The winners of Queen Mary’s new scheme of annual Education Excellence Awards and President and Principal’s Prizes have been announced at a ceremony on campus.
The awards, held last night to coincide with the Teaching and Learning Conference, underline the importance of education at Queen Mary, alongside research and public engagement. They complement the existing Education Awards, which are organised by the Students’ Union and nominated on and voted for by students.
The new scheme aims to improve the quality of education and embed a culture of excellence at Queen Mary through the recognition and celebration of teaching excellence, encouraging student engagement through co-creation, supporting excellent student learning outcomes and providing an excellent student environment.
Awards were given for individuals and teams for excellence in education with prizes of £1,000 each for individual awards and £5,000 for team awards to be used for professional developmental support for the benefit of the individual(s) and the University.
From the award winners identified by the Faculties, three nominees were also identified for the President and Principal’s Excellence Prizes, which include a reward of £3,000, to be used for professional development activity.
Professor Colin Bailey, President and Principal of Queen Mary University of London, said: “These awards celebrate the diversity of ideas and practices from across our faculties which helps to improve the experience of Queen Mary students. I have been impressed by the quality of nominations and I’m proud to recognise and support the exceptional contributions of our staff to enable excellence and innovation in teaching and learning at Queen Mary.”
Professor Stephanie Marshall, Vice Principal (Education), added: “We were delighted by the enthusiasm and interest that our colleagues have shown towards the awards. The applications were thoughtful and gave us a tough task in shortlisting the candidates. The applications clearly showed us how committed our staff are to delivering our vision of an outstanding, inclusive world-class education at Queen Mary. I would like to personally congratulate everyone who took part and we are excited to take this forward next year.”
Dr Elias Kondylis, Blizard Institute
Commitment and contribution to Global Health postgraduate programmes
James Winch, Blizard Institute
Management of practical laboratories and provision of support for clinical microbiology teaching
Jonathan Kennedy, Blizard Institute
Commitment and contribution to Global Health programmes
Professor Susan Brundage, Blizard Institute
Work on the International Masters in Trauma Sciences Suite of Postgraduate Programmes
BSc Neuroscience Programme Team, Blizard Institute
Their new, popular and successful BSc Programme. Team members: Dr Greg Michael, Dr Joanna Riddoch-Contreras, Prof Adina Michael-Titus, Dr Arturas Volianskis, Dr Mark Baker, Dr Ping Yip, Dr Xuenong Bo, Samantha Rose-Bucknor
Dr Coppe van Urk, School of languages, Linguistics and Film
Initiatives is feedback, teaching and student research
Dr Paul Copeland, School of Politics and International Relations
Revision of curriculum and student assessment experience using a student-centred, co-creative approach
Claudio Vallar, School of Economics and Finance
Building solid foundations for longer-term improvements to student engagement
Combined teams: Language Centre / Pre-Masters / Pre-sessional / International Foundation Programme, School of languages, Linguistics and Film
A note on this team award: the panels were impressed by the work being undertaken by the Language Centre (and colleagues), with three teams submitting for the awards. The panels wished to recognise the quality across all three teams
Dr Richard Coulton, Dr Matthew Mauger and Dr Charlotta Salmi, School of English and drama
Transformation of the English Research Dissertation
Karen Finesilver, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
For outstanding contributions to the professional support of education across several aspects of the degree programmes managed in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Dr Ling Ma, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
For innovation in assessment and feedback across undergraduate degree programmes, including the Joint Programmes offered with BUPT.
Dr Rosemary Clyne, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
For instigating and establishing the Queen Mary Science Alive videos to support learning by students on the Joint Programme with NCU.
Dr Janelle Jones, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
For taking a holistic and innovative approach to teaching and assessment in the undergraduate Psychology programme.
Dr Jayne Dennis, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
For strengthening the learning community in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences by developing (and listening to) the 'Student Voice' both inside and outside the Student-Staff Liaision Committee.
Professional Skills for Physicists teaching team, School of Physics and Astronomy
For their collaborative, integrated team approach to developing and introducing a Professional Skills module into the undergraduate physics programmes. Teaching team: Dr Jon Hays, Dr Ulla Blumenschein, Dr Craig Agnor and Dr Alex Owen.
Dr Anastasios Tombros, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
For excellence in assessment, feedback and co-creation of modules in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Legal Advice Centre, School of Law
For excellence in education: the Legal Advice Centre is a well-run and award-winning free community law centre through which Queen Mary students provide supervised free legal advice to members of the public in many subject areas.
Professor Maralyn Druce, William Harvey Research Institute
Excellence in Education in Endocrinology, nationally and internationally.
William Ng, School of Mathematical Science
For providing exemplary student support, both academic and pastoral, that has enabled disengaged undergraduate students to reengage with their degree studies in mathematics.
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