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The interdisciplinary study of Black and Latino visual cultures by Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier and Dr Stephanie Lewthwaite has led to the retrieval of lost and neglected art from the 19th and 20th centuries and to the display of this artwork for the first time. The research and recovery process has provided new information for curators and archivists who have begun to change their practice to reflect this expanded canon.
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
Research undertaken in the University of Hull into systemic mediation led to the development of the Hermes Programme. This is a schools-based initiative, run by the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce in Colombia, designed to disseminate non-violent conflict resolution techniques throughout Colombian society. Hermes is currently working in 360 schools and operates with 89 professionals who work directly with schools and local communities. These professionals train approximately 50,000 people per year (students, parents, teachers, school staff and volunteers) in basic conflict resolution skills. Also, 10,000 volunteers disseminate peaceful conflict resolution methods among a wider population. By 2009, the Hermes Programme had reached over 1,200,000 people, and in February to June 2013 alone, over 343,000 individuals attended Hermes talks on peaceful conflict resolution, showing a substantial recent increase in the reach of the programme.
Cathy McIlwaine's research has raised the profile of Latin Americans in London and placed the community more centrally in public debates and policy frameworks. McIlwaine provided the first official estimate of the size of the Latin American population in London in 2011, and this led Southwark local authority to formally recognise Latin/South Americans as a distinct group in their ethnic monitoring, in order to improve their access to health and welfare services. Her work has informed the work of charities, NGOs and lobbyists, leading to the creation of the Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK and the expansion of services at the Latin American Women's Rights Service. It has also been used by Latin American consulates to provide evidence about their communities in London, and has improved public awareness of the Latin American community in the capital, including providing a key source and inspiration for the play Juana in a million by Vicky Araico Casas, performed to over 7,000 people in the UK and Mexico.
In genetic studies of human disease it is now routine for studies to collect genetic data on thousands of individuals with and without a particular disease. However, the genetic data collected is incomplete, with many millions of sites of the genome unmeasured. The novel methods and software (IMPUTE) developed by researchers at the University of Oxford predict unobserved genetic data using reference datasets.
IMPUTE has been adopted by the company Affymetrix in the design of custom genotyping chips. Affymetrix recently won the tenders by the UK Biobank and UKBiLEVE studies to genotype >500,000 participants, with a total study cost of ~£25M. The company states that IMPUTE gave their project bid a significant competitive advantage. Affymetrix also purchased the IMPUTE source code for £250,000. In addition, Roche Pharmaceuticals have used the software in their research on the genetic basis of drug response. The use of imputation has saved Roche ~$1,000,000.
The range, quantity and quality of Hispanic theatre production, film exhibition and cultural understanding in the UK has been significantly enhanced by the research on Spanish-language stage and screen cultures by Professor Maria Delgado (at QMUL since 1997). The body of knowledge she has generated has led to significant impact in three key areas: i) opening up public discourse on Hispanic cultures; ii) improving the programming and circulation of Spanish-language theatre and film; and iii) contributing to creative and economic prosperity through consultancy and advocacy in the creative industries in the UK and Spain.
The University of Surrey has established the International Guitar Research Centre, led by Prof. Steve Goss and Dr. Milton Mermikides, a central strand of which experiments with the innovative use of acoustic resonance.
Practice-based research outcomes (compositions) have created impact as artworks, having been recorded on Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Telarc, Naxos, and Virgin Classics. CD sales emerging from the project are in excess of 200,000. The compositions have been performed internationally by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Barcelona Symphony Orchestra.
The new techniques developed at Surrey are utilised by renowned musicians, such as John Williams, Xuefei Yang, Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Russell, and Miloš Karadaglić.
Northern Lights was a University of Edinburgh research project that engaged members of the Scottish public in documenting their lives on camera. Its objective was to create a novel, multi-perspective documentary portrait of the Scottish nation in 2012. The project had enormous scope: press and media impact reached over 4 million people. Northern Lights made its impact by empowering the 1,500 individuals who contributed video portraits to explore issues such as addiction, disabilities and mental health. Northern Lights thus opened up a unique opportunity for participants to represent their experience, voicing, for themselves and for a wider, national audience, often poorly understood and neglected sectors of society.
Research by the University of Reading's Dr Matthew Nicholls on the architecture and topography of ancient Rome has created a world-class digital asset - a huge and complex architectural model of the city. This visual resource, and the research underpinning it, harnesses new technologies and has advanced understanding of the urban environment of ancient Rome and the relationship of its buildings to each other and to the city's topography. The exceptional impact of this work is evident in various fields related to enhanced public understanding, notably: i) commercial publication and broadcast work, ii) pedagogical practice in universities and schools and iii) the travel industry.
DU researchers have delivered their innovative model of participatory action research (PAR) with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums Service (TWAM, a major regional museum service in the North east, comprising seven museums and galleries) to further social inclusion and deepen participation from socially marginalised groups. Research findings have led to: (1) enhanced income generation for TWAM, with bids citing DU research bringing in more than £0.5m at a time of shrinking resource for the museum sector; (2) the development of a major new museum gallery, which opened in July 2013; and (3) changes to professional practice consequent upon intensifying the practice of participatory working within TWAM.