Award holder: Aritra Chakrabarty

This project strengthens the University of Exeter’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) community by embedding public policy thinking within research design and impact practice. It addresses a critical skills requirement by equipping ECRs with toolkit, resources and peer support to integrate policy engagement throughout the research lifecycle. Through policy clinics co-developed via interdisciplinary workshops with policy academics, and local authority partners, the project will deliver practical toolkits, guidance on policy framing and communication, and resources for co-creation and knowledge exchange. The project aims to foster a sustainable culture of policy-focused, impact-driven research.

Award winner: James Thomas

The Exeter Publication Network will provide an interdisciplinary, inclusive and open support network and environment for fellow PGR/ECRs who are interested in working on academic publication, be that individual or developing new interdisciplinary projects across the PGR/ECR community. Alongside providing an environment for PGR/ECRs to interact, the network sets out to be a channel to provide the community with opportunities to develop skills in understanding the publication process and taking active positive steps towards publication, which may currently fall beyond the capacity of the core researcher development program and that of individual departments.

Award winner: Yimei Chen

Mapping Your Research Stories is a five-workshop training programme designed to support postgraduate researchers and early career researchers in developing innovative approaches to interdisciplinary research communication. Through a combination of conceptual and theoretical learning, practical mapping training, creative replication, guided individual project development, and individual program presentation, participants will learn how to use cartography and spatial visualisation to explore, interpret, and communicate their research. The programme fosters interdisciplinary dialogue, digital literacy, and research storytelling skills, contributing to a more engaged, collaborative, and inclusive research culture at the University of Exeter.

Award winner: Allison Stitt

This is a seminar series to aid early career researchers in expanding their audience through partnerships with community organisations and content creators. Our diverse group of speakers includes: writer and science podcaster, Robin Ince; founder of Pint of Science, Praveen Paul; founder of Mental Elf, Andre Tomlin, and Dr.’s Martina Egedusevic and Fatima Sabet, two University of Exeter researchers with a lengthy career of science outreach. This series will equip ECRs to engage larger audiences for their work by connecting with experts in science communication and will help researchers take a leading and collaborative role in dissemination.

Award winner: Cealan Henry

This seminar series supports ECRs in navigating the transition from securing research funding to leading and sustaining funded research. Running from March to June 2026, four 1.5-hour seminars focus on post-award grant management, leadership and decision-making, managing risk and failure, and building coherent research portfolios. The series concludes with a one-day writing retreat in July 2026, providing protected time and structured support to develop live funding applications. Together, the programme strengthens research leadership capability, supports sustainable research practices, and contributes to an engaged, collaborative research culture, with anticipated benefits for funding quality, researcher confidence, and longer-term research impact.

Award winner: Ethan Addicott

This project supports early career researchers (ECRs) to strengthen equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practice and foster a positive research culture across interdisciplinary research communities at the University of Exeter. Through collaborative self-assessment, expert-led evaluation and practical implementation, the project will help ECRs reflect on issues of intersectionality, power and privilege, and translate these reflections into concrete action. Key outputs will include an EDI assessment rubric, targeted training pathways and a co-developed Community Charter, creating sustainable, reusable resources that support inclusive, collaborative and funder-ready research environments.

Award winner: Daniel Williams

The current media landscape is such that opinions can quickly become highly polarised, leading to the spread of misinformation and development of conspiracy theories. Some research areas, especially within climate and environmental science, are especially prone to being adversely affected, with researchers often ill-prepared to respond. This initiative provides a practical, interactive workshop on the art of communicating contentious or controversial scientific research topics. The aim of the workshop would be to empower researchers to effectively communicate their science to both academic and public audiences, even in the face of opposing opinions or a combative media environment.

Award winner: Qianqian Li

This project delivers a PGR-led hybrid seminar–workshop series that brings together external scholars in digital sociology, media studies, and cultural studies to demystify qualitative digital research methods in practice. This focus is not included in current PGR research training and development courses. By focusing on methodological difficulty, ethics, reflexivity, and adaptation, the series addresses the gap between formal methods training and the lived realities of digital research. Four interactive sessions will combine speaker reflections on completed and in-progress projects with facilitated peer discussion. Open to PGRs and ECRs across the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the initiative fosters interdisciplinary exchange, researcher wellbeing, leadership development, and lasting methodological resources.