Best Engagement Initiative with the Wider Community

Recognising successful engagement with the wider community

Through the broadcasting of the Festival on Persian-speaking television, he had significantly enhanced the profile of Ancient Persian Studies at Edinburgh and communicated research on Ancient Persia in an accessible way.

Lloyd co-organised the first ever Edinburgh Iranian Festival, a week-long celebration of Iranian history and culture. It attracted many hundreds of UK-based Iranians, British and foreign individuals who shared a series of events (...). A second festival was held on an even bigger scale…Last year saw the biggest Iranian festival of all.

Quotation from Dr Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones's nominations

Dr Anthony Allison, of the School of Divinity, was runner-up for this award for his work to implement and develop the ‘Faith and Belief in Scotland’ project - a nationwide initiative which aims to explore the role of religion and non-religion within contemporary society.

Dr Allison was also commended for piloting interreligious awareness-raising workshops in secondary schools.

Siobhan Canavan, a lecturer in Conselling and Psychotherapy, was shortlisted for her work to educate and raise awareness in the complicated and painful area of child sexual abuse.

Robert Gillan, Director of Externality and Knowledge Exchange in ECA, was also nominated for the award for the numerous inventive projects he has initiated with school groups, other academic institutions and companies.

Enhancement of teaching quality

The prize for Best Teaching Quality Enhancement Initiative was awarded jointly to two nominees for their work with students.

The judges recognised Dr Sean Brocklebank’s work to improve Economics students’ overall experience by redesigning the curriculum, introducing reading groups for 1st years and a computational macroeconomics lab; and the help he gave to those who needed support with mathematics through creating a dedicated summer school for PGT applicants.

Dr Anna Souhami also received the award for her radical restructuring of the criminology provision in the School of Law, introducing new styles of teaching, learning objectives and assessment processes, underpinned by a unique training course for PhD tutors.

The judging panel recognised that Dr Souhami’s work had enhanced the quality of teaching delivery and the broader experience for both students and those teaching the course.

Mal Burkinshaw, Programme Director of Fashion at ECA, was runner-up for the award for his enhancements to the teaching of fashion design in ECA which are now leading national debate in the sector, and for his development of the Diversity in Design initiative.

Susan Manning Award for Outstanding Mentor

Olwen Gorie, Head of Undergraduate Teaching Organisation in ECA, was presented with the Susan Manning Award for Outstanding Mentor.

Olwen’s leadership of support staff during the complex transition of ECA to membership of the College and University was acknowledged, together with her work on harmonizing processes.

She was praised for the variety of ways in which she has supported colleagues, helping them to develop their careers.

Drawing on her deep experience Olwen has been able to offer superb mentoring to both support and academic staff over the past three years. This has involved designing and instituting bespoke training programmes and patiently bringing colleagues with her through 1-1 negotiation and direction.

Quotation from Olwen Gorie's nominations

Dr Charles Anderson was the runner-up for the award for his role over many years as a mentor to colleagues and PhD students in Moray House School of Education. He was singled out for his combination of personal warmth with his rigorous commitment to the very highest standards of academic integrity.

The award is named after the late Professor Susan Manning, who was renowned for her warm support of colleagues and students and for the influential roles she played as a mentor and advisor in international professional networks.

Outstanding collegiality

Dr Hamish Macleod, Senior Lecturer in Moray House School of Education, won the award for Outstanding Collegiality.

30 colleagues across the University’s three Colleges supported Dr Macleod’s nomination, recognising his willingness to support and mentor staff, not just in his own School but in all Schools through his work with the Institute for Academic Development. His support for young staff; for creating strong relations between multiple Schools, and for being at the forefront of Online Distance Learning developments by creating an ODL staff community, were all considered outstanding contributions.

Colleagues who work closely with Hamish found it difficult to pinpoint specific instances of collegiality, because, as one put it, “a spirit of collegiality is a habit that is a core part of Hamish's character”.

Quotation from Dr Hamish Macleod's nominations

Dr Pete Kingsley, from the School of Social and Political Science, was the runner-up for the award for the support and encouragement he offers staff and students in the Centre for African Studies.

He has created and delivered numerous new initiatives, such as writing retreats, a new seminar series. He has also encouraged staff from many other subject groups to join the CAS community of teachers and researchers

Louise Fleming, ECA Head of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Outreach Office, and Ed Hollis, ECA Deputy Director of Research, were also shortlisted for their work on the ECA 2014 REF submission.

Louise and Ed worked enormously hard with colleagues to develop and ultimately draw together the UoA34 REF submission. The encouragement of this wider academic debate, and the collegial and inclusive way which they coordinated this activity, have formed the basis for a clearer ongoing intellectual discourse on research activity across ECA’s academic community, and have fed in to research strategy discussions to great advantage.

Quotation from nominations for Louise Fleming and Ed Hollis

Dr Ellen Boeren and Deborah Fry, Moray House School for Education, were also shortlisted for their work on the Early Career Research Network, which helps create a strong research environment and supports the University’s spirit of supporting academic colleagues to attain their personal and professional goals.

Images courtesy of Douglas Robertson Photography. Should you wish to use an image, please email kathryn.dunlop@ed.ac.uk .