LJMU Wins Double in Inaugural TrackImpact.org Project Competition

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has triumphed in two of three categories at the first-ever TrackImpact Global Project Competition.

The competition recognises some of the exceptional societal, economic, environmental and cultural impact delivered by researchers around the world, with entries drawn from projects live on the TrackImpact global collaboration platform.

With three categories open to contestants, LJMU’s Dr Emma Ashworth and Dr Joanna Kirkby triumphed in the People’s Choice for Most Engaging Project category for their work on Act, Listen, Act, while the institution also received the Most Overall Votes prize for its collective entries. Meanwhile, the Vertigo Ventures Choice for Most Outstanding Project was received by the University of Wollongong.

The winning team conducted Act, Listen, Act across a range of schools in Liverpool, analysing the impact of the pandemic on children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and delivering priorities for policy and practice to support recovery going forward.

LJMU’s success in the overall votes category was driven by its wide range of strong impact projects. These include several entries from the FaceLab, which uses digital rendering technology to animate famous historical figures, such as Robert the Bruce and Robert Burns, and allow viewers to experience how they would have appeared and spoken.

More information about all of the winners, including interviews and video explorations of the projects, is available at the Vertigo Ventures website.

Diana Leighton, Head of Research Excellence and Research Strategy at LJMU, commented:

“Liverpool John Moores University has a strong commitment to delivering excellence across research and impact. It is so exciting to have such a wide range of wonderful projects to enter into the TrackImpact competition and I am very proud of the success our teams have produced.”

Andy Styles, Head of Engagement at Vertigo Ventures, added:

“The world is facing worsening and intersecting crises, which makes it even more important to recognise, celebrate and accelerate the outstanding positive impact that is being achieved by individuals and organisations. Congratulations to Dr Ashworth, Dr Kirkby and all of the teams at Liverpool John Moores for their fantastic efforts and commitment to delivering wide-reaching and significant impact, which have rightly received global recognition. When dealing with complex challenges such as the SDGs, cross-sector, international collaboration is the only way we will be successful.”

About LJMU

Liverpool John Moores University is a distinctive, unique institution, rooted in the Liverpool City Region but with a global presence. Our students and staff, past, present, and future, are the beating heart of our city and can be found in every corner of every industry and community. We couldn’t exist anywhere else and have shaped this place we belong to. Working with the people of our city to improve lives and support communities is at the heart of why we were founded and why we exist today. Growing and supporting our community is a commitment to work in partnership on an inclusive and positive future for all of those around us. The world is changing at incredible speed, and we believe our mission is to develop exciting, brave, resilient people and embrace effective, impactful change.

TrackImpact

TrackImpact™ is a free-to-access solution that accelerates positive social, economic and environmental impact by enabling sectors as diverse as research, science, industry, policy, funding, academia and more to work together on critical projects for achieving a sustainable future.

The platform is creating a global impact-conscious community today for a sustainable tomorrow.

Every project is directly mapped to the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which permits accurate tracking of progress against objective impact metrics. Through intuitive search and filtering functionality, the platform makes it easy for users to identify projects that can benefit from their skillset or resources – and then to request collaboration opportunities.

About Vertigo Ventures

Vertigo Ventures are experts in research impact, supporting individuals and organisations across the globe in capturing, measuring, understanding and reporting their social, economic, environmental, cultural and other impact. The company delivers a range of services, including its ImpactEcosystem™ suite, that converges ImpactAcademy™ (eLearning), ImpactReviewer™ (Impact Case Study (ICS) optimisation), ImpactTracker™ (capturing, measuring and reporting impact data and evidence) and TrackImpact (global research collaboration platform).