The Student Choice Awards recognise outstanding staff members and allow students to show appreciation for their hard work. For the 2023 awards, Students’ Union UCL received a total of 1041 nominations, comprising of 590 staff members from 77 academic and professional services departments.
The report features the most valued practices in nine award categories, highlighting the exceptional learning experience at UCL. It showcases common and emerging themes and aims to benefit staff by sharing examples of excellent support, supervision, and teaching practices.
Across the 9 award categories, these were some of the most valued practices that were highly cited:
- Proactive and responsive approaches to feedback.
- Leading with empathy and providing supportive guidance.
- Going the extra mile for students, in good times and bad.
- Innovatively integrating emerging research.
- Being responsive, generous, and approachable in demeanour.
- Demonstrating an authentic commitment to student wellbeing.
- Fostering an inclusive, supportive and collaborative atmosphere.
- Providing high quality, individualised, holistic, student-centred support.
Given Students' Union UCL's deep understanding of the most valued practices as identified by students, we are well-positioned to collaborate with the university in sharing these best practices and enhancing the overall student experience.
Awards Categories and Winners
Our wonderful panel of student judges read through all of those nominations and narrowed it down until they had their winners. Read on to found out who they are...
Active Student Partnership
The award for Active Student Partnership recognises staff who are committed to listening to and working with students and their representatives to improve and change education in their module, programme, or department. This category received 69 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Take proactive and responsive approaches to feedback
- Provide empathy and supportive guidance
- Provide engaging and innovative teaching
Winner: Rik K Ganly Thomas
“[Rik] has shown exceptional responsiveness to student needs by devising an annual student feedback survey, demonstrating his commitment to listening attentively and acting on feedback. Promptly replying to the insights gathered, he has implemented various initiatives aimed at addressing student concerns and improving their overall experience.”
Amazing Support Staff
The award for Amazing Support Staff thanks staff who are not in teaching roles but still make a huge difference to students’ learning at UCL by going the extra mile. This category received 122 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Lead with care and sensitivity
- Take effective and efficient action
- Go the extra mile
Winner: Laura Baggioli
“She is supportive of and genuinely cares about all students. Whenever I have had any issues Laura is the first person I approach for help and I know this is the same for other students. Whenever anyone has an issue, the first advice they are always given by other students is to speak to Laura. We all know that Laura will respond quickly and be happy to help.”
Brilliant Research-Based Education
The award for Brilliant Research-Based Education is for staff who educate students about the latest, cutting-edge knowledge, or who enable taught students to create knowledge by conducting their own research. This category received 43 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Are innovative integration of emerging research
- Empower students to conduct research
- Deliver personalised mentorship and support
Winner: Fiona Kyle
“Dr Fiona Kyle organises weekly lab meetings for students who are on placements… During these meetings, one student presents a recent research paper and thanks to this we are able to expand our critical-thinking skills by having a peer-led discussion after the presentation. These meetings sparked valuable discussions that proved very useful for my project and expanded my knowledge about research in a way that couldn't have been replaced by simply reading around a specific topic area.”
Diverse & Inclusive Education
The award for Diverse & Inclusive Education highlights staff members who work to ensure their curriculum or research recognises marginalised scholars and shines a light on diverse perspectives. This category received 19 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Amplify diverse voices
- Practise supportive and inclusive teaching
- Are dedicated to culture change outside of the classroom
Winner: Hélène Plun-Favreau
“Hélène actively incorporates the voices of scholars from marginalised communities, including BME, LGBT+, disabled, and women scholars, into students' learning experiences. Through her efforts, she has created a learning environment that embraces diversity and promotes inclusivity. For example, [she] organises events to make STEM more welcoming for women, such as the recent event "Celebrating Women in Neuroscience." This event provided insight into equality issues within academia and celebrated successful UCL women neuroscientists who are paving the way for change. She has also been involved in the co-organisation of events with the LGBTQ+ STEM @UCL Network, fostering a more welcoming community to queer scientists in STEM fields” of the criteria, but this category necessarily embodies many of these whilst importantly highlighting her specific contribution to this important area of work.”
Excellent Personal Tutoring
The Excellent Personal Tutoring award recognises members of staff who are always there to provide students with pastoral support and academic guidance. This category received 159 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Are holistic and student-centred in their approach
- Are committed to student wellbeing
- Provide clear and constructive communication and guidance
Winner: Anna Remington
“Anna has been proactive in setting up meetings with me on a regular basis. Such proactiveness, I believe, is not the experience of most students and demonstrates her interest in my progress.... She is always responsive to my emails and requests for meetings and never 'ghosts' me. I experienced her as being empathetic and understanding of the issues I faced and felt she took my perspective rather than trying to dismiss things as part of academic life. I felt she overall had the perspective of encouraging me to make things better for myself and get what I wanted...”
Exceptional Feedback
The award for Exceptional Feedback is aimed at staff who provide constructive and useful feedback on students’ assessment and learning., helping students to progress and succeed. This category received 57 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Provide detailed and personalised feedback
- Provide high quality, individualised feedback
- Are generous in providing additional support
Winner: Alecia Carter
“We…were able to be assessed not only for the content of a final paper, but for the analysis, effort, and feedback we put forward, in the final project and throughout the module. The combination of practical, realistic, consistent feedback and the opportunity for us students to take an active role in the response and marking process was significant; when I showed up to seminar, I felt I was there to learn the skills that would follow me through academia, not just to make the grade.”
Inspiring Teaching Delivery
The award for Inspiring Teaching Delivery recognises staff members who deliver exceptional teaching using innovative and engaging methods to hold students’ interest and help them learn regardless of the circumstances. This category received 432 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Provide clear, engaging and innovative teaching
- Are responsive and approachable in demeanour
- Foster a positive and inclusive learning environment
Winner: Damian Phelan
“He was always there for us whenever we needed help and gave us advice on any issue. He was so supportive and understanding, always wanting to make sure that everyone in class feels comfortable with all the information presented. Every piece of feedback was thoroughly presented and all the tutorial work was always checked. Being one of the students in his tutorial group was the best thing that happened to me this year. He inspired all of us with his motivation and his genuine desire to improve education and help students become better versions of themselves. I also appreciated that he was always available for Office Hours and replied to our emails even when we had the smallest questions.“
Outstanding Research Supervision
The award for Outstanding Research Supervision recognises staff who help postgraduate research students to succeed, balancing providing support and fostering independence. This category received 141 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Are dedicated to academic mentorship
- Provide comprehensive support outside of research
- Are flexible and go the extra mile
Winner: Rachael Dickman
“Rachael is a fantastic supervisor, who not only takes care of helping her students develop academically, but supports them as a person. She always has an open ear for any of her student's issues that might come up and is the most understanding and supporting supervisor I have met. In a degree that is known to be challenging when it comes to mental health, she takes it seriously to look after her students' mental health and always approaches things with an open mind and the goal to help. Through this, she created a very positive and trusting environment in her group and enables us to give our best.”
Sustainable Education
The award for Sustainable Education recognises staff who are leading the way in embedding sustainability into the curriculum and shaping our future climate leaders. This category received 9 nominations.
Nominations favoured staff who:
- Integrate sustainability into the curriculum
- Provide innovative, practical learning experiences
- Demonstrate personal commitment to sustainability
Winner: Andy Markwick
“[Andy Markwick] continually provides his students with opportunities to link our learning and teaching as student teachers to real world issues related to sustainability. Dr Markwick's clear passion for the topic and how this relates to science empowers his students to confidently embed sustainability in all aspects of our science teaching curriculum and inspire confidence for us to address issues children have with anxieties/ curiosity about sustainability in the modern world… Dr Markwick's infectious enthusiasm for issues around how to pragmatically address sustainability issues has armed us as his students with the ability to engage with school children and weave sustainability into the fabric of our teaching...”