I am pleased and proud that my research has led to close engagement with a forgotten group of Greece’s population: the hundreds who were sent out as children to be adopted abroad. It is wonderful to see a feedback loop come about: research leading to activism and activism and real action fostering research again. We have achieved major results by working for the restoration of the Greek citizenship of the Greek-born adoptees, as a team appropriately called Nostos for Greek Adoptees.
Professor Gonda Van Steen Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature. Director, Centre for Hellenic Studies
26 January 2026
Faculty of Arts & Humanities winners for 2026 King's Engaged Research Awards
Initiatives led by academics from the Faculty of Arts & Humanities won in the categories of Communication research and Integrated education, research and service.
Projects from the Global Cultures Institute and the Department of Classics have been recognised as achieving tangible societal impact at the King's Engaged Research Awards ceremony on 15 January.
Professor Gonda Van Steen's Making Adoptees Whole project won in the Global category for Communication research. Professor Van Steen’s research restores the first identity and agency of Greek-born adopted persons. Her work has benefited some 4,000 Greek-born adoptees (and their descendants), who were sent to the USA in the 1950s-60s. She’s achieved widespread awareness and the restoration of birth citizenship for the first 12 adoptees.
The Language Acts and Worldmaking Laboratory, created by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures received the Integrated education, research and service award. This radical, inclusive second year module arose from the AHRC flagship project Language Acts and Worldmaking. It integrates research, education, and service through engagement with language learners in schools and international cultural partners, building enduring and creative relationships. Contributors include: Elisa Sampson Vera Tudela, Hackney Collective of Primary Schools, Chris the King Sixth Form Colleges, Thomas Tallis School, Myriam Angueira, Florencia Herrera, Andres Kalawski, Clara Obligado and Karoline Pelikan and Professor Catherine Boyle.
Winning this award is a meaningful acknowledgement of the innovative, collaborative spirit behind the service module Language Acts and Worldmaking. Created with and for King's students, the module has brought research, teaching and community engagement into genuine conversation, empowering King's and school students to use language learning as a tool for understanding, creativity, and civic leadership. We’re delighted that the significance of this work and of the fact that multilingual education can produce new ways of thinking and acting in the world has been recognised!
Dr Elisa Sampson Vera Tudela, Reader in Latin American Culture
The awards recognise and share the achievements of impactful work from across the university and its communities.
Winners received awards in recognition of their outstanding achievements and contributions to impactful research. Each winner was presented with a certificate, trophy and £200. They were selected from over 100 nominations received by the King’s Engaged Researcher Network (KERN) Working Group.
The ceremony, hosted at King’s Great Hall, was hosted by Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President (International, Engagement & Service) and Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice President (Research & Innovation).
There is a lot of research that goes on at King’s, and what we want to do is make sure that this research has got benefit, and that’s why we want to engage the public. That's why we need to engage the communities to bring their lived experiences, and also to understand better how they will benefit from the knowledge and understanding of our research generally.
Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi, Vice President (Research and Innovation)
The award categories reflected King’s Impact Priorities., by championing and celebrating impactful, holistic and multidisciplinary initiatives that drive collaborative and innovative solutions in service to society. These included subcategories linked to local, national and global work.
The categories were:
- Communicating Research
- Collaboration
- Participatory Research
- Transforming Research Culture or Public Life
- Integrated Education, Research and Service
- Outstanding Individual Award
In this story
Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature. Director, Centre for Hellenic Studies
Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies
Reader in Latin American Culture