Research-informed Teaching Impact - Celebrating our Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards 2025

First Prize: Being Here Project

The Being Here Project is a research-led initiative to encourage community-building, bringing together Dr Maria O'Reilly, Dr Robin Redhead and Dr Tom Houseman in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Kelly Cawood in Student Services (Wellbeing), Liz Hyde in Library and Learning Services, and Katie Hill in the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing.

Designed to support international MA students in Politics and International Relations, the team co-designed and delivered arts-based workshops to co-create an inclusive space for intercultural dialogue and community-building. The team bring a variety of research expertise in community building, equality, diversity and inclusion as well as methods of artistic co-production.

Speaking about the project's aims, the team said: "This initiative addressed challenges faced by January-entry students - such as isolation and adjusting to UK academic life - by fostering peer connection, wellbeing, and a sense of belonging.

"During the workshops, staff and students co-produced a mandala artwork - a visual representation of belonging and connection. Each person contributed a drawing to a shared mandala, which together symbolised the diversity and unity of our MA cohort. The artwork is currently being displayed in the Portland Building."

The initiative has fostered peer connection and wellbeing in a number of ways. The team explained: "We created a non-hierarchical space where students and staff could interact. This enabled staff and students to build trust and understanding - crucial for students who may be hesitant to seek support.

"Student feedback highlighted that the workshop reduced isolation, promoted dialogue, and eased their transition into UK higher education. Staff feedback also highlighted that students felt more comfortable approaching them afterwards. We also noted significant improvements in student attainment - including 100% of January-entry students passing a core module first time."

Reflecting on winning the award, the team added: "We are thrilled, and it is a real honour! It reflects the power of creative, collaborative approaches to education and the value of building inclusive learning communities."

Second Prize: Dr Siobhán McHugh (School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

Dr Siobhán McHugh is dedicated to embedding research-led teaching to benefit students on the MSc Health Psychology and BSc (Hons) Psychology programmes.

She explained: "I think research is the thing that really brings what we teach to life. With that in mind, I worked with our MSc Course Director (Lydia Windisch) and our Director of PsyCen (Trish Holch) to redesign our MSc Health Psychology course to embed research-led teaching.

"We developed an assessment based on an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) grant. Students complete a whole grant application over the course of a semester, not just thinking up a tangible research idea, but costing a research team, embedding PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) and inclusion work, completing Health Impact Assessments and of course thinking about relevant methods.

"We have also redeveloped the Research Methods curriculum to include participatory and community-embedded research methods. This has been strengthened by a collaboration with Sunny Bank Mills, where the students have visited an exhibition that creatively disseminates health focused research, and took part in a zine-making workshop to explore this as an inclusive research method.

"For our BSc students, I lead the NIHR Undergraduate Internship programme which funds three Level 6 students to work on active health and social care research projects throughout the final year of their degree. Across both programmes we have moved to a flipped learning approach for health psychology which has allowed us to get into real depth of research- led activity and discussion with students during seminar sessions."

Students have benefitted in a host of ways, including paid internships on research projects, increasing numbers of BSc students continuing onto the MSc course - and 50% of the 2024-25 MSc cohort have already started PhD or MRes programmes with us, or are waiting for funding applications for PhDs or planning to apply.

Speaking about being shortlisted for the award, Siobhán added: "I am both incredibly grateful and incredibly humbled to be nominated and shortlisted for this award given the amazing work being doing by colleagues across the University. This sort of work is never done in a vacuum, and I am so grateful to my colleagues for being so supportive of change, and brilliant sounding boards for new ideas. We are so lucky to work with such intuitive, interested, and enthusiastic students so they really inspire so much of what we do."

Third Prize: Dr Adejimi Adebayo (School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing)

Dr Jimi Adebayo was nominated for his outstanding leadership in bridging research and teaching through the innovative exploration of Generative AI technologies in higher education. He explained: "Our research on Built Environment Academics' Perceptions of Generative AI in Teaching and Learning goes far beyond the BEEC context. It represents one of the earliest investigations in the field to explore the implications of Generative AI for teaching practice across all UK universities offering built environment education. The findings provide a critical foundation for developing institutional and sector-wide policies on the ethical adoption and integration of AI in higher education.

"Beyond this publication, LBU led a consortium involving the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, and Northumbria, which secured a prestigious Innovate UK research award - further demonstrating our leadership and collaboration in advancing knowledge in this emerging area."

Speaking about his ethos, Jimi said: "I consistently apply my research, and that of others, directly to teaching. For instance, my recent publication on GIS-based Innovation for Estimating Real Estate Market Performance has been integrated into the Asset and Portfolio Management module. This research-informed approach has enhanced student engagement and understanding, reflected in our recent mid-semester review, where 98% of Level 6 students expressed satisfaction with the teaching and learning experience.

"It is a great honour to have been shortlisted for the Research-Informed Teaching Impact Award. My teaching philosophy has always been grounded in research, with a commitment to translating research outputs into innovative, engaging, and evidence-based learning experiences for our students.

"I am deeply proud that these works contribute not only to improving student outcomes and satisfaction but also to strengthening the university's reputation for research-informed education and innovation."