The King’s Research Management Network this year launched the annual Research Support Awards to coincide with National Research Administrators Day on 25 September. The awards provide an opportunity to recognise the hard work and achievements of professional services staff who are supporting research.
Of the 205 people nominated by researchers and professional services staff, we are thrilled that seven of the 30 winners are from our Faculty, acknowledging the outstanding work of our research management and support staff.
Rose Palmer, Assistant Technician in the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, won the Sponsors Award (special awards to recognise the exceptional effort of individuals or teams) for her dedication and inspirational support to the Department of Infectious Diseases.
The School is delighted that Rose has been recognised in this way. She is one of the bedrocks of our School, and without whom our laboratory-based research activities would not operate nearly so effectively. Simply put, Rose is one of those wonderful individuals who makes everyone around her better, while also managing to put a smile on their faces. Very well deserved!"– Professor Mike Malim, Head of the School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences
Honouring those who have supported research impact and outreach activities to help showcase and deliver King’s research, the Impact & Engagement Award was won by Alice Taylor-Gee, Bella Spencer, Melissa Bovis and Deanne Naula from the EPSRC Centre of Medical Engineering.
We are delighted to be team winners in this category, and especially grateful to be nominated for a project that highlights the value of integrating research directly with public dialogue. Connecting our engineers and clinicians with the lived experience of the communities we serve is at the heart of all our public engagement work, and we look forward to building on this acknowledgment in future research projects."– Alice Taylor-Gee, Public Engagement Manager, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences
Dr Rocio Martinez Nunez and her team on the KCL Test project received the One Team Award: celebrating collaborations and inclusivity, colleagues who are working to ensure a more inclusive King’s and bringing teams together to work on cross college projects.
“KCL TEST is a truly collaborative project across the University and including those close to us at home. It represents how we can work together to make things happen, collaborating across disciplines and campuses”, Dr Martinez Nunez said.
It is an honour to be part of KCL TEST and for KCL TEST to serve the community. This pandemic has taught us that working together we can achieve a lot more, and that having and supporting our community is incredibly important. KCL TEST wants to make everyone at King's feel safe. The One Team Award is incredibly significant and represents the work of many people at KCL TEST. Thank you.”– Dr Rocio Martinez Nunez, Lecturer, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences
Louise Pacelli, Faculty Research Manager, and King’s colleagues Lauren Ryan and Jennine Bentley, also won the One Team Award for their work driving the Research Management Network - a community of research support professionals working to facilitate, accelerate and support world-leading research at King’s.
The network provides an opportunity for members to make connections, celebrate successes, broaden their networks and identify opportunities for collaboration. Weekly meetings provide an opportunity for members to share their news 'hot off the press', including successes and job opportunities within their teams, and provides a virtual place to stay informed of developments in research management and wider university initiatives.
We put in a lot of work over the last two years to bring people together during the pandemic - initially to keep everyone up to date with the effects of the closure and furlough etcetera - but the network has evolved over time and is continuing to evolve. It is really nice to get this recognition, and I know Martin Kirk [Operations Director: Research & Researchers] understands the work we put into the network.”– Louise Pacelli, Faculty Research Manager, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
The Faculty extends its warmest congratulations to all winners, who will receive a certificate and will be invited to afternoon tea with Martin Kirk, Reza Razavi, Steve Large & Robin McIver.