Explore Awards: successful awards

The Explore Awards have supported researchers across a range of inspiring projects. Read further details about the successful projects
Jenny Gales

Explore Awards: successful awards

The Explore Awards have supported researchers across a range of inspiring projects. Read further details about the successful projects
The Explore Awards aim to assist researchers, with priority for Early Career Researchers, in a range of ways to support their public engagement with research.

I think the award scheme provides an excellent opportunity for university researchers to carry out small-scale public facing projects.

 

2025 award winners

  • Jenny Gales

    Dr Jenny Gales

  • Gary Hodge

    Dr Gary Hodge

  • Daniela Oehring

    Dr Daniela Oehring

  • Nicole Thomas

    Dr Nicole Thomas

  • Kirsty Matthews Nicholass

    Dr Kirsty Matthews Nicholass

  • Lee Hutt

    Dr Lee Hutt

Under Ice, Fire and Water 

The aim of this project is to engage the public (schools, colleges, wider interest groups, researchers) with ocean exploration research, in the form of a 360-degree immersive film experience. The film will be showcased (over a 3ñޓ6-month period) at a range of international locations, including the Market Hall, ñ. The film will also be uploaded to publicly available online viewing platforms such as YouTube.
This film will stimulate discussion and collaboration between international researchers, bringing together a diverse range of people at the public engagement events and potentially driving future research questions and international partnerships. 

Dementia Pathway ñޓ Journey Mapping Project

This project proposes to produce a journey mapping as a visual representation of the potential contact points between people with dementia and their care partners and dementia pathway providers in ñ using a fictional character (persona).
This is a pilot project to establish if journey mapping could be used as a way of collecting (qualitative) data collaboratively with people living with dementia, their care partners and health and care stakeholders and to support future research methodology and awards.  

Making Brain-Imaging Procedures Dementia-Friendly

This project will engage directly with individuals with dementia, their carers, and relevant stakeholders in co-designing dementia-friendly protocols for brain-imaging studies. Building upon relationships with the Academic Partnerships Lead for Dementia to understand the best approach to engaging with the dementia community.
On project completion, it is expected that the project outputs will be used to inform a large-scale study that refines and evaluates the dementia-friendly brain-imaging protocols with the dementia community beyond ñ, nationally and internationally. 

Research Village

As part of the 2025 annual Stoke Village Fun Day, the aims of the research village will be to provide opportunities for residents, researchers, and community organisations, to highlight and engage with what it is happening within their local community and to collaborate on health-related research that reflect and respond to the communityñޙs priorities.
A key feature of the research village will be its collaborative design. Stoke community members will guide the development of the research village, from selecting health topics and projects to designing activities that encourage engagement through regular ñޘhealth chatsñޙ before the event. 

A collaboration between Science and Theatre

ñޜThe Mushroom Showñޝ is aimed at showcasing the integration of academic research and creative disciplines with public and community settings. This show explores how multigenerational relationships within society can benefit from lessons learned from fungi, with the aim to adopt cohesion with local communities. This mini-project focuses on how science and the arts can engage the community and inspire future scientists.
The film will serve as an educational tool that can reach a wider audience, beyond those who attend the show. By including ñޜeducational snippetsñޝ, the film will help introduce key themes in mycology and the role of fungi in the environment. Additionally, it will function as a ñޜcase-studyñޝ video within the University, demonstrating the impact of interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement where researchers can enhance the outreach of their own research. 

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) ñޓ Educational Initiatives

This proposal seeks to enhance public awareness and engagement on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through educational initiatives, including an exhibit at the Roman Baths Museum (the Roman Baths hot spring in Bath is a source of potentially novel antimicrobials), public workshops, and collaborative partnerships. The goal is to foster responsible antimicrobial use and drive meaningful behaviour change across communities.
The project will educate children and teenagers about infection prevention and antimicrobial use and build a foundation of awareness that can sustain responsible behaviour into adulthood. This early engagement is crucial, as it is the under-18 generation which could face an adulthood without effective antibiotics. 
Listening, Learning, and Co-Creating: Embedding Childrenñޙs and Parentsñޙ voices in Nursing and Midwifery Research

Mrs Danielle Edge and Miss Nicola Fielding
Faculty of Health
 
This project aims to establish children and parentsñޙ PPIE research groups to build sustainable partnerships between SNaM and local communities, by designing and facilitating public engagement events for local children, young people and their families, and community organisations, where we explore how children, young people, and families wish to be involved in shaping nursing and midwifery research within SNaM. 
We develop a framework to embed the voices of children, young people and their families within the existing SNaM PPIE and research strategies.
Cosmic Dust in the City: Engaging Communities in the Search for Urban Micrometeorites

Dr Stephen Grimes
Faculty of Science and Engineering

This project will engage the public in ñ and surrounding areas in an exciting scientific endeavour: the search for urban micrometeoritesñޔtiny fragments of cosmic material that fall to Earth daily. 
Micrometeorites are a strategic asset for UK planetary science, providing pristine samples of the Solar Systemñޙs building blocks (asteroids, comets). They offer insights into early planetary formation, Earthñޙs atmospheric history, and climate evolution through modern and fossilized collections
Young Voices and Future Nurses: Child-led Co-Creation of Nursing Curricula

Dr Kathrin Paal

Building upon AHRC IAA-funded research that explored how childrenñޙs nursing students and lecturers understand children as social actors in healthcare, this project takes the critical next step: involving children themselves in co-creating educational resources that will shape the future of paediatric nursing education.

This Explore Award will bring together primary school-aged children (aged 7-11, both with and without health conditions and/or hospital experiences) and childrenñޙs nursing students in collaborative workshops.
Meaningful engagement with communities that mistrust institutions

Dr Katie McBride
Faculty of Art, Humanities and Business
Working with transmasculine individuals [trans men, non-binary people, masculine-presenting people assigned female at birth] we pilot participatory approaches centering community voice in determining whether, when, and how research should proceed. 
These communities experience disproportionate violence, mental health challenges, and healthcare barriers, yet remain invisible in research. Whilst trans-women receive significant attention, transmasculine experiences are profoundly under-explored. 
Many remain hidden, fearing harm from research that has historically pathologised their identities. Through pilot activities, we will test engagement approaches, explore community priorities, and create replicable frameworks strengthening the University's capacity for ethical engagement. 
Recognising that traditional research methods (interviews, surveys) may exclude cautious participants, we introduce innovative, creative and sensory approaches including immersive technologies, and digital forms of storytelling as accessible alternatives that honour different ways of knowing and communicating.
Collaborative and community-led research in the Maya-Achí territory - Guatemala

Dr Nathan Einbinder
Faculty of Science and Engineering

Over the past three decades, the Association of Committees for Community Production (ACPC), has mobilised and trained hundreds of Indigenous Maya-Achí farmers to restore the local watershed by promoting agroforestry; enhance organic vegetable, coffee, fruit, and grain production by teaching new and ancestral techniques; and become more resilient to climate change and other challenges. 
Recent programmes include innovations around locally made bio-fertilisers, construction of water catchment systems, and producing gas for cooking stoves through small-scale bio-digesters.
This award will provide the necessary financial support and technical assistance to help fulfil a requirement and stated goal, by ACPC leadership and members, to generate quantifiable evidence about their work and its impacts, as well as a long-time ambition to develop their own research questions and participate fully in data gathering processes and analysis. 
The project will assist in co-creating a research design, as well as organise training sessions for technicians on how to conduct effective and ethical fieldwork and systematically analyse their work.
Safe Meds Ghana: Community Awareness on Substandard and Falsified Medicines

Dr Maysa Falah
Peninsula Medical School ñޓ Faculty of Health

This project aims to design, deliver and evaluate a feasible, community-focused pilot awareness campaign to strengthen public understanding of SF medicines in Ghana through co-created engagement activities.

The project team will organise and deliver a participatory pilot community workshop, working with local pharmacies, community venues and outreach organisations to support recruitment and accessibility. 
Sessions will use interactive discussion, scenario-based learning and visual tools to maximise accessibility and knowledge retention. This supports inclusive participation and enables communities to relate content to everyday medicine purchasing behaviours.
Post-Plastic Ecologies: Indigenous Knowledge, Biomimetics, and Material Futures in Practice

Dr Ivan Tacey
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business

This project develops an Indigenous-led, interdisciplinary methodology for exploring sustainable alternatives to plastics grounded in Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), biomimetics, decolonial anthropology, environmental criminology, and participatory arts-based research.

In this feasibility project, we will conduct two community-led workshops, undertake field-based material exploration with Orang Asli knowledge holders and biomimetics experts, and hold two UK workshops where the team will produce early-stage material prototypes and an integrated ethical approach and methodology. These outputs will form the basis of a large grant application aimed at the AHRC.