Warwick Open Research Awards 2025
The Library is excited to announce the launch of the Warwick Open Research Awards 2025. Part of the "Advancing Open Research and Data Stewardship" project funded by Enhancing Research Culture at Warwick, these awards will celebrate researchers across all disciplines and career stages who exemplify outstanding open research practices.
The awards are funded by the Spotlight Programme.
Open research matters and should be recognised across all academic disciplines. At Warwick, this aligns with our institutional commitment to fostering a research culture that is transparent, inclusive, and impactful - as outlined in the Institutional Open Access Policy, Research Strategy and Research Culture Initiatives. Open Research also serves as a catalyst for collaborative, interdisciplinary, and digitally enabled innovation.
The University's dedication to open research is further demonstrated through initiatives led by the Open Research Group, which supports practices such as open-access publishing, data sharing and re-use, and the adoption of open research tools.
The Warwick Open Research Awards aim to:
- Recognise researchers who are embedding openness, transparency, reproducibility, and collaboration in their work.
- Amplify engagement with open research across disciplines.
- Support career development, particularly for early career researchers.
- Showcase and celebrate open research practices and recognise digital innovation.
- Strengthen Warwick’s focus in open, interdisciplinary, and digital scholarship.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and celebrating the inspiring open research practices happening across our community!
Award Categories
There will be four award categories—one for each university faculty, plus one interdisciplinary award:
- Faculty of Arts
- Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Interdisciplinary Open Research Award (for research that spans multiple disciplines)
Each category will award as below
- 1st Place: £300 voucher
- 2nd Place: £150 voucher
Assessment Criteria and Approach
Submissions will be assessed against the following four criteria, with consideration of disciplinary norms, research context, and the role of digital practices. We welcome the diversity of open research approaches across disciplines, methods, and outputs. Submissions from students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged and appreciated.
- Openness, Accessibility and Reusability: Evidence that research outputs (e.g., data, code, publications, methods) are openly shared using appropriate digital infrastructures and licences, following FAIR principles where possible.
- Application of Open and Digital Research Techniques: Evidence of use of open research practices such as open data sharing, pre-registration, open methods, open-source software, version-controlled collaboration, open peer review, or open educational resources, supported by digital tools and platforms.
- Collaboration, Inclusivity, and Knowledge Exchange: Evidence of inclusive and collaborative research, including interdisciplinary engagement, digital public involvement, citizen science, and efforts to broaden access across academic and non-academic communities.
- Impact and Innovation in Open and Digital Research: Demonstrated impact of open and digital research practices on research quality, reproducibility, visibility, or societal engagement. Evidence of contribution to advancing open research infrastructure, methods, or culture within the discipline, institution, or broader community.
Eligibility:
Applications are open to all researchers, staff and postgraduate students, from all disciplines and career stages across the University of Warwick.
How to Apply:
Applications are now open until the 23rd June 2025 here: https://forms.office.com/e/Wu3TJyTUxD
Entrants should submit a description of a past or current project or activity (max 250 words) explaining how it meets the award criteria. Supporting materials (such as links to open datasets, posters, or testimonials) are welcomed.
Authors will be notified about the outcomes by the 1st July 2025 by email.
Recognition and Celebration:
Winners will be announced at the “Advancing Open Research and Data Stewardship Symposium” in the 14th July 2025, where awardees will also have the opportunity to showcase their work in this event open to the University and external attendees.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and celebrating the inspiring open research practices happening across our community!