In May 2025, the University of Sunderland ran its first Open Research Competition to celebrate, recognise and reward the adoption of Open Research Practices amongst our research students and staff.
The competition was sponsored by the Research and Graduate School and ran by the Research and Scholarly Communications team(University of Sunderland Library).
All researchers (staff and postgraduate research students) were eligible to enter. Entries could be submitted by individual or by teams. We encouraged applications from researchers from all disciplinary areas and from a diverse range of backgrounds, identities and communities.
We offered prizes in two categories:
In this section of our guide, you will be able to explore how the four winners of the 2025 competition engaged in Open Research and get inspired to engage in Open Research as well.
For advice and support on open research contact the research and scholarly communications team: sure@sunderland.ac.uk
In the PGR/ECR category:
1st Prize: Ati Omrani - Lecturer in Health and Social Care - University of Sunderland in London (ECR)
Ati's application described her engagement with a range of open research practices (pre-registration, open access publishing, data sharing and open methodology in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) assessing the effectiveness of a specialised training programme aimed at reducing anxiety and perceived pain in infertile women undergoing hysterosalpingography (HSG).
Linked research output: Daneshfar, Z, Jahanian Sadatmahalleh, SH, Hosseini, S Z, Alhani, F, Ahmadi, F and Omrani, Atefeh (2024) A randomized controlled trial on the impact of a specialized training program on anxiety and perceived pain in infertile women undergoing hysterosalpingography. Scientific Reports. ISSN 2045-2322 https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/18464/
Runner up : Ali Amer - PhD student in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing supervised by Cheng Shu Chaw, Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics and Professor Amal Elkordy Professor of Pharmaceutics.
This application was for a team project which involved Ali Amer, Cheng Shu Chaw, Amal Elkordi and Lewis Bingle. They worked on developing peptide-loaded niosomes using microfluidics, with a novel extension into oral film formulations as a final dosage form.
Ali presented an application that showed engagement with open access publishing, data sharing and the use of CRediT taxonomy recognising the range of contributions to a research project.
Linked research output: Amer, Ali, Bingle, Lewis, Chaw, Cheng and Elkordy, Amal (2025) Development of vancomycin, a glycopeptide antibiotic, in a suitable nanoform for oral delivery. Molecules, 30 (1624). ISSN 1420-3049
https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/18958/
In the Research staff category:
1st Prize: Professor Angela Smith - Professor of Language and Culture - Faculty of Education, Society and Creative Industries
Angela's application described her engagement with open research trough participatory and inclusive research methods. The project The Rebel Women of Sunderland encouraged research in the history of key women with a connection to Sunderland. Participants (secondary school teachers and students) were encouraged to become history detectives collaborating in the creation of resources for the public. Some of this research can be found on the Seagull City Website. In addition, data about Eileen O’Shaughnessy will be made available through the LSE George Orwell archive. Angela said: "In involving these communities in the research, they have developed a greater sense of belonging and pride in their heritage."
Runner up: Dr Helen Smith - Lecturer in Print Making - Faculty of Education Society and Creative Industries
The project also looked at the connection between open research and collaborative and participatory research practices. In an exploration of youth led 1980's music collectives in the North East (The Bunker and The Garage), Helen Smith and her collaborator Dr Wendy Gill engaged in co-designing research to allow for the voice of these communities to be at the core of the project. A range of outputs including an exhibition allowed for the dissemination of the research.
Linked research output: Smith, Helen and Gill, Wendy (2023) Tyne & Wear Music/Youth Collectivism from the 1980s and beyond…. Public discussion event Youth / Music Collectives: Exploring the legacy, Saturday 25th November, Newcastle Contemporary Art. https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/18303/