The 2024 Open Research Awards were once again organised in collaboration between the University Open Research Advocates, Operations and Strategy Groups, with support from Research England Enhancing Research Culture funding.

Our panel selected the following projects for recognition, having carefully considered the ways in which they engage with, reflect upon and advocate for open research practices and principles. We enjoyed reading all of this year’s submissions, and were especially pleased to receive so many projects this year from postgraduate and undergraduate students.

Arts and Humanities

A child's view of the past: Exploring public archaeology through the lens of the Avebury Papers

Georgia Smith, Undergraduate Student, Department of Archaeology; Dr Colleen Morgan (Supervisor, Avebury Papers Co-investigator); Fran Allfrey (Avebury Papers Postdoctoral Researcher)

Making archaeological research accessible to new audiences by using digitised materials from the Avebury Papers archive as part of session activities with the Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) (project blog post).

Advocating for gender equity on Wikipedia by writing an article for a woman from every country in the world

Lucy Moore, Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Archaeology

Improving the discoverability and representation of women’s lives and achievements on Wikipedia, especially those in archaeology and numismatics, by contributing 532 articles - one for every country in the world (Wikipedia project page; Guardian article).

Salmo sp. open code publication

Liz M. Quinlan, Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Archaeology; Dr David Orton & Prof Michelle Alexander (Supervisors)

Engaging with open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) data practices in the analysis and visualisation of archaeological fish bone assemblages, documentary records, bulk stable isotope data, and proteomics-based species identifications (project site).

Sciences

Catastrophizing and integration of stressful life experiences

Gemma Sarigu, Undergraduate Student, Department of Psychology; Dr Alex Pike (Supervisor)

Embedding open practices - preregistration, open data/code and sharing reproducible results within an R notebook - during a student internship assessing the relationship between catastrophising symptoms and individuals’ ability to cope with stressful life experiences (OSF repository).

Modelling inertial confinement fusion schemes using ZEPHYROS

Sophia Rier, Undergraduate Student, School of Physics, Engineering and Technology; Dr Kate Lancaster (Supervisor)

Investigating potential schemes for fusion energy alongside developing outreach material (VR animations and audio narrations) to bring the world of fusion physics to schools in Yorkshire (preprint and poster).

Transparent tusks: Open research practices in ivory research

Molly Brown, Postgraduate Researcher, Department of Biology; Prof Colin Beale & Prof Victoria Wells (Supervisors); May Sumbwanyambe (Artist-in-Residence, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity)

Bringing to light stories of the ivory trade - a challenging area for open and inclusive practice - through interdisciplinary outreach activities including a BBC Radio 4 play and curated exhibition with the National Trust for Scotland (UoY News item; OSF systematic review protocol)

Social Sciences

Supporting children with SEND in early years settings

Elizabeth Richards, Taught Postgraduate, Department of Education; Dr Gill Francis; Jessica Hume

Addressing the urgency of limited provision in meeting the needs of children with SEND (special educational needs and disability) through open practices and principles, ensuring that research findings are accessible to educators, policymakers and for a larger-scale nationwide study (OSF preregistration).