The Royal Anniversary Trust

2009
University of Essex
Advancing the legal and broader practice of international human rights
Over 25 years, the University’s Human Rights Centre has built itself a pre-eminent reputation for interdisciplinary teaching that embraces not only human rights law but also philosophy, political theory and sociology. It has an outstanding record for innovative research, publication and practice and its faculty members often advise the United Nations, Amnesty and other international organisations. The Centre’s expertise has enhanced the UK’s international reputation, while its alumni continue to advance human rights around the world.
http://www.essex.ac.uk

2009
University of Oxford
Museums, libraries and archives in support of research, learning and public education
The University’s museums, libraries and archives are an exceptional resource, accessed by more than two million people each year. Now resources from seven institutions – including the Ashmolean Museum, the Beazley Archive and the Bodleian Library – are being taken out to local schools, shopping centres and other public places. The programme provides imaginative educational programmes for researchers, learners, children and the general public, thereby breathing new life into education for people of all ages and enriching their lives.
http://www.ox.ac.uk

2009
University of Reading
World-leading archaeology: making the past work for the present
By integrating humanities and science-based methodologies, Reading has achieved outstanding and sustained success in the research, teaching and practice of archaeology. This success is underpinned by its Silchester Field School, which pioneered the dissemination of excavation results in digital form. By giving all undergraduate students a strong grounding in field-based excavation techniques and practice, Silchester provides Reading with highly sought-after specialist expertise – used most notably to help law enforcement agencies with forensics and environmental reconstruction.
http://www.reading.ac.uk

2009
The School of Oriental and African Studies
Specialised teaching of a wide range of African, Asian and Middle Eastern languages
The School is a pioneer of innovative research and teaching of African, Asian and Middle Eastern languages. Every year, it teaches around 4,000 students an unrivalled range of languages, including combinations of lesser known African and Asian languages that are not taught anywhere else in the West. The School provides languages training for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its work in Urdu and other UK community languages is contributing to social cohesion across the country.
http://www.soas.ac.uk

2007
The University of Kent
The Law Clinic: enriching academic law study with legal services for the community
The University pioneered the law clinic approach in order to offer students the opportunity for the actual practice of law alongside academic study, thus providing exposure to the vocational aspects of a law career. The Law Clinic has effectively linked students with a network of practicing local lawyers to offer professional legal services to people in the community who would not otherwise have the means to access them, while enhancing course content and fostering a public service ethos.
http://www.kent.ac.uk

2007
University of Oxford
Fresh light on British history: the new Dictionary of National Biography
The new edition of the Dictionary of National Biography, published by the University, is the culmination of a monumental effort of research. It is a constantly evolving online and printed resource, providing an unrivalled first point of reference on over 56,000 noteworthy contributors to British life. The new DNB has taken an important step towards a rebalancing of the history of the UK through a concerted focus on the contribution of women and of individuals from minority communities.
http://www.ox.ac.uk

2005
Harper Adams University College
Developing women-owned businesses to support the rural economy
Women in Rural Enterprise (WiRE) has helped create and sustain a very large number of women-owned small rural businesses nationwide. Stemming from the university’s research identifying women’s barriers to new business development, WiRE provides a unique university—business network that mentors and gives practical help to women developing rural businesses. It has featured as a best-practice case study in numerous reports, including an OECD regional study on women entrepreneurship, and its approach is being adopted in South Africa, China and the Middle East.
http://www.wireuk.org

2005
Loughborough University
Enhancing social policy nationally
The university’s contribution to social policy through high-quality research, with a record of relevance, practical orientation and innovation, is an outstanding example of how excellence in research can be applied with wide impact and benefit. The research and its dissemination has raised the profile of previously neglected groups, such as young carers, unravelling complex and difficult issues and helping social policy practitioners to address the needs of these groups appropriately. Through its influence on policy makers and legislators in the UK, it has resulted in better targeted social policy and has had a substantial impact both in the UK and overseas.
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/centres/crsp/index.html

2002
University of Cambridge
Charles Darwin Correspondence Project
The rich resource of Darwin's correspondence, which is of great scientific and historical importance, is made accessible to scholars and students around the world, in disciplines across the sciences and the humanities, as well as to the general reader. The project was established in 1974 to publish the definitive edition of more than 14,500 letters written and received by Charles Darwin. These letters provide unique access to the complex development of Darwin's theories and his engagement with contemporary scientific and philosophical issues. The latest series is making available for the first time complete transcripts of Darwin's correspondence, supported by meticulous footnotes.
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Departments/Darwin

2002
London School of Economics & Political Science
Unemployment and inequality: research, teaching and policy development
The Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE is widely renowned for its application of economic theory and rigorous empirical analysis to issues of unemployment, productivity, the economics of education and international trade. It has had a significant impact on government policy in the UK and abroad, training PhD students and running an MSc programme for future economic decision-makers. The centre has inspired the New Deal; it has directly affected government policy on apprenticeship and on adult literacy and numeracy; and it has also become Europe's leading body for the study of globalisation and international trade.
http://cep.lse.ac.uk

2002
Sabhal Mor Ostaig
Promotion of Gaelic language and culture
Since its foundation from a semi-derelict farm building in 1973, Sabhal Mor Ostaig has been the only college of further and higher education in the UK to offer educational courses solely through the medium of Scottish Gaelic. Today, it has over one hundred full-time students, with more than 560 students taking residential short courses and 150 students engaged in a distance-learning access course. The College is now a major community resource: a recognised arts venue and meeting place. It runs a programme of arts residences, a writer-in-residence and a musician-in-residence scheme and is home to Tosg, Scotland’s only professional Gaelic theatre company.
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk

2000
University of Surrey, Roehampton
National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature
The centre has helped to raise the profile of children’s literature as an academic discipline in this country and is a focus of international interest. The National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature is now a thriving locus of teaching and research, providing support and opportunities for historians, sociologists and dramatists as well as teachers, librarians and publishers. The centre runs comprehensive undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In 1995 the centre undertook a survey of young people’s reading habits and how this affects their attitudes to a range of issues including crime and sexuality.
http://www.ncrcl.ac.uk

1998
The University of Reading
Shakespearean research: Internet and the Globe Theatre
The internationally regarded Renaissance Texts Research Centre, in collaboration with many other parties, has played a key role in the development of the Globe Theatre in London. Detailed research by staff at the university has turned the Globe into a theatrical laboratory and a major educational resource for the nation and the world. Great interest was stimulated among scholars, teachers and students at all levels, and this was hugely increased by the creation of a website used by two and a half million people per year.
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/globe

1998
University of Sheffield
Innovation in humanities research: providing new cultural access through IT
In collaboration with great research libraries and education institutions, the Humanities Research Institute is making major landmarks in literary and cultural heritage directly available to both the academic community and to a much wider public audience. Definitive electronic editions of major and diverse literary texts, historical manuscripts and contemporary archives are being published worldwide, using CD-ROMs and the internet. The projects include detailed textual analysis and sophisticated searching and analytical software.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/hri

1996
University of Birmingham
The Wroxeter Project: archaeology, technology and the community
This archaeological project explores the Roman City of Viroconium around Wroxeter in Shropshire. It involves a multi-disciplinary team including amateur archaeologists and other higher education institutions, businesses, libraries, schools and museums. The ‘open air’ laboratory has become a testing ground for new technological advances and instruments, efficient data collection and processing as well as extensive publication of results to the wider public.
http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/bufau/research/wh/Base.html

1994
University of Oxford
Exploitation of intellectual property for wealth creation
Isis Innovation Limited has been set up by the university to exploit intellectual property, creating income and ensuring that research achievements are developed for the benefit of the community. Whilst the company has achieved rapid growth in gross licensing income, the university has also established a unique association, the Oxford Innovation Society. This cost-effective and imaginative initiative is a two-way connection enabling industry and commerce to inform the university of its needs and the university to make its capabilities widely known.
http://www.isis-innovation.com

1994
The Queen’s University of Belfast
Servicing the Northern Ireland legal system
The Servicing the Legal System (SLS) Programme was established to facilitate access to information on the law and the legal system in Northern Ireland. It tackles the particular problems resulting from numerous constitutional changes, by offering publications, conferences, courses and seminars. These not only benefit the legal profession but a wide range of other groups including civil servants, bankers, accountants, social workers and business people.
http://www.sls.qub.ac.uk