The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus recently honoured researchers during the 25th instalment of the Principal’s Research Awards Ceremony, as part of the institution’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Outgoing Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Mona campus, Professor Dale Webber led the celebrations, saying the Principal’s Research Awards serve as a testament to the campus’ commitment to fostering an environment that nurtures intellectual growth and originality across various disciplines.

This year’s esteemed awardees span the Faculties of Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, as well as the Library and the Office of the Principal.

Award categories

The list of awards presented at the recent ceremony included Best Research Publication, the Principal’s Special COVID-19 Impact Awards, Research Project Attracting the Most Research Funds, Most Outstanding Researcher and the Most Outstanding Research Activity.

All the recipients, through their ground-breaking research, have brought acclaim and distinction not only to themselves but also to The UWI Mona, propelling the institution to the forefront of cutting-edge innovation in the region and globally demonstrated by its accession to the top 1.5 per cent in the world.

This impressive ranking by the Times Higher Education (THE) is rooted in the work of Faculties and Research Institutes, as research and professional citations increased during the 2020 to 2023 period, which this Awards Ceremony highlighted. 

The fuel of this rise is the passionate life’s work of the researchers who were honoured by The UWI by making this research-based institution their home. The UWI maintained its number one position in the Caribbean, and top one per cent of the best in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Former Pro Vice Chancellor and Mona campus Principal, Professor Kenneth Hall who started the Research Awards in 1998 during his message as guest speaker lauded the young researchers. He highlighted that the ceremony serves as an unwavering commitment to the institution towards knowledge advancement, innovation and social impact.

Professor Webber in his opening remarks noted that research has been the life blood of The University of the West Indies. According to him, “research about COVID-19, research because of COVID-19, as well as research pre and post COVID-19 became the focal point of many researchers, and also seemed to draw researchers together in a manner never seen before.”

This he noted, resulted in benefits to the institution with an increase in the number of publications as well as an increase in collaboration and funding to faculties, departments and research units.