Stamp of approval that travels well and inspires confidence

Research Project of the Year

Richard Begent's project has gone from strength to strength since winning last year's Times Higher award for Research Project of the Year.

And Professor Begent, chairman of the National Cancer Research Institute Informatics Initiative, is so pleased with the award that he uses it in presentations. "That kind of accolade is influential as well as being pleasing and encouraging for the people working on the project," he said.

"We take the award with us wherever we go and have it on our stand. It helps people feel they are supporting something that's got a stamp of approval."

The initiative, run by the Royal Free and University College London Medical School, aims to get people to share their research data for the greater good of the scientific community, a concept alien to many researchers.

"A lot of people have mentioned the award, and it seems to have helped produce culture change in the UK.

"Now, when we travel around, there's more openness to people making a great contribution by sharing their information," Professor Begent said.

Young Researcher of the Year

Julie Macpherson, a researcher at Warwick University's chemistry department, was inundated with calls from the media after becoming the first Times Higher Young Researcher of the Year.

"It was a little frightening at first, but I found it a really good opportunity to present the work I do to the general public. One of my main bugbears is the portrayal of scientists as boffins in white coats," she said.

"One of the nicest things that happened to me was when a student from the department came up to me and told me what an inspiration I was," Ms Macpherson added.

The judges for both awards this year will be Dame Nancy Rothwell, pro vice-chancellor for research at Manchester University; Peter Atkins, SmithKline Beecham Fellow at Oxford University; and Philip Esler, chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

To enter: www.thes.co.uk/awards