Team honoured with esteemed Royal Society medal

A team of experts have been recognised for their exceptional achievements in peace and conflict research.

Group of PeaceRep researcher — Members of the PeaceRep team from the University of Edinburgh (School of Law, School of Informatics and Information Services), University of Stirling, University of St Andrews, and London School of Economics.

PeaceRep – a consortium of research and non-governmental institutions led by the Law School – are among the nine recipients of prestigious medals presented by The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).

Eminent recipients

The PeaceRep team have been awarded the RSE Mary Somerville Medal for their pivotal role in bringing peace and conflict organisations together and supporting digital peace processes.

This year’s medallists have been presented under the revised RSE Medal programme, which honours eminent women and their significant input to the sciences, arts, and letters in Scotland.

High attainment in earth and environmental sciences, and teamwork and collaborative endeavour – previously unrepresented sectors – is also recognised in the newly created accolades.

Collaborative endeavour

In the medal citation, the RSE commended PeaceRep’s collaborative work in the UK and internationally.

RSE/Mary Somerville Medal is awarded to the PeaceRep Team, who is represented by Scottish researchers and international collaborators conducting research, policy and impact work on peace and conflict studies at both the local and the global scales. The team has played a pivotal role in networking peace and conflict organisations across Scotland and Northern England, and in supporting the establishment of digital peace processes, including in Yemen.

Medal citationRoyal Society of Edinburgh

The medal recognises exceptional achievement in research in teamwork and collaborative endeavour between Scottish Higher Education Institutes, businesses, and other institutions, nationally and internationally.

At a time when the world seems perilously engaged in war, this medal affirms the importance of continual peacemaking in dark and dangerous moments. Our team at the University of Edinburgh – many of whom started their careers with this project – has been privileged to work as part of a wider team of groups in Scotland, but also including local peacebuilders in contexts as varied as Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Iraq and Yemen. The award of the medal will encourage us, and we hope others, to continue to explore how new technologies can be used to harness innovation in research and practice. We are honoured to accept it, and in turn pay our tribute to those we work with who are struggling to address the violent conflicts in which they live.

Prof Christine BellPeaceRep’s Executive Director

About PeaceRep

PeaceRep is a team of more than fifty researchers, mediation practitioners, lawyers, data scientists, managers, and communications professionals dedicated to reimagining peace and transition processes in changing conflict contexts.

The group work on interdisciplinary research on peace and transition processes, innovative ‘PeaceTech’ and data, and peace process design and support across the Middle East, East and North Africa, and Asia.

Consortium members at other universities include: Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) at Coventry University; Conflict and Civicness Research Group at LSE; Middle East Centre at LSE; Queens University Belfast; University of St Andrews; University of Stirling.

Other member organisations are: Conciliation Resources; Dialectiq; International IDEA and the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University in the United States.

PeaceRep is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and has received funding for PeaceTech innovations such as the PeaceFem app from UN Women, the University of Edinburgh’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant, and MSCA Train@ED Horizon 2020.

Explore PeaceRep’s key research findings, data and digital tools, and publications