Four UK institutions picked up awards at the 7th Annual Openness Awards, hosted by Understanding Animal Research, for demonstrating ‘excellence and innovation in communications around the use of animals in research’.
The University of Reading, was recognised for its communications about how llamas are helping Covid-19 research, which gained widespread media coverage.
Next, the University of Edinburgh Roslin Institute received an award for their teacher’s toolkit Opening a can of worms, providing classroom resources which allow students and teachers to understand the study of animal behaviour and the 3Rs principles.
The University of Southampton was presented with an openness award for its ‘curiosity-driven’ crafting activity The Mouse Exchange, which asked members of the public to discuss animal research issues while crafting felt material mice.
And Rodent Little Brother: Secret Lives of Mice, designed by the NC3Rs and Mary Lyon Centre, MRC Harwell Institute, won for their citizen science project which invited members of the public to watch clips of mice in a caged environment and record their activity.
The University of Edinburgh was also named as a Leader in Openness, a title given to signatories of the UK Concordat on Openness who are consistently achieving high standards of openness.