Applications are open until Nov 18th for the 2025-26 cohort of the Data Impact Fellows scheme, you can find out more information and apply on our website here.
In this post we introduce the panel of judges who will be reviewing the applications!
The Judges
Laurence Guinness, Chief Executive Officer – Variety, The Children’s Charity
Laurence joined the not-for-profit sector in 2009 following a successful career developing, producing and distributing award winning animation and film content internationally. During his tenure as Director of Campaigns, Research and Communications at Kids Company, Laurence campaigned on issues such as childhood food insecurity, children’s services and child and adolescent mental health. He also created and directed a multi-university programme of neurophysiological and psychological child development research with partners including UCL, Cambridge University and Kings College London. He has extensive experience in bringing together and working with stakeholders such as professional membership organisations and institutes, corporate partners, journalists, philanthropists and donors to effect change for vulnerable children. Under Laurence’s leadership as Chief Executive, The Childhood Trust, London’s child poverty charity grew ten-fold to raise £45m to alleviate the impact of poverty for children in London. As CEO of Variety, The Children’s Charity, Laurence is committed to meeting the needs of disadvantaged and disabled children across the UK.
Speaking about the Data Impact Fellows programme Laurence says:
The UK Data Service Data Impact Fellow awards play a vital role in advancing our understanding of children’s lives and wellbeing. Researchers focusing on children, young people, and mental health are helping to bridge critical knowledge gaps that directly inform how we support vulnerable youth. Their work transforms complex data into actionable insights that help organisations like ours to develop more effective, evidence-based interventions. This research is not just academic – it’s a powerful tool that helps us better serve children and young people when they need it most.
Professor Morag Treanor, Professor of Child and Family Inequalities and the Deputy Director of I-SPHERE; Professor of Social Policy and Inequality, University of Glasgow
Morag’s research focus is on poverty, socioeconomic inequalities, and destitution, particularly where they pertain to children, young people and families. Morag uses longitudinal methods, birth cohort survey data, and administrative data to explore the impacts of longitudinal socioeconomic inequalities on children’s cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural developmental outcomes.
Morag was Deputy Chair of the Scottish Government’s statutory Poverty and Inequality Commission from June 2019 to July 2023. She was a member of The Promise Oversight Board, which holds Scotland to account around whether it’s doing enough to #KeepThePromise, from 2021 to 2024.
She is Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research, a consortium led by the University of Edinburgh and funded by UKRI.
Morag says:
As researchers we are so fortunate to have the UK Data Service to support our analysis of the highest quality data. When we are able to disseminate and communicate our findings in a way that resonates with people in policy and practice, then change can and does happen. The Data Impact Fellows Programme facilitates opportunities for change by providing training, support and, crucially, resources to Early Career Researchers to make sure their research has impact.
Dr Stephanie Burnett Hayes, Associate Professor, University of Birmingham
Stephanie’s PhD research investigated adolescent cognitive and functional brain development focusing on social cognition, emotion and decision-making under risk. She was awarded the British Neuroscience Association PhD Award for her doctoral research (2010) and was shortlisted for a WISE Excellence Award (2010) for her public engagement work with schools. She completed a two-year postdoctoral position with Prof. Masud Husain at the UCL Institute of Neurology (2010-2011) investigating impulsivity and apathy in psychiatric and neurological populations. She then moved to the University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology to begin a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship researching adolescent social cognition and emotion (2011-2015). Subsequently she moved to the University of Birmingham School of Psychology in 2015 to begin a Lectureship. Stephanie’s current research takes a multidisciplinary approach to better understand adolescent and young adult social interactions, emotion, decision-making and mental health.
Finn-Dymond Green – Director of Impact, UK Data Service
Finn Dymond-Green is the UK Data Service Director of Impact. They lead the UK Data Service team based at Jisc, the not-for-profit organisation that empowers the higher, further education and skills sector with technology. The Jisc team evidence and promote the impact of data in the UK Data service collection, as well as making census aggregate data and international microdata available to researchers in all fields.
Finn says:
The UK Data Service Data Impact Fellows scheme is a fantastic opportunity for Early Career Researchers to delve deeper into what data impact means, network with peers and learn from those with experience in creating impact in policy, practice and behaviour. I’m delighted that we will shortly be welcoming our fifth cohort of Fellows. I look forward to learning about their research and the UK Data Service supporting them on their impact journey.
The Data Impact Fellows programme aims to provide career development opportunities for researchers and analysts at a relatively early stage in their career in the academic or charity sectors.
We are aligning this cohort with two of our Impact Themes, Mental health and wellbeing in data and Children and young people in data.
You can find out more information and apply on our website here.