#1 and #2 thanks - these are nice and bright and have a good "feel". I'm not sure if the smile symbol works very well - up close it might look a little bit smug? I prefer # 2 to # 1 in that it looks a bit more uplifting. The # 1 symbols look like they might be headed downwards (to me).
One of the main uses will be on the trophies for the awards. So I think it will be better to have more upright, portrait-style logos than a landscape-oriented one.
#6 is very clever, but the Collaborative Research Awards are about research impact, not academic research. So the use of academic symbols is not wise for us - I liked it though.