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York professor wins top award for Outstanding Public Policy Impact

York professor wins top award for Outstanding Public Policy Impact

Posted on 22 November 2024

Professor Charlotte O'Brien has won a prestigious award in recognition of her work in setting up a legal action research hub investigating how Brexit affects the social rights of millions of EU citizens living in the UK.

Professor O’Brien collected her award at a ceremony in London.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Celebrating Impact Awards recognise researchers who have achieved impact through exceptional research, knowledge exchange activities, collaborative partnerships and community engagement.

Professor O’Brien from York Law School at the University of York received her award for Outstanding Public Policy Impact at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 20 November.

Secure rights

The award recognises her work on the EU Rights and Brexit Hub, a first of its kind, nation-wide hub which uses strategic legal action to help shape and secure the rights of more than six million EU nationals residing in the UK.

In an unprecedented period of legal transition created by EU exit, the hub 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.

Worthwhile

Professor O’Brien said: “It is wonderful to be among a tremendous array of finalists doing inspiring work and making profound differences. It's especially rewarding to get recognition for this kind of work - legal action research, combining advice and research, and channelling this into important test cases, to help ensure the law protects EU nationals in the UK.

“At York Law School we've really been at the forefront of this, which is not always an easy place to be, but the testimonials that formed part of our nomination, from advisors, NGOs, lawyers, and advocates, all reminded us how worthwhile it is.”

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

Real difference

Professor Karen Rowlingson, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of York, said: “I’d like to congratulate Charlotte on this well-deserved recognition of the outstanding impact of her work. The EU Rights and Brexit Hub is a key example of how our research in the School for Social Sciences is driven by a need to understand societal challenges and achieve change for public benefit. Charlotte’s action-orientated approach has made a real difference to people’s lives.”

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. Prize money is to be spent on furthering knowledge exchange, public engagement, or other communications activities to promote the impact of the winners’ research.

Change the world

ESRC’s Executive Chair, Stian Westlake, said: “The projects featured in this year’s ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize 2024 demonstrate how social science can have a real effect on peoples’ lives both in the UK and abroad.

“They encompass some of the most pressing issues of our times, helping the victims of institutional scandals and potentially showing us the way to more fulfilling working lives. Together, they show how social sciences can inform the public debate and change the world.”

Read more about the ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize here.