It was a great pleasure for UAR to announce the latest winners of the annual awards for openness made to signatories of the Concordat on Openness at a ceremony held at the Royal College of Physicians in London.
The report on the Concordat on Openness for 2025 is available for download here.
First to be recognised was Professor Sarah Bailey of University of Bath who was the winner of an individual award for an outstanding contribution to openness. Prof Bailey is widely recognised for her extraordinary commitment to communicating animal research, even under the most difficult circumstances and in the face of significant hostility and personal cost. Her courage and clarity offer an inspirational example of what openness can achieve. 
The Highly Commended Award went to University of Edinburgh for their high-impact curriculum-driven school project that brought secondary school students into the aquarium facility at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute. University of Glasgow maintained the themes of Scottish universities excelling at openness through education by winning an Openness Award for their science fair stall that was bravely situated in a public space that allowed interaction with a general public that was not self-selected as sympathetic to science as science fair attendees generally are. The final Winners were the CRUK Manchester Institute who have been pursuing a raft of activities in support their Culture of Care Pledge, but whose innovative use of video to illustrate the reality of the animal facility work in recruitment activities particularly grabbed the judges’ attention. Congratulations to all our winners!
The Openness Awards preceded the 88th Stephen Paget Memorial Lecture delivered this year by Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert of the Pandemic Science Institute at the University of Oxford, celebrated – among her many other accomplishments in science – for her leading role in the rapid development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19.
Prof Gilberts’ brilliant lecture discussed the many challenges of developing vaccines for outbreak viruses. It was a fascinating insight into the deep complexity of preparing defences against a range of viral menaces and the essential role that animals have in the process, both as research models and as vectors and reservoirs of disease. The warmly received lecture was followed by a lively question and answer session.
We are also delighted to announce that Professor Emma Robinson of the University of Bristol has been invited to deliver the 89th Stephen Paget Memorial lecture on 7 December 2026 when she will be discussing some of her extraordinary findings in improving the care and welfare of rodents in laboratory settings. Save the date!
Last edited: 2 December 2025 15:44
