Loughborough University Academic wins Early Career Researcher Award

A Loughborough University academic in Geography and Environment has been named as one of the 2020 winners of the Early Career Researcher (ECR) UK Awards by the Elsevier and US-UK Fulbright Commission.

Elsevier, in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission, announced Dr Iwona Bisaga as one of seven ECR award recipients during a virtual ceremony, hosted by science writer and broadcaster Vivienne Parry, OBE, last night (16 November).

The ECR Awards champion researchers at an early stage in their career by recognising their work and awarding each recipient a grant of £1,500.

The awards recognise early career researchers across six research disciplines and the winners are selected by an expert panel of judges based on their profiles in Scopus (Elsevier’s curated abstract and citation database).

Dr Bisaga, an expert in energy access and sustainable development, has been awarded the ‘Scopus Early Career Researcher Award in Environmental Science’.

With experience cutting across non-profit, private and policy sectors, and academia, Dr Bisaga is an experienced and diverse researcher.   

She is the Research Associate leading the humanitarian energy work on the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme – a Loughborough University-led project that aims to create solutions that will rapidly accelerate the transition from biomass to clean cooking on a global scale.

Of receiving the award, Dr Bisaga said: "It's really wonderful to have been recognised with this award. I'm very happy and grateful to Elsevier, the UK-US Fulbright Commission and the panel.

“I hope this award will provide a platform to engage with other early career researchers across various disciplines and that I'll be able to leverage it to make my research even more impactful."

Kumsal Bayazit, CEO of Elsevier, said of the 2020 awards: “The UK is an innovation powerhouse, thanks to the quality of its research talent who make a critical contribution to addressing some of the biggest challenges facing society and our planet.

“I congratulate all the winners and hope these awards help empower and encourage these talented researchers to continue their efforts and make a lasting impact to the future of research and innovation.”