To celebrate the amazing research that we see around us, this year we set up the CDCS Digital Research Prizes. We invited nominations from our community, asking them to put forward data-led projects and activities that show creativity, excellence and impact and which model best practice in the use and sharing of data. We're thrilled to share the winning projects here, and delighted at the range of disciplines, methods and approaches they represent. We couldn't be prouder of our community!
"The Festivals & Communities Map has created a clear, intuitive, interactive map that can be used for years to come!"
"A culturally important and brilliant project that utilises an interesting visual bricolage to address issues around socio-economic and cultural access in Edinburgh. The foresight to do this and the socially-conscious care it reflects are irresistible features."
"A great bringing together of different spatial data about Edinburgh's culture, into an interface that lets users explore and learn about the sociological factors affecting cultural consumption in the city."
Feeling Moved Means Feeling Connected? Investigating Prosocial Kama Muta
"Fixing the gig economy is one of the big tasks of our time. This project is a bold and unapologetic stab at an issue that entails several dimensions including workers rights and conditions and the uncertainty of labour in a post-digital future. It has rightly won notice around the world and deserved recognition here as well."
"The Worker Data Science project has an impressive breadth of influence, spanning gig workers and unions, policy development, and the ethics surrounding 'big data!'"
"The Scottish Election Study has achieved an impressive breadth of influence on political parties, political broadcasting and the Scottish public."
"Scottish Election Study has had a clear influence on the way both the people of Scotland and the media understand politics today."
"Attard's images are evocative and, given the amount of time many of us have spent at home in the last two years, emotionally resonant."
"A creative visualisation of an utterly dull and very human experience, of staring at the ceiling. Great use of eye-tracking technology to tell a very new story of the mundane."
"I like the simplicity and creativity of the idea. It speaks to a side of ourselves that we are often not highly aware of except in reflective phases. Having some form of record of these 'zoned out' moments adds to the complexity of the narrative of self-identity. The visual representation is quite immersive, but the basic inspiration is even more moving."
"Although a work in progress, it is clearly written, and presenting a valuable new metric: this work shows a commitment to open research which is commendable."
"Communicates a clear objective and clarifies the data - city temperatures from the US National Oceanic and Atmostphere Administration and daily temperatures in 1-degree latitute by 1-degree longitude areas from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures -very well."
"An exemplary course that scored highly in all of the criteria and has led to some very impressive outputs by the students who have taken it. I wish I had been able to take it as a postgraduate student!"
"This project has strong historical, literary, and postcolonial functions. It also helps to make accessible resources that would otherwise not be to visitors of the blog. It is presented in very accessible format and the blend of visual, textual, and map formats makes it a rich experience."
"This is an excellently presented dataset that combines robust documentation, adherence to the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reuse), and makes a strong case for its research value."
"A great commitment to interdisciplinary open science, of use across a range of fields."
"This entry is highly practical and incredibly valuable. The dataset shines in its simplicity and comprehensiveness. The ingenuity of the dataset as a solution to the lack of data in the field is to be commended. It is a fantastic example of how digital tools can complement and enhance work in old disciplines."
