards.org.uk
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Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, 0117 9876773
Editors notes
Arts & Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.
New Strategies for Radio and Music Organisations from Birmingham City University Radio and music media consumption has been transformed by new online media, and an understanding of how these interactive forms create cultural communities is essential to the way in which commercial and voluntary sector organisations need to respond to change. The University works with partners to identify the particular challenges they face in dealing with the online environment. It then sets out, through a mixture of strategic planning, prototype design, and industry knowledge and experience, to help them respond to the challenges.
Bike Off 2 - Catalysing anti theft bike, bike parking and information design for the 21st century from Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC), Bikeoff is an initiative of the Design Against Crime Research Centre. It is concerned with reducing bicycle theft through practice led design research aimed at catalysing, and in some cases creating, cycling products, environments and services that prioritise the accommodation of users (cyclists) but also builds in resistance to abuse/rs (vandals and thieves).