The SGSSS Impact Competition 2026 final shortlist is now live for public vote!

The SGSSS Impact Competition aims to champion a culture of creating meaningful impact across the SGSSS student community and to the wider public. Discover how our finalists are generating impact through their research and cast your vote in the SGSSS Impact Competition 2026. (Link opens in a new tab.)

Following an exceptionally high standard of applications for Round one, our review panel has chosen three Planned Impact and four Achieved Impact applicants to advance to the final of our Impact Competition 2026 and face the public vote to choose the winners.

Our finalists are:

Planned Impact

Kerr Lumsden:  Connecting the dots: how does multidimensional (dis)advantage across the life course intersect and shape young people’s attitudes towards school, work and post-school destinations?

Emma Currie:  Addressing workforce shortages in the care economy in rural and island areas of Scotland

George Campbell:  The Unseen Sentence: Navigating Neurodivergence and Boredom within the Scottish Youth Justice System

Achieved Impact

Riyoko Shibe:  Just Transition Conditionalities: Building a Toolkit for Scotland

Mustafa Ciftcioglu:  Developing Early Career Teachers’ Data Literacy Pedagogies Through an Online Community of Practice

Elle Scott:  Success, hope and adulthood: A participatory action research study with young people with experience of care in Dumfries and Galloway.

Saurabh Hatkar:  Grazing Corridors: From Criminalisation to Recognition.

Explore the finalists’ posters and videos, learn about the impact they are making, vote, and share with your network! SGSSS Impact Competition 2026 voting page (Link opens in a new tab)

Help us to spread the word on how social science research can impact societies and economies.

Voting is anonymous and closes at 5 pm on Monday 4 May.