Nominate for this year's Student Choice Awards
The annual Student Choice Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of staff and their contributions to our learning community at UCL. The Student Choice Awards are wholly decided by students, from nomination through to judging the winners, a true example of students leading the way. These awards give students the opportunity to thank the staff who do a great job, and let staff know that their hard work has a massive impact on their lives, in the classroom or outside. There are eight awards, which recognise specific aspects of staff work that are important to students. This year we received 1478 nominations for 764 staff members. At the awards ceremony, we also published our Student Choice Awards Report on what students value most from staff which is from our analysis of all 1478 nominations.
The shortlist for each category was released in advance, but nominees gathered at the Education Awards on 30 May 2019 for the announcement of the winners. The event was hosted by Rothna Akhtar, Welfare & International Officer, Students' Union UCL and Professor Deborah Gill, Pro-Vice-Provost for Student Experience and Director of UCL Medical School. The Provost, Professor Michael Arthur, presented the winners with their Student Choice Award.
Congratulations to all our winners!
The winners are listed below:
Amazing Support Staff - Agnese Benzonelli
Agnese is the friendly face that students first go to when encountering challenges in the lab, she combines a professional attitude with a calming energy to make sure that everyone feels encouraged to ask for help. Her students nominated her for this award to show “how much she is appreciated”.
Diverse and Inclusive Education - Christine "Xine" Yao
Christine, or “Xine” as she is locally known, encourages her students to explore writers of colour whose work is not covered in more traditional Modern Literature courses. Her passion for the diverse texts she uses to cover different theories and ideas related to discrimination and dispossession generates experiences for students “unlike any other they have had on the course so far”.
Brilliant Research-Based Education - Meg Russell
Students have been particularly enthusiastic about the knowledge and insight in British Parliamentary Studies that Meg brings to her module. She encourages students to conduct their own research, and is always ready to discuss how best to approach it. To bring the course content to life, Meg has even organised a trip to Parliament.
Exceptional Feedback - Abhishek Bhattacharya
Abhishek’s feedback is described as “prompt, detailed, specific and clear”, as well as highly tailored and focuses on how students can improve. It is clear that his teaching has been shaped by constructive feedback from previous cohorts, showing how much he cares for student progression.
Excellent Personal Tutoring - Mark Kristiansen
Mark’s students thank him for being an “amazing personal tutor”, they recognise all of the effort he puts in to supporting all those who talk to him and is there for students even when they do not expect his help. Students within his department know just to drop him an email or go to his office and he’ll readily use his life experiences to give advice on how to overcome issues.
Inspiring Teaching Delivery - Rasmus Nilsson
Students describe Rasmus as “one of the most passionate, inspiring and supportive” professors within his department. He conducts his seminars in such a way that students actively want to participate and express their views without fear of making mistakes, he is always happy to engage in debates and takes his students on “intellectual adventures”.
Outstanding Research Supervision - Miranda Wolpert
Miranda is “highly inspiring and exciting from an intellectual perspective”, bringing the right balance between providing guidance and letting her students take ownership of their research. Her students are very grateful for how “incredibly supportive and encouraging she is”.
Active Student Partnership - Selena Nemorin
Students “cannot thank Selena enough for all her time and effort” for her commitment to teaching after concerns were raised in her taught module. She ensured that all of her students were included in weekly workshops to help improve the module for future cohorts. Her initiative and responsive attitude is inspirational.