LJMU's Face Lab awarded highest education honour

LJMU’s Face Lab has been awarded the highest honour in education in recognition of its pioneering work around facial identity and representation.

The multi-disciplinary unit has earned the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education, which celebrates outstanding work that demonstrates excellence, innovation and benefit for the wider world.

Established in 2015, Face Lab combines art and science, and specialises in craniofacial identification research, teaching and knowledge exchange. 

Its academics and researchers deliver innovative craniofacial projects in forensic identification and digital heritage, advancing interdisciplinary research and knowledge exchange in heritage, arts, culture and forensic investigation.

The team will be presented with a medal and certificate at an investiture ceremony at St James’s Palace in February 2026.

We are thrilled to have been awarded one of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education. I work with really amazing people in Face Lab and this is a recognition of all their hard work over the last 10 years and keeping ahead of the advances in technology to work in our field.

Professor Caroline Wilkinson, Director of Face Lab

About the Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education

Managed by the Royal Anniversary Trust, the prizes were first awarded in 1994 and are part of the UK national honours system.

The prizes are awarded to a small number of institutions every two years by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister following a rigorous, independent process.

This is the second time LJMU has won the prestigious award having previously been awarded the honour (then known as the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes) in 2006 for the outstanding work and public engagement activity of the Astrophysics Research Institute.

We’re absolutely delighted that we’ve been recognised with this accolade for the world class work that we undertake here at the university. Congratulations to all staff involved.

Professor Mark Power, Vice-Chancellor of LJMU

Sir Damon Buffini, Chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust said: “The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education celebrate the power of education to change the world for the better. 

“This much-loved national honour recognises, at the highest level of state, outstanding work in UK universities and colleges, and the remarkable benefit they bring to our economy, society and the wider world. This year we are delighted to honour 19 institutions whose work offers an inspiring snapshot of the excellent and innovative work going on in universities and colleges across the UK. Congratulations all!”

More about Face Lab

Face Lab is an interdisciplinary education, research and knowledge exchange unit at the interface of art and science with a focus on individual and population facial identity, depiction and identification. 

In the digital heritage field, Face Lab has pioneered the creation of authentic digital avatars of international historical figures and several projects have been innovative in the use of novel technologies and analyses alongside historical research. 

In the forensic field, Face Lab contributes to national and international investigation leading to the identification of unidentified bodies and indirectly to the criminal conviction of those responsible for murder. 

In the university, Face Lab researchers established the distinctive Art in Science Master’s programme, focusing on interdisciplinary research between art and STEM subjects and training the next generation of global art-science practitioners.