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The HRI is delighted to announce a team of researchers from our has been awarded the inaugural ‘Spark and Shift’ Award by the (EIC) board. 

The award recognises and celebrates contributions to implementation science that help ignite new ideas and lead to a change in perspective and understanding. 

Led by the Co-Directors of the Participatory Health Research Unit, Prof Anne MacFarlane (School of Medicine) and Prof Helen Phelan (Irish World Academy of Music and Dance), the team also included doctoral researcher Sarbik Guha and sociologist and community partner from Shannon Family Resource Centre, Co. Clare, Anna Papyan.

The team presented their innovative work on the potential role of music and singing as participatory methods in migrant health research at the European Implementation Event, Newcastle in June 2025. 

Participants remarked on the work’s potential in "shaking up ways of doing research with creative and meaningful inclusivity."

The team was presented with the award by the EIC Board at a meeting of the EIC members on 23 October, 2025.

A massive congrats to the entire team, this recognition is a huge milestone for the inter-disciplinary testing of music and singing as methods for co-production in the field of migration health.