CHSS Recognition Awards 2015

The prizes recognise the outstanding work of staff throughout the College of Humanities and Social Science.

The seven award categories celebrate excellence in enhancing teaching, mentoring colleagues, leadership, community engagement, collegiality and teamwork.

Each prize winner receives £3,000 to put towards their personal and professional development.

The ceremony took place in the University’s Teviot debating hall on Friday, 2 October.

Recognising community initiatives

Dr Tom Mole, Director of the Centre for the History of the Book, was presented the award for Best Engagement Initiative with the Wider Community.

Dr Mole has created a number of initiatives that aim to build academic community in this interdisciplinary field of study. The Centre has developed links with international institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, Princeton and McGill, as well as enhancing it connections with the wider community.

The Ed2020 team was a runner up for the award. It presents a community of practice for people interested in innovative approaches to learning and undergraduate education.

Successful projects include, ‘Dearest Edinburgh University’ - an initiative to encourage students to write to the future University that they wish to study at - and a website hosting stories of innovation across the University.

Community engagement celebrated

The Centre on Constitutional Change won the award for Excellence in Engagement with the Wider Community. A multi-institutional research centre hosted within the School of Social and Political Science, the Centre and the School are now widely recognised as the pre-eminent authority on constitutional issues.

In the run up to the Scottish referendum, the team provided accessible, impartial and trustworthy information through 79 events, workshops and seminars, as well as and wider media communications, with outlets including the BBC World Service, Sky News, Radio 4, CNN, hundreds of citations in the print media.

As a result of their work with the Centre, CHSS academics were quoted in hundreds of publications around the world and given interviews with journalists from Tokyo to Toronto and St Petersburg to Paisley.

Wendy Timmons, Teaching Fellow and Programme Director: MSc Dance Science, was a runner up for her contribution and demonstrable impact with the development of dance as a subject area.

Wendy was commended for her 2014 creative dance project, ‘Heavenly View’, which worked with in local schools with children in some of the most challenged areas of the city.

Commendable collegiality

Professor Jo Danbolt, Baillie Gifford Chair in Financial Markets at the Business School, won the award for Outstanding Collegiality.

Professor Danbolt was commended by colleagues on his willingness to help others to improve their research. His contribution to the Scottish Social Sciences Summer School and Scottish Doctoral Colloquium was also highlighted, along with his consistent attendance at undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral events where students are looking for input.

Gordon Brennan, Director for Undergraduate Studies at the ECA School of Art, was the runner-up for the award.

Gordon’s work with colleagues in Widening Participation and his contribution to projects which help students develop their employability skills was celebrated. His work with History of Art and ESALA, where he is developing projects with colleagues and students on the theme of colour, was also commended.

Outstanding leadership

Founder and Director of the Eidyn Research Centre (Philosophy), Professor Duncan Pritchard was awarded the prize for Outstanding Leadership for his work to transform Philosophy at Edinburgh to one of the best departments in the world.

Philosophy at Edinburgh was recently ranked as top in Scotland and second in the UK for volume of world-leading and internationally excellent research in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

His ability to propose innovative projects, procure external funding and expanding teaching and enrolment through the introduction of an online MSc and MOOC, was also underlined. Professor Pritchard also led the ‘Philosophy in Prisons’ outreach project to make the subject accessible to prison inmates.

Head of Psychology, Rob McIntosh, was the runner up for the award for his work to initiate to improve student experience and motivate staff.

He has also facilitated lasting change in workload modelling and staff mentoring and has been instrumental in targeting equal opportunity for staff and students via the Athena SWAN Charter and awards scheme.

Psychology achieved an Athena SWAN Bronze award in November 2013.

Contribution to the Student Experience

Alex MacLaren, Design Studio Unit Leader at ECA Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, won the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Student Experience.

Alex’s successful Innovative Learning Week project, TEAMBUILD - a cross-disciplinary construction competition providing a fast-paced test of real-life skills - was praised. The competition was one of the best attended events of the week and student feedback was exceptional, with over 97% of participants rating the event ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

The Business School’s Student Development Team was the runner-up for the prize. Since its creation in April 2014, the team has made significant improvements to the professional development opportunities of PGT students in the Business School.

The team were commended on the introduction of the ‘Edinburgh Award in Professional Development’, adopting a coaching style in one-to-one and group interactions with students.

Promoting good teamwork

The award for Outstanding Team was awarded jointly to Animation at ECA and the JK Mason Institute for Medicine, Life Sciences and the Law.

The Animation Team were celebrated for their communal spirit and the exceptional level of support and encouragement offered to students at every stage of their academic career. Their work to develop connections within the wider animation industry was also praised.

The JK Mason Institute was established in 2012 to capitalise on the momentum around medical law and ethics within the School of Law, and to deepen connections across CHSS, the University and beyond. The Executive Team’s work to attract significant research income, commission publications and organise regular outreach events was highlighted.

The Institute is also leading the UK Organising Committee for the 13th World Congress of the International Association of Bioethics in 2016.

OPENspace at ECA was the runner up for the Outstanding Team award. The team’s work on a highly successful series of knowledge exchange events that have raised the University’s profile nationally and internationally, were commended.

The Susan Manning Award for an Outstanding Mentor

Dr Iain Hardie, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, was presented with the Susan Manning Award for Outstanding Mentor.

Dr Hardie was nominated by a group of colleagues for consistently supporting the personal and professional development of junior and more senior colleagues.

Particular attention was drawn to his introduction of a number of reforms related to mentoring; including a database of journal and book publication experiences, the targeting of junior scholars for research training schemes and awards, and his policy of meeting all postdoctoral fellows to conduct research reviews. 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.