(Bonus) Embodying Impact: A Conversation with Early Career Impact Prize Winners

Research Culture Uncovered

In our Research Culture Uncovered conversations we are asking what is Research Culture and why does it matter?

In this really special bonus episode Ged Hall talks to Dr Vicki Jenneson and Dr Fran Pontin. Vicki is a Research Fellow and works in the School of Food Science and Nutrition and her research interests are focused on nutrition and lifestyle analytics. Fran is a Research Data Scientist in the Consumer Data Research Centre and part-time Lecturer in the Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy in the School of Geography.

They are both members of the Consumer Research Data Centre’s (CDRC) Nutrition and Lifestyle Analytics Team that won the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Celebrating Impact Prize in the ‘Outstanding Impact in Business and Enterprise’ category.

Their project, ‘Enhancing retailer knowledge and building capacity using consumer data.’, is a collaboration with Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) and major retailers, including Asda and Sainsbury’s, that delivers evidence-based research about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to encouraging healthy behaviours in consumers.

Vicki and Fran are both early career researchers who started their PhDs in 2017 in the first cohort of the Data Analytics and Society Centre for Doctoral Training funded by ESRC. This episode focuses in on the development of their academic identifies and the role research impact plays in this. This can often be intimidating for researchers who are early in their research careers.

The discussion was prompted by a chapter Ged wrote with Dr Helen Morley and Dr Tony Bromley called ‘Uncertainty and Confusion: The starting point of all expertise’ (in the book Research Impact and the Early Career Researcher). The chapter explores issues such as imposter syndrome (and its three types ‘existentialists’ who seek external validation, ‘aspirants’ who are striving for an idealised academic identity and those who self-perceive themselves as intellectually inferior) and the three trajectories of developing an academic identity (intellectual, institutional and networking) that were proposed by McAlpine and others (in the book Becoming an Academic).

The main points from the discussion include:

• The significance of collaborative work across professional and academic teams and the advantages of building networks in conducting impactful research, as noted by Vicki.
• Both Vicki and Fran's candid admission that there's still much to learn and explore about research impact - reinforcing that it's OK to have uncertainties and questions.
• The importance of communicating complex data science methods and results in a clear, convincing manner to non-data scientists. This is a skill that Vicki and Fran emphasize can make a significant difference in the impact of research.

But the most importantly take away is that early career researchers can and do contribute significantly to the generation of prize winning and important impact.

You can find out more about the prize, the project and CDRC via these links:

• Economics and Social Research Council Celebrating Impact Prize 2023 Winners all the winners of the various categories
• ESRC produced video about the CDRC winning project
• Faculty of Environment Announcement of the award
• Full livestream of the award ceremony on 15th November 2024
• Consumer Data Research Centre website

You can follow CDRC, Vicki and Fran via these social media channels:

• CDRC on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
• Vicki on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
• Fran on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)

All of our episodes can be accessed via the following playlists:

• Research Impact with Ged Hall (follow Ged on Twitter and LinkedIn)
• Open Research with Nick Sheppard (follow Nick on Twitter and LinkedIn)
• Research Careers with Ruth Winden (follow Ruth on Twitter and LinkedIn)
• Research talent management with Tony Bromley (follow Tony on Twitter and LinkedIn)
• Meet the Research Culturositists with Emma Spary (follow Emma on Twitter and LinkedIn)
• Research co-production

Follow us on twitter: @ResDevLeeds (new episodes are announced here), @OpenResLeeds, @ResCultureLeeds

Connect to us on LinkedIn: @ResearchUncoveredPodcast (new episodes are announced here)

Leeds Research Culture links:

• Researcher Development and Culture Website
• Our Concordat Implementation plans and progress
• University of Leeds Research Culture Statement
• University of Leeds Responsible Metrics Statement
• University of Leeds Open Research Statement
• University of Leeds Research Culture Strategy - launched September 2023