University of York academic finalist for prestigious ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize 2024.

The EU Rights and Brexit Hub is the first of its kind: a nation-wide, legal action research hub investigating how Brexit affects the social rights of EU & EEA nationals in the UK. It provides advice and support to organisations working with EU nationals and documents evidence of problems navigating EU and UK immigration and welfare law. 

The project has been instrumental in supporting NGOs such as the3million and the AIRE Centre to engage in strategic litigation shaping how rights in the Withdrawal Agreement are interpreted. Millions of individual citizens have benefited from the project’s advice.

Legal action research clinic

Professor O’Brien and her team established a legal action research clinic as part of the project, which works within The Baroness Hale Legal Clinic based at York Law School.

“It’s fantastic to have this recognition from the ESRC,” said Professor O’Brien “It means so much that the nomination was supported by brilliant people doing such important work.

“At The EU Rights and Brexit Hub we work together with the organisations supporting EU nationals and their families to improve the rights and lives of those affected by the Withdrawal Agreement. It is an honour to feature in such an impressive shortlist, and to share the story behind our impact over the last four years ever more widely.”

The Prize

The ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize is a £10,000 award which recognises the success of ESRC-funded researchers in achieving and enabling outstanding economic or societal impact from their research. 

ESRC Executive Chair Stian Westlake said of the finalists: “The Celebrating Impact Prize is the Economic and Social Research Council’s way of recognising the remarkable achievements of the UK’s outstanding economists and social scientists. 

These researchers have made valuable contributions in many fields, from reducing the impact on children of parental conflict to unveiling the corporate malfeasance involved in the Post Office scandal. They have helped to ensure people’s legal and human rights are better protected, while showing us that there may be new and better ways of organising our working lives.

I am proud that the Economic and Social Research Council has funded these valuable projects, and that we have the opportunity to celebrate the significant impact achieved.”

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society in London on 20 November 2024.

Read more about the ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize.