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Professor Lynn Ang introduces IOE Impact Stories 2024 and Dr Zoë Gallant reflects on her experience with the IOE Early Career Impact Fellowship.
IOE Impact Stories 2024: Developing a new generation of researchers
I am delighted to introduce IOE Impact Stories 2024. Our special focus this year is celebrating the work of a new generation of IOE researchers.
The articles featured in this publication are authored by researchers who have been recipients of the IOE Early Career Impact Fellowship since its inception in 2021. The Fellowship is a five-month researcher development programme that provides funding for early-career researchers to deliver a series of initiatives that promote the engagement and impact of their work. Supporting researcher development is the IOE’s key strategic priority. Each year, a cohort of Fellows work with IOE’s Research Development Team alongside senior academic staff and external collaborators to develop their impact skills and knowledge, leading to career development and further funding opportunities. The success of this programme is evidenced by the many achievements of the Fellows since being awarded the Fellowship.
The collection of stories showcases the exciting work that the researchers have undertaken in collaboration with policymakers, practitioners, young people and under-represented groups in research on a host of pressing issues. These include research to better understand the disruption caused by COVID-19 in schools, ways to improve inclusive education in Ecuador, and the work with Muslim communities to explore climate change.
As IOE Pro-Director and Vice-Dean Research, I am delighted and privileged to witness first-hand the dedication and enthusiasm of these researchers as they embark on their journey to deliver innovative and impactful research.
I would like to thank everyone at IOE and beyond who have contributed to the Impact Stories 2024. My appreciation of the funding from the UCL Research Culture team for their continued support for IOE’s impact culture activities. Most of all, I would like to thank all our early and mid-career researchers for their valued contributions to making IOE the home of a truly vibrant and inclusive research community.
Professor Lynn Ang
Pro-Director and Vice-Dean Research
IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
Supporting inclusive engagement and impact
As a previous fellow, I wanted to reflect on the value of the programme from the perspective of an Early Career Researcher.
My experiences as a PhD student made me question who I was doing my research for. The tools I used and the communities that engaged with my work didn’t represent the communities I wanted to reach. The Impact Fellowship gave me the space to step back and properly understand how to work in more inclusive ways, which has helped my research have a much broader reach and impact on the physical and cognitive health of older people.
Zoë Gallant
Academic Inclusion Lead for the Department of Psychology and Human Development, Lecturer in Psychology and IOE Early Career Impact Fellow 2022–23
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Sarah-Jane Gregori for UCL IOE.