Welcome to UEA's Innovation and Impact Awards
The annual Innovation and Impact Awards celebrate the remarkable research and entrepreneurial spirit of UEA staff, students and graduates, as well as the important collaborative work with our valued partners beyond the University.
The Awards recognise and reward projects which are changing lives, helping shape our understanding of the world, and addressing local and global challenges.
The 2025 Innovation and Impact Awards ceremony took place on Thursday 22 May where the winners were announced. Find out who the winners were below and find out more about all the 2025 winners and finalists here and on the UEA for Business YouTube channel.
If you are interested in applying for the Innovation and Impact Awards 2026 please email uea.innovation@uea.ac.uk to be the first to hear when entries are open.
The winners of the Innovation and Impact Awards 2025 are:
Award for Student or Graduate Innovation and Enterprise
Winner: YakBit – the inclusion focused training tool: Mary-Jo Hill (NBS alumna)
Knowledge Exchange Project of the Year
Winner:
Knowledge Transfer Partnership: Embedding an innovative materials science and digital skills approach to transform healthy snack product development, processes and production: Prof Sheng Qi (CPP) and Dr Tomás Harrington (NBS)
Outstanding Commercialisation of Research
Winner:
Commercialisation of the Norwich Human Gut Platform to accelerate development of improved treatments for gastrointestinal disease: Dr Mark Williams (BIO)
Outstanding Impact in Health, Wellbeing and Welfare
Winner:
Cessation of Smoking Trial in the Emergency Department (COSTED): Dr Ian Pope and Prof Caitlin Notley (MED)
Outstanding Impact in Policy and Practice
Winner:
Protecting society and preventing harm: Policy innovation in platform regulation: Dr Sally Broughton Micova (PPA)
Outstanding Social or Cultural Impact
Winner:
Penning Poison: neighbours and anonymous Wicked Little Letters: Dr Emily Cockayne
(HIS)
Partnership of the Year
Winner:
Tastebuds Collective Limited – the collective for food and drink innovators: Alex Larter (RIN)
Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Achievement
Winner:
Maintaining birth family contact for adopted children: supporting changes in professional culture and practice: Prof Elsbeth Neil (SWK)