GW4 Open Research Prize

GW4 Open Research Prize – Winners Announced!

The GW4 Alliance is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 GW4 Open Research Prize, which celebrates excellence in open research across the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, and Exeter.

Now in its second year as a cross-alliance initiative, the Prize recognises individuals and teams advancing transparency, accessibility, and reproducibility in research. It was delivered as part of GW4 Open Research Week (31 March – 4 April 2025) and led by the University of Bath.

Researchers from all disciplines were invited to submit entries under two categories: Improving Quality and Widening Reach. A total of 47 entries were received, with shortlisted applicants presenting their work at a cross-Alliance awards event.

Winners:

• Improving Quality: Rachel Tunnicliffe (University of Bristol) – OpenGHG: A community platform for greenhouse gas data science.
• Widening Reach: Andrea Wallace and Francesca Farmer (University of Exeter), with Michael Weinberg (NYU Law) – GLAM-E Lab: Supporting open access to cultural heritage collections.

Read the full article for more details on the winners and shortlisted entries.

What is Open Research?

Open research is a broad range of practices which make research more accessible, transparent, reproducible, and visible.

The Open Research Prize, first introduced by the University of Bristol in 2021, is designed to celebrate and recognise the excellent work of researchers in making their research more accessible to all, thereby increasing its potential impact. This year we are expanding the prize to recognise the contributions of technical and research support staff who enable open research practices.

Take a look at some of last year’s winning entries for further inspiration.

A prize of £250 in vouchers was awarded to the best entry in each of the following categories:

Widening Reach:

This prize is for those who are maximising the reach of research by incorporating or enabling a range of open research practices in their work.

Applications for this category should provide:

• A summary of the research project, programme or area where their involvement to widen reach of research is evident,
• An example of the ways in which applicants have been undertaking and disseminating work using open principles,
• Submissions which can demonstrate how open research practice has enabled access to, and use of research to audiences beyond academia are particularly welcomed.

Submissions will be scored on the clarity of description, innovative approaches taken and reach of the work they have led, supported or published.

Examples:

• Publication of research under an open license.
• Dissemination of research as a pre-print.
• Publication of the study design as a Registered Report.
• Use of research methods that incorporate an open design for example participatory methods or use of citizen science.
• Creation of tools or technologies that facilitate open research and re-use of research data, code or material.
• Creating processes, protocols, or workflows that facilitate open research and re-use of research outputs in your own work, research team, lab, or department.
• Implementing, enabling or supporting any of the above as a research support staff member.

Improving Quality:

This prize is for those able to demonstrate that the quality of their research has been enhanced through the adoption of open research practices in their work.

Applications for this category should provide/be able to:

• A summary of their research project or programme, and,
• Evidence that demonstrates that the research has been undertaken and disseminated using open principles,
• Submissions should articulate how the adoption of open research methods has strengthened their work and ideally point to evidence which confirms this. For example, adoption of findings into practice, stronger relationships built on the basis of enhanced quality of work.

Submissions will be scored on the clarity of description and the extent to which quality has been improved. Panels will also consider the impact that the change in quality has had, and the extent to which this is being maximised.

Examples:

• Publication of research under an open license.
• Dissemination of research as a pre-print.
• Publication of the study design as a Registered Report.
• Use of research methods that incorporate an open design for example participatory methods or use of citizen science.
• Creation of tools or technologies that facilitate open research and re-use of research data, code or material.
• Creating processes, protocols, or workflows that facilitate open research and re-use of research outputs in your own work, research team, lab, or department.
• Implementing, enabling or supporting any of the above as a research support staff member.

Short-listed applicants for the Open Research Prize categories of Widening Reach and Increasing Quality will be asked to provide a short video presentation, and invited in-person to the event to take questions from the panel and members of the audience.

Poster Prize*: 

This prize is for those keen to demonstrate the ways in which they are exploring open research practice in their own projects and programmes, or working with others to adopt, showcase and evolve open research practice in their research teams, groups and institutions.

Posters should:

• Be conveying a clear message about open research practice that you and/or your team have been involved in, and be engaging to colleagues from across the university.

Examples of posters could include:

• Ways that research groups have supported and trained new researchers to undertake their work in different ways.
• Approaches that have been taken to recognise the range of contributions made to open research endeavour for example research development expertise, participatory partnership, data stewardship, contractual facilitation and technical facility access and management.
• Leading an effort to promote the use of open licenses in your research team.

*N.B. –  Due to an insufficient number of entries, the poster prize category did not run for the 2024/25 academic year.

Who can enter the Prize?

The Prize is open to submissions from all researchers (including postgraduate research students), in all disciplines, across the GW4 Alliance universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.

Submissions from postgraduate research students (PGRs) and early career researchers (ECRS) are particularly encouraged.

Applications from research enablers in any role are welcomed and encouraged. This could include technicians, project managers, library staff, and any other professional services staff who conduct or support open research.

How to enter the Prize:

To enter the Prize, please complete the appropriate submission template by Friday 28th February 2025,  and upload it via our online survey.

Submissions templates:

• Widening Reach/Improving Quality
• Poster Prize

The deadline for submissions is Friday 28th February 2025. Shortlisted entries will be invited to take place in an in-person awards ceremony, to be held at the University of Bath during GW4 Open Research Week, on 2^nd April 2025.

Applicants should include:

• their ORCiD on all applications;
• evidence of FAIR data principles (where appropriate);
• inclusion of Data Availability Statements in publications (where appropriate)

Further information and questions:

For further information on the GW4 Open Research Prize, or for any further questions, please contact the University of Bath’s Open Research Team via this Microsoft Form. The team will respond to queries relating to both the Open Research Prize, and the Open Research Week.

GW4 Open Research Week

This year’s GW4 Open Research Week took place from 31 March to 4 April 2025, led by the University of Bath. The week celebrated the diverse range of practices that make research more accessible, transparent, reproducible, and visible.

The theme, ‘Open Research: Open Culture’, was explored through a series of events held throughout the week. These were open to all GW4 academics, staff, and researchers, and aimed to highlight the benefits of open research and practical ways to embed open practices across the GW4 community.

Keep an eye on these pages for updates on the next GW4 Open Research Week.