A collaborative research project jointly undertaken by Bangor University, the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS), and Swansea University is amongst the nominees shortlisted for Bangor University’s inaugural Research Excellence Awards.

These inaugural Awards aim to shine a spotlight on some of the University’s outstanding research teams and individuals. Six new Awards will be presented to individuals and research teams or specific research projects. The Awards will celebrate individual achievements of academic staff at different career points, including Rising Stars, a Doctoral Student and a Lifetime Achievement Award, while two Awards for outstanding project or programmes within the Sciences and in the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences and an International project Award will be presented.

The AHRC-funded European Travellers to Wales, 1750-2010 project, which has reviewed and celebrated how Wales has been viewed by European travellers during a period of 260 years, is shortlisted in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Award category.

Building on the existing scholarship surrounding English travel writing about Wales, the project looks to broaden the scope by investigating a wide range of accounts, such as travelogues, essays, diaries or letters written by continental Europeans. Summaries and detailed information about the accounts by European travellers are freely available in the project’s online database Accounts of Travel, together with information on more than 400 other identified travel records.

The European Travellers to Wales project joins two other nominees in its award category including a project which has improved training of elite athletes, (Prof Lew Hardy, School of Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences); and a project which has changed the way that the digital industry and regulators view emotional data capture in the light of Data Protection and personal data (Dr Andy McStay, School of Creative Studies & Media).

Speaking about the awards, Professor Jo Rycroft- Malone, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Bangor University said:

“These Awards provide a fantastic opportunity for us to recognise and value success within the University, to showcase examples of research excellence and to highlight the achievements and talents we have within the University. The Awards will not only reward those who are successful but also inspire others.”

The European Travellers to Wales, 1750-2010 project is led by principal investigator Professor Carol Tully (Bangor), with co-investigators Dr Heather Williams (CAWCS) and Dr Kathryn Jones (Swansea).

To date, it has produced a number of articles and a guest-edited special issue of Studies in Travel Writing, with each of the team members sharing initial findings from the ongoing research in academic papers and keynote lectures at a number of international conferences and public talks for various local history groups.

In cooperation with three museums (Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth; Swansea Museum; Storiel, Bangor), a travelling exhibition entitled EuroVisions: Wales through the Eyes of European Visitors, 1750–2015 was on tour across Wales and ran until July 2016. The exhibition was complemented by freely available and bilingual educational resources as well as an online exhibition that displayed digital copies of the artwork and objects on tour.

Speaking about the nomination, Dr Heather Williams said:

“This nomination recognises the multi-partner approach of European Travellers to Wales, which culminated in the success of the travelling exhibition EuroVisions. I hope that this will inspire more people to use our unique database of over 400 accounts of travel to Wales by Europeans from Romanticism to the present day.”

The winners will be announced at an Awards dinner in Pontio on 5th December 2016.

Following the inaugural Research Excellence Awards, these new Awards will be held on alternate years with the University’s Impact & Innovation Awards.

More information about the European Travellers to Wales, 1750-2010 project can be found on their website:  http://etw.bangor.ac.uk/