UCD Celebrates Research with Real-World Impact at Research Impact Awards

Wednesday, 28 January, 2026

Prof Orla Doyle is pictured with Prof Kate Robson Brown

UCD announced the winners of the 2025 UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition at a Research Impact Awards Ceremony today, hosted by UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Kate Robson Brown.

The annual competition celebrates research from all disciplines that has made a demonstrable and positive difference beyond academia, influencing policy, practice, communities, culture, health, and society more broadly.

This year’s awards recognised an overall winner, an engaged research winner, a newly introduced policy impact winner, and nine finalists. The case studies highlight the breadth, depth and societal relevance of research taking place across the university.

This year’s overall winner is ‘Preparing for Life: changing children’s lives through early parenting support’ led by Professor Orla Doyle, UCD School of Economics & UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy. For 18 years, Professor Doyle has led one of Ireland’s longest-running randomised controlled trials, a prenatal-to-school-entry programme developed in disadvantaged Dublin communities to reduce inequalities in child development. Her research demonstrates how early investment in parenting can change children’s life trajectories.

The winner of the new Policy Impact Award is ‘Glycerol intoxication syndrome in young children following consumption of slush ice drinks’ led by Professor Ellen Crushell, UCD School of Medicine and (opens in a new window)Children’s Health Ireland. Dr Páraic Kerrigan and Dr Claire McGuinness, UCD School of Information and Communication Studies, received the Engaged Research Award for ‘Strengthening Public Library Resistance Against Far-Right Agitation’.

Nine additional finalist case studies were recognised, spanning areas such as public health, law, housing, climate change, infrastructure, culture, and digital innovation, underscoring UCD’s commitment to impactful, interdisciplinary research - all are linked below.

New to the ceremony this year was the celebration of the Images of Research Competition, which invited researchers to creatively communicate their work through compelling visual storytelling. The initiative provides researchers with a unique opportunity to engage wider audiences and promote their work in an innovative and visually engaging way.

The 2025 competition received over 140 submissions, with one overall winning image and 23 images shortlisted. The images reflect the diversity of research across UCD and offer accessible, thought-provoking insights into complex research topics. The overall winner of the images competition was Dr Katherine Fama from UCD School of English, Drama and Film with an image titled "Reclaimed & Reimagined: Later-Life Women in the Archive".

The selected images have been brought together in a specially produced Images of Research calendar. All winning and shortlisted entries can be viewed on the UCD Research website.

Speaking at the ceremony, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Kate Robson Brown, said, “Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the UCD Research Impact Case Study Awards announced today! These awards recognise not only excellent research, but research that actively engages with society and delivers tangible benefits. These case studies demonstrate how UCD researchers are contributing to knowledge, policy, practice and public understanding in meaningful and lasting ways.

"I would also like to congratulate the winner and runners up of the new Images of Research Competition! The wealth of diverse images submitted for this initiative reflects the vibrant creativity of our community. Together, these competitions highlight UCD’s strategic commitment to engaged research, policy influence, and societal impact, reinforcing the university’s role as a leader in addressing global and local challenges through research."

Details of the next round of the Impact Case Study competition will be announced in Spring. UCD researchers from every College are invited to explore the UCD Impact Toolkit and consider applying for the 2026 Competition.

The 2025 Research Impact Case Study Competition finalists are: