Researchers from Lancaster University are celebrating success after a collaborative study into Scotland's most vulnerable children was named Herald Research Project of the Year.

Dr Linda Cusworth, of Lancaster University Law School, is Co-Investigator on the study, which won a Herald Higher Education Award at a ceremony in Glasgow, beating off stiff competition from five other finalists from higher education institutions across Scotland.

‘Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland’ is a longitudinal study of more than 1,800 children looked after in Scotland.

Judges lauded it for its impact on social care policy and practice, and on the lives of care experienced children and young people.

Researchers, led by the University of Stirling in collaboration with Lancaster University, and the Association for Fostering, Kinship & Adoption Scotland (AFKA), are looking at the lives of all 1,836 children who became looked after in Scotland aged five or under in 2012-13, tracking their progress from infant to adult. The research is funded by The Nuffield Foundation and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

The latest phase of the three-year study found that it took on average more than two years to find the children a permanent home, and that more than one in 10 were in temporary placements 10 years after becoming looked after.

The researchers found that 91% of children had experienced maltreatment before being taken into care, and that the proportion of children with emotional and behavioural problems, as reported by caregivers, was five times higher than that seen in the general population of children.

The study's findings have gained widespread media coverage and a mention in Scottish Parliament.

Dr Cusworth said: “The whole team are delighted to have received this award. It recognises the huge impact that this long-term research project is having on policy and practice, improving the lives of care-experienced children and young people.”

The annual Herald Education Awards for Further and Higher Education celebrate the extraordinary achievements in universities and colleges across Scotland.