Celebrating Our RRI Award Winners
The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) Funding Scheme has supported researchers to deliver a wide range of RRI activities. This blog showcases the five successful awardees from 2025 and the projects they have completed.
What is RRI?
At it’s core, RRI is about taking shared responsibility for the future by thinking carefully about the social impacts of our research today. It aims to bring researchers and society closer together, creating opportunities for mutual learning by involving a wide range of external stakeholders - from communities and practitioners to policymakers and industry - throughout the research process. By encouraging openness, dialogue and collective stewardship, RRI helps researchers reflect on why their work matters, who it affects, and how it can create value for society in responsible and meaningful ways.
RRI award: Ethical and Participatory Research with Children and Young People – Johanna Quina Fustillos (School of Education)
An interactive forum in Quito, Ecuador, co‑hosted with the University Iberoamericana, explored how to carry out research with children and adolescents in ethical and genuinely participatory ways. The event brought together teachers, psychologists, lawyers, researchers, social workers and policymakers, creating a rare space to discuss the realities of childhood in Ecuador, the barriers to involving young people in research, and the responsibilities researchers have when working with vulnerable populations.
These diverse perspectives enriched conversations around ethics, challenged common assumptions about children, and highlighted the limited opportunities for young people to participate as co‑producers of research. By sharing lived research experiences and exploring practical solutions collectively, the forum raised awareness, built connections across sectors, and showcased the impact of inclusive, socially responsible research in practice.
As Johanna reflected, “It was meaningful to create a space different from typical academic events, where we could really talk about the challenges and opportunities for ethical research with young people.” She hopes to continue working with the University Iberoamericana, develop a guide to ethical research with young populations, and hold further forums of this type.
Participants take part in an interactive activity during a forum in Quito, Ecuador, co‑hosted with the University Iberoamericana. The event brought together professionals from across sectors to explore how research with children and adolescents can be more ethical, inclusive, and genuinely participatory.
RRI award: Resident Safety in Care Homes – Rebecca Talbot (School of Healthcare)
A series of stakeholder discussions explored how research could improve resident safety in UK care homes, forming part of preparatory work for a NIHR Doctoral Fellowship. The activities brought together care home staff, families and researchers to collaboratively identify priority areas for future research, focusing on inclusive, co‑produced approaches that address systemic gaps in incident response.
“I’m most proud that the activity directly shaped the research idea and strengthened the NIHR Doctoral Fellowship application,” Rebecca reflected.
Engaging stakeholders early ensured the research was grounded in lived experience, refined the research questions and methodology, and strengthened the proposal’s relevance and feasibility. Building on this work, Rebecca’s next steps include submitting the fellowship application and deepening collaboration with care home partners.
RRI award: Religious Objects Rescued from the Holocaust – Professor Jay Prosser (School of English)
Professor Jay Prosser’s project focuses on religious objects in the University of Leeds Special Collections that were stolen from Jewish communities during the Holocaust, including a desecrated Torah scroll. The RRI award helped fund a workshop to explore how these objects can serve the public good today, including their ethical care, display, and use for education, religious practice, and remembrance while respecting communities of origin. The session encouraged meaningful dialogue and reflection across different perspectives.
As Jay noted, “It was powerful to witness different stakeholders, from accomplished museum curators and Hebraicists, to community members with little prior knowledge, engaging with each other in workshops and conversation.”
The workshop has already led to follow‑on activity, including new research collaborations, advanced digital imaging of the Leeds Torah scroll, work on another rescued fragment in Manchester, and the development of a Horizon Doctoral Network grant proposal to train doctoral students in Jewish Cultural Heritage.
RRI award: Exploring Autistic Joy Through Music – Eddie Bowes (School of Design)
A series of interviews explored how new sensory musical instruments could support joy and sensory exploration for autistic individuals, forming part of a wider PhD project. Eddie’s research seeks to understand autistic joy, joy experienced through autistic traits and develop a design framework that allows this joy to be expressed through music.
Designers, autism advocates, music educators and autistic individuals shared their perspectives, helping shape the direction of the wider project and establishing early connections with potential co‑researchers.
“I am thankful I was able to engage with the autistic community early on,” Eddie said. “This has ensured that the project remains relevant, responsible, and informed by the voices of those it seeks to benefit.” These early conversations will continue to guide the project as it develops, ensuring autistic individuals remain meaningfully involved.
RRI award: STAMPS3D: Engaging Clinicians and Patients to Prevent Diabetic Foot Ulcers – Francesca Sairally (School of Mechanical Engineering)
Francesca’s research focuses on preventing foot ulcers, a serious complication of diabetes that can lead to infection, amputation and reduced quality of life. Central to this work is STAMPS3D, an in‑shoe measurement tool that captures both pressure and sideways (shear) forces to assess ulceration risk.
With support from the RRI award, Francesca brought together clinicians and people living with diabetes for three focus groups exploring current assessment methods, the limitations of existing tools, and the usability of STAMPS3D’s visual strain maps. Clinicians highlighted its potential for guiding orthotic design, offloading strategies and patient education, while patients found the visual outputs intuitive, empowering and easy to understand.
“The tool’s ability to visualise foot strain patterns within just 10 steps was particularly impactful, helping bridge the gap between abstract risk and tangible understanding,” Francesca reflected.
Early engagement has shaped STAMPS3D’s future development and demonstrated the value of inclusive practices, work Francesca will continue through upcoming proof‑of‑concept studies.
What our awardees learned along the way
Congratulations to all five of our award winners! Their projects demonstrate the value of RRI in practice, from ethical engagement with young people in Ecuador, to inclusive healthcare, co-creation activities, and cultural heritage stewardship.
Awardees shared their advice for planning and delivering effective RRI activities:
- Engage stakeholders early and throughout to refine needs, expectations and ensure the work delivers public good.
- Treat engagement as co‑creation, not consultation — stakeholders should actively shape the direction of the research.
- Design with flexibility and adapt methods to suit participants’ experiences, availability and preferences.
- Use visuals and hands‑on demonstrations to bridge technical gaps and support understanding.
- Build in time for trust, reflection and feedback, as meaningful relationships strengthen the quality of the work.
- Plan for practicalities, including follow‑up activities, local costs and payment systems, especially when working internationally.
- Listen deeply, especially when working with vulnerable groups, and recognise that community members are the experts in their own experiences.
Taken together, these reflections show how RRI not only integrates diverse voices and upholds ethical best practice but also helps foster a positive research culture, embedding collaboration, inclusivity and social responsibility at every stage of the research process.