This week’s Guardian university awards celebrated the top UK universities across a diverse range of categories, recognizing excellence in areas ranging from teaching and research impact to entrepreneurship and employability. In addition to the 14 university awards, which were presented at a ceremony on 18 March, MP Paul Blomfield was also named 2015’s “most inspiring leader in higher education”, in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of international and postgraduate students.
Awarded annually, the Guardian university awards aim to highlight UK universities’ achievements and innovations across a wide range of practices and priorities. This year saw the addition of four new categories, allowing universities to share and showcase inspiring in fields ranging from sustainability to student diversity.
And the winners are…
Teaching excellence: Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University took home the teaching excellence award, in recognition of an innovative project in which arts and humanities students collaborated on an online interactive graphic novel about the city’s history. The same institution also claimed a runner-up place for an “upside-down pedagogies” initiative, while the University of Sheffield was also celebrated for an innovative scheme in which engineering lectures were scrapped in favor of videos, online quizzes and problem classes.
Student experience: University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire’s three-year Active Students program, which focused on getting more students to try out a wide range of sports and activities, scooped the top prize in the student experience category. Runners-up were De Montford University and the University of Winchester.
Online and distance learning: University of Manchester
The award for online and distance learning went to the University of Manchester, which last year launched the world’s first distance-taught physical chemistry course, demonstrating that lab-based subjects can be effectively delivered online. Coventry University took one runner-up spot, with the second going to a project run by SOAS, University of London in partnership with the University of London International Academy (UOLIA) and MOOC platform Coursera.
Employability: Coventry University
Coventry University’s winning employability project, named Seed, focused on providing work placements and experience for international students, alongside a skills development and training scheme. Runner-up awards went to De Montford University, for a project in which students provide consultancy for local businesses, and the University of Manchester, for its “Meet the Professionals” event series.
Research impact: University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich was recognized for the impact of its Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) project, which is applying research on the properties of cassava to improve the livelihoods of tens of thousands of subsistence farmers in five African countries. The University of Bath and Cardiff University were named runners-up, for projects focusing respectively on the use of straw in construction and family experiences following catastrophic brain injury.
Student diversity: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
The top award for student diversity went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, in recognition of its new performance making diploma for learning-disabled adults, designed in partnership with learning disabilities theatre company Access All Areas. Runner-up awards were taken by Kingston University, for an initiative to improve support for students entering university from care, and London Metropolitan University, for a project aimed at helping local secondary students meet the requirements needed to access higher education.
Entrepreneurship: Cardiff Metropolitan University
The entrepreneurship award celebrated Cardiff Metropolitan University’s recently established center for student entrepreneurship, which helps students from all academic areas develop the skills and knowledge needed to start their own businesses. Ravensbourne University and the University of Southampton were named runners-up.
International projects: King’s College London
The international projects category was topped by King’s College London, whose King’s Sierra Leone Partnership has helped develop training, policy and clinical services to address to Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. The two runner-up spots went to the University of Manchester and the University of West England, Bristol.
Buildings that inspire: University of Worcester
This category, which aims to highlight innovative spaces within university campuses, was led by the University of Worcester, for a new sports arena designed for use by those with disabilities, transforming the derelict site of a former marketplace. Bath Spa University and the University of Essex were runners-up.
Business partnership: Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University claimed its second award for a project focused on combatting climate change, developed in collaboration with Nottingham Energy Partnership, in which students provide consultancy to local businesses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Runners-up Coventry University and Staffordshire University were recognized for projects focused on addressing the UK’s manufacturing skills shortage and nurturing future computer games designers.
Advancing staff equality: University of Essex
The University of Essex won the award for advancing staff equality, following its work to establish an informal network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Essex, the first of its kind in the country. The University of Birmingham was runner-up.
Marketing and comms campaign: Loughborough University
This award went to Loughborough University for its #IAMIN campaign, run in collaboration with the students’ union around the time of year when UK students receive A-level results and find out if they’ve made the grades for their chosen university. The University of Reading and Bath Spa University took the runner-up spots.
Sustainability: University of Nottingham
The sustainability award went to the University of Nottingham’s new helium recycling hub, developed in the physics department, which combines all the existing strategies for recovering helium – plus some new ones – into a single system; the project’s technology could be particularly useful in industry and healthcare. Runners-up were the University of Manchester and Kingston University.
Social and community impact: Plymouth University
The award for social and community impact was taken by Plymouth University, which is extending access to free dental care and raising awareness of oral health issues through its Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise initiative. The University of Manchester and University of Nottingham were runners-up.
Inspiring leader: Paul Blomfield
Finally, the “inspiring leader” award was presented to MP Paul Blomfield, who founded and chairs an all-party parliamentary group on students – which aims to facilitate communication between MPs and students – as well as being secretary of the all-party parliamentary universities group. Blomfield has also been particularly influential in parliamentary debates concerning international students, emphasizing the value of international students to the UK, and calling on the government to remove them from immigration figures.
