The EAVE II Team have become the first recipients of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's new Mary Sommerville Medal, an award for excellence in teamwork and collaboration in scientific research. Image The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has announced that the EAVE II team, who used patient data to track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in near real-time, have been awarded the Mary Somerville Medal. The medal, which was launched in autumn 2022, recognises exceptional achievements in research teamwork and collaborations. In their announcement, the RSE stated that ...the EAVE II Team [have] generated scientific analyses and insights that have supported evidence-informed policy and public health response throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprising of public health experts, academics, data scientists and public members across Scotland, the interdisciplinary team developed a real-time surveillance platform to monitor and forecast the evolving pandemic in Scotland Read more in the Spring 2023 edition of ReSourcE magazine Find out more about the 2023 RSE Medal winners Who was Mary Somerville? Mary Somerville (1780-1872) was a nineteenth century mathematician, geographer, and astronomer who was once nicknamed the ‘Queen of Science’. She was also the first person to be described in print as a “scientist”. Along with fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel, Somerville was also one of the first women to join the Royal Astronomical Society. The RSE Mary Somerville Medal is one of several newly named medals introduced by the RSE in autumn 2022. The aim of the scheme is to pay tribute to renowned, yet previously underappreciated, women whose work has had a lasting and worldwide impact, as well as to highlight their talent and influence in research, business and public life. Find out more about the RSE Mary Sommerville Medal What is EAVE II? The EAVE II team have successfully tracked the COVID-19 pandemic in near real-time, as well as the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, across Scotland. They have done this by creating a rich data platform of all 5.4 million people registered with a GP in Scotland, around 98% of the Scottish population. This has resulted in impactful findings that have been central to the Scottish and UK governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more about EAVE II Find out more about EAVE II’s role informing COVID-19 policy decisions Find out more about the EAVE II team Am I seeing double? The EAVE II team were not the only group to receive the Mary Somervile Medal this year. A second medal was awarded to the PeaceRep Consortium, led by the University of Edinburgh Law School, who were recognised PeaceRep for their pivotal role in networking peace and conflict organisations, as well as supporting the establishment of digital peace processes. Find out more about PeaceRep Read PeaceRep's article on the Mary Somervile Medal Publication date 31 Mar, 2023
