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• The Adam Weiler PGR Impact Award
• • The Adam Weiler PGR Impact Award - previous winners

The Adam Weiler PGR Impact Award

Recognising and celebrating outstanding academic impact among postgraduate researchers

The Adam Weiler Impact Award is available to exceptional researchers currently registered for a postgraduate research degree at Sussex, who demonstrate the potential to achieve outstanding impact in their field. 

The annual award is offered as the result of a generous donation to the University in memory of Adam Weiler, a former student at Sussex. 

On offer are four prizes of £1,000 in four discipline-based categories, which now match the University's Faculty structure:

• University of Sussex Business School
• Media, Arts and Humanities
• Social Sciences
• Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Postgraduate researchers (PGRs) must be nominated by their supervisor, and the prize money must be put towards the recipient's research.

Prizes will be handed out during the Sussex Awards ceremony in April, and award recipients will share their work and its impact at a panel session during the Summer of Research in June.

2025 Winners
Read about the work of our incredible 2025 winners on Broadcast.

Sciences

• Winner: Marianne Glascott (Life Sciences)

Social Sciences

• Winner: Guy Edwards (Global Studies)

Clinical Projects

• Winner: Christina Niki Kampoureli (Brighton and Sussex Medical School)

Arts and Humanities

• Winner: Tiffany Murphy (Media, Arts and Humanities)

Guidance for nominations

Supervisors are invited to submit nominations for PGRs who are able to demonstrate the following:

• Notable innovation in research (e.g. use of innovative methods for conducting research, or conducting research on a highly innovative topic)

• Conducting high-quality research with significant or ground-breaking implications for theory or practice, or important implications beyond academia

• Evidence of outstanding public engagement or other knowledge transfer activity, going beyond the simple dissemination of their research

• Evidence of exceptional achievement during their postgraduate research (e.g. writing journal articles or conference papers, leading research groups, involvement in national bodies, influencing policy etc.)

Evidence or a clear statement must be provided for each criterion. A nominee may not meet all four criteria but can still receive an award if they are exceptional in other categories. See the list of previous winners for examples of the impact PGRs can make. 

Nominations must also include a single image showing the impact of the nominee's work. The image will not be assessed as part of the submission. In providing the image, permission is given for it to be used in publicly available Sussex Researcher School communications relating to the Award across the website and other channels, and at University events such as recruitment evenings and inductions.

Selection process

Nominations will be assessed according to the degree to which the postgraduate researcher meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the Guidance for nominations section above.

Nominations are double reviewed to avoid bias and subject-specific knowledge, using selection criteria provided by SRS to ensure equitable processes across the board. 

For 2026, the reviewing and selection process will be managed within each Faculty, with no central selection panel. Reviewers should be drawn from the pool of academic staff in different departments across the Faculty.

Terms and conditions

Awards are offered subject to the following terms and conditions:

• The awarded funds must be used towards the recipient's research (for example conference attendance or purchase of essential equipment). This must be agreed with the Sussex Researcher School (SRS) and the School's finance officers before funds are spent, or you may not be reimbursed.
• Prize money will be transferred into a nominated School budget on 1 August following the award, giving recipients a year to spend funds, unless there is an immediate use for the funds, as agreed with SRS and the recipient's School finance officers.
• The awarded funds must be spent in a timely manner, within the following financial year; by 15 July 2027 at the latest.
• Recipients are expected to attend the University's Sussex Awards ceremony on Wednesday 29 April, to receive their award, or to nominate a stand-in if they are unable to attend.
• Recipients are expected to take part in a panel discussing their work and its impact at an event during the Summer of Research in May/June; and to be interviewed for the SRS and/or University communications about their research and the impact of winning the award.