2019 Ceremony

The 2019 Teaching Excellence Awards Ceremony took place in the TS Eliot Theatre, Merton College, on Wednesday 23 October. It was hosted by the Head of Division, Professor Gavin Screaton, the Deputy Head of Division (Education), Professor David Vaux, and the Head of Education Policy and Planning, Jane Dale.

The Teaching Excellence Awards recognise and reward excellence in teaching, supervision, the organisation and development of teaching, and support for teaching and learning, within a research-intensive environment. They formally acknowledge significant educational achievements, reward individuals who have exceeded expectations in carrying out their duties, and support the aspirations of those who wish to innovate and enhance our educational provision.

An increased budget this year allowed for more and larger projects to be funded to enhance students’ education and for other educational priorities. There was also a new category of award, the Excellent Supervisor Award, which recognises individuals who make a major contribution to the wellbeing and academic progress of graduate student with whom they are working.

The 2019 awards had the highest number of nominations and awardees to date, and the largest ceremony attendance of over 100 people, which included families, friends, colleagues and students supporting the occasion.  During the ceremony the Major Educator award winner, Dr Proochista Ariana, gave an inspiring speech on the topic of diversity and inclusivity, and two of the Project awardee winners from 2017 gave presentations feeding back on the outcomes of their Projects: Dr Deborah Hay on Better lectures? A trial of in-lecture polling in Laboratory Medicine and Dr Ester Hammond on How to do science – Discussion groups on experimental design and reproducibility.

The atmosphere at the ceremony was uplifting and celebratory and the evening was a tremendous success.

We would like to again congratulate all of the winners of the 2019 awards.

© Image credit: Rema Ramakrishnan