SARG's Lucy Burke wins Open Research Prize 2025

Lucy Burke, a Qualitative Research Associate and PhD Student with the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), has been awarded the University of Sheffield Open Research Prize 2025 in the Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) category. This recognition celebrates her outstanding commitment to making her research transparent, accessible and impactful.
The Open Research Prize highlights researchers who excel at making their work discoverable and reusable for different audiences, including policymakers, academics and the public. Lucy received the award for her comprehensive engagement with open research practices throughout her PhD, which is funded by Wellcome as part of the Public Health Economics and Decision Science (PHEDS) programme.
A commitment to open science
Lucy's dedication to open research was influenced by her Wellcome funding, which mandates open access to research outputs. She believes open science maximises research impact and promotes efficiency, transparency and rigour, especially when using public resources. Her goal is to ensure her research is not only freely available but also effectively communicated to a wide range of audiences.
Commenting on her win, Lucy said: "I'm thrilled to receive this award in recognition of my commitment to open science. Embracing open and FAIR principles has been a central goal in my work, and I've learned so much from my colleagues in SCHARR. I'm especially grateful for the excellent training and diverse dissemination opportunities that have supported me in applying these principles and showcasing their value."
Embedding open practices and amplifying impact
Lucy's commitment has translated into concrete actions throughout her doctoral research. She pre-registered her study protocol on the Open Science Framework (OSF) to enhance transparency and moved from proprietary software to R, an open-source tool, significantly improving reproducibility. She also made a preprint version of her paper freely available to share time-sensitive findings quickly and made her R code openly available for scrutiny and replication.
Beyond traditional academic outputs, Lucy actively engages with wider audiences. She presented her research at Sheffield's Pint of Science festival in 2024, leading to valuable two-way discussions with members of the public. In 2025, she reached hundreds more through the University of Sheffield's Bright Minds webinar series which aims to share current PhD research with University alumni. These activities have led to some significant connections, including discussions about the practical implications of alcohol research for policing, and potential collaborations with researchers at other universities.
Find out more about Lucy's approach to open research and the resulting impacts in her full case study on the University of Sheffield website.
What's next for Lucy?
Lucy is currently developing the protocol for her second PhD study, which will also be pre-registered on the Open Science Framework, with data available in ORDA, the University of Sheffield's data repository. She is also currently working as a Qualitative Research Associate on a project investigating young people's consumption of no- and low-alcohol drinks in family settings.
SARG researchers share insights into youth and student drinking at national conference
Researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) recently presented their findings on youth and student drinking trends at the Student Health Association Annual Conference, held from Sunday 29 June to Tuesday 1 July 2025 in Sheffield.
SARG researchers co-author new book exploring 'culture of caution' in youth drinking decline
A new book by an international team of experts, including researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), unpacks the complex social, cultural and economic factors driving the decline in young people's alcohol consumption.
SARG showcases research at School of Medicine and Population Health event
Researchers from SARG are set to showcase their work at the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health Research and Innovation Meeting 2025.
New project aims to embed youth voices in local tobacco and vape policymaking
A collaborative project emphasising the crucial role of young people's voices in shaping public health policy has been awarded funding from the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR).
You might also be interested in…
SARG researchers share insights into youth and student drinking at national conference
Researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG) recently presented their findings on youth and student drinking trends at the Student Health Association Annual Conference, held from Sunday 29 June to Tuesday 1 July 2025 in Sheffield.
SARG researchers co-author new book exploring 'culture of caution' in youth drinking decline
A new book by an international team of experts, including researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), unpacks the complex social, cultural and economic factors driving the decline in young people's alcohol consumption.
SARG showcases research at School of Medicine and Population Health event
Researchers from SARG are set to showcase their work at the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health Research and Innovation Meeting 2025.