Rugyendo nominated for prestigious UK innovation award – The Kampala Report

Arinaitwe Deo Rugyendo, a journalist and co-founder of Red Pepper Publications, has been nominated for the prestigious Vitae Impact, Culture and Engagement (ICE) Awards in recognition for his contribution of the field of research.

The ICE Awards, now in their second year, aim to celebrate and highlight the impactful and innovative work carried out by the researcher development community.

Rugyendo was nominated for the Innovative and Inclusive Practice Award due to his work bridging the gap between academia and the public in Uganda through his ResearchFinds News initiative where he is the founder and Editor in Chief.,

He was nominated by Dennis Aguma, Dr Apophia Agiresaasi and Rebecca P. Tumwebaze.

He was nominated alongside six others, including Alice (Nok) Hang Hui, a Research Associate at the University of Birmingham.

Hui was nominated by Stephanie Smith for her work researching and developing ways to increase recruitment of Postgraduate Researchers from underrepresented backgrounds to the Doctoral Training Programme at CENTA, University of Birmingham.

Other nominees are Jack Fitzpatrick, a PhD Candidate at Liverpool John Moores University. He was nominated by Craig Hammond for his work and research in understanding and changing neurodiversity-informed practices in the workplace.

Also nominated is Dr Jenni Jones, the Associate Professor in Coaching and Mentoring at University of Wolverhampton. He was nominated by Tracey Devonport for her work on a reverse mentoring programme that establishes opportunities for Global Majority Postgraduate Researchers to positively influence senior leads and decision-making.

Other categories include; Newcomer of the Year Award, Outstanding Contribution award and Research culture impact through Researcher Development Award

The final awards ceremony will be held on Monday 23 September as part of the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference Gala dinner at The Rep, Birmingham, UK.

In 2023, the organisers received 55 nominations from across 33 institutions.

About Rugyendo

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Makerere University, a Post Graduate Diploma in Mass communication from University of Leicester, UK and a MSc Marketing from Salford University/Robert Kennedy College, Zurich, Switzerland. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Journalism and Communication at Makerere University.