Dr Claudia Giupponi wins 2025 Will Swann Award

Dr Claudia Giupponi has been awarded the 2025 Will Swann Award for Innovation and Knowledge Development. The award is assigned by the Association of OU Graduates (AOUG) Foundation for Education. The AOUG Foundation for Education is a registered charity set up by the AOUG for the purpose of supporting the Open University by granting Awards for students. There are a total of 9 Awards (shared among all disciplines). Awards are given annually to research students who are nominated by their Dean of Faculty or Head of Research Centre.

Dr Giupponi was awarded her PhD from the Open University earlier this year for a thesis on the neglected Italian renaissance artform of intarsia. 

The research was innovative in several respects, including being the first attempt to provide a philosophical account against which the value of these fascinating artworks could be considered. 

When she was an OOC funded PhD student, Dr. Giupponi also found direct application for her research with an internship at the National Trust where she advised on the classification of inlaid furniture.

Well done Dr. Giupponi!