CO-CONNECT Shortlisted for MRC award

CO-CONNECT Shortlisted for MRC award

The project is a finalist for the Medical Research Council's 2022 Open Impact Prize

By Gabriella Linning

We are delighted to announce that the CO-CONNECT project has been shortlisted in for the Medical Research Council (MRC) 2022 Impact Prize. The final results will be announced at an MRC awards ceremony in March 2023, the exact details of which are yet to be released.

The MRC Impact Prize, which recognises both individuals and groups who have made outstanding impacts in medical research, is split into three categories:

Winning entries for each of these categories will be awarded a financial prize of up to £20,000. Recipients must then put this money towards activities that either:

  • Further their learning or development;
  • Enable wider dissemination of their research impact

CO-CONNECT was nominated by team members based at The University of Nottingham for the Open Science Impact prize, under the submission title “Making COVID-19 response data FAIR“.

The Open Science Impact prize is awarded for outstanding contributions to advancing open science in medical research. That is, “developing and implementing pioneering open science practices and principles to make sure research methods, findings and outputs more accessible, transparent and reproducible.”

Each category now has three shortlisted nominations. The other finalist in the Open Science Impact category are the ‘Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET)‘ Initiative based at the University of Liverpool, and ‘Enabling rapid communication, dissemination and uptake of COVID-19 mathematical modelling‘ from Imperial College London.

We wish all finalists the very best of luck.

Jargon Buster

MRC is the shortened name for the Medical Research Council, which is responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research across the UK. It is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The action of spreading something (normally information) widely.

In this context, FAIR is an acronym for: ‘[Making COVID-19 response data] Findable, Accessible, Interoperable or Reusable’.

Where can I find out more about...

Finalists in each MRC Impact Prize 2022 category

Open Science Impact

  • COVID-19 response data FAIR‘ (CO-CONNECT) – The University of Nottingham
  • Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET)‘ Initiative – The University of Liverpool
  • Enabling rapid communication, dissemination and uptake of COVID-19 mathematical modelling‘ – Imperial College London.

Outstanding Team Impact

  • RECOVERY trial: the world’s largest study of COVID-19 therapies – The University of Oxford
  • The impact of poor menstrual health and hygiene on adolescent schoolgirls and interventions to improve girls’ health and equity‘ – Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
  • Next generation imaging of human brain function‘ – The University of Nottingham

Early Career Impact

  • Dr Natalie Shenker, Research Fellow – Imperial College London
  • Dr Segun Fatumo, Wellcome Intermediate Fellow – MRC Uganda Viral Research Institute and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Diseases
  • Dr Amy Orben, Programme Track Scientist, The University of Cambridge