The Vice-Chancellor's Awards 2023

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Colleague of the Year recognises an individual member of staff who has markedly and consistently enhanced the working environment of other staff in the University, and exemplified our core values: Inclusion, Inspiration, Innovation and Integrity.  

This year’s nominees are: Ruth Gill, Sarah-Jane Maze and Amy Scott.

Ruth Gill, Director of Faculty Operations, FASS 

Widely recognised as being at the heart of the faculty, Ruth is a constant source of advice, information and collegiality who strives to enhance the working environment for all. Described as highly efficient and the epitome of a good colleague, she lives the University values on a day-to-day basis and always goes out of her way to put people at the heart of everything. 

Her can-do spirit constantly shines through, none more so than during Clearing where she liaises with Heads of School regularly, efficiently, and collaboratively. These traits proved indispensable this year while helping staff return to post in China after the COVID-19 pandemic and while organising a popular panel event involving all of the female leaders in FASS for International Women’s Day 2023. 

Sarah-Jane Maze, Assessment Manager, Academic Registry, FHMS

As the Assessment Manager within Academic Registry and the University lead on Academic Integrity, Sarah-Jane consistently demonstrates a spirit of innovation and passion, encouraging colleagues to explore creative solutions and embrace change. 

Her unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive, collaborative, and enriching atmosphere has been invaluable while guiding academic colleagues through the challenge posed by the increased use of Generative AI in assessments, part of an ever-evolving landscape of AI and academic integrity.

Sarah-Jane also oversees the FHMS assessment delivery, building valuable and productive relationships with all staff she works with and being a true advocate of the University’s core values.

Amy Scott, Faculty Case Manager, Academic Registry

Amy’s extensive experience, expertise and sensitivity are held in the highest esteem by colleagues across the University. Her responsibilities include investigating a high volume of student complaints, serious fitness to study cases and Fitness to Practise concerns. These cases are often complex and highly distressing, yet Amy takes everything in her stride, is never flustered and is always calm to ensure that the students and staff she works with are treated fairly, within the University’s regulations, policies, and procedures.

Her unwavering commitment to the Office of Student Complaints, Appeals and Regulation (OSCAR) is truly commendable, her contribution and dedication helping to ensure the team is highly regarded within the Higher Education sector.

The Vice-Chancellor's Award for Leadership recognises an individual member of staff who has exhibited strong and effective leadership (or potential) by undertaking activities either formally through their role or simply by taking responsibility when leadership was required to achieve a particular goal.  

This year's nominees are: Ambrose Neville, Ali Orr and Professor Tazeeb Rajwani.

Ambrose Neville, Head of Information Security, CIDO

Ambrose’s leadership contributed strongly to Surrey winning the accolade of Cyber University of the Year 2023, recognising the University’s commitment to cyber innovation, cybercrime reduction and protecting the community online. His energy drives an enormous amount of change, improving security across the IT systems and infrastructure.

Innovative and collaborative, he excels in fostering team growth and is an outstanding communicator, strengthening relationships with stakeholders throughout the organisation and within the cyber security industry.

Always willing to share his knowledge, he has nurtured his team’s capability to provide advice to SMEs incubated at the Surrey Research Park, and provides national sector leading advice to the JISC and HE communities on the topic of email security and the use of open-source intelligence data.

Ali Orr, Director of Organisational Development, Culture and EDI 

Ali’s unflagging guidance and support for her colleagues in Human Resources and the broader University community make her a champion of inclusion. Passionate about embedding the core values across Surrey, her leadership was integral to the University being named as runner-up at the 2023 Universities Human Resources awards in the category ‘Culture Change and Organisation Development’.

As well as going above and beyond to assist, mentor, and guide her team and her peers, her strategic perspective is invaluable in shaping the University’s objectives and ensuring they are achieved.

Among her notable achievements is the design of the Strategic Senior Leadership Programme, delivered to 86 senior leaders, and the way she has risen to the challenge of leading the EDI team.

Professor Tazeeb Rajwani, Professor of International Business and Strategy, Surrey Business School

With a leadership style consistently described as ‘transformational’, Tazeeb has expanded his team to 23 dedicated academics, brought NSS scores up to above 85% for one of the largest programmes in Surrey, and delivered strong 4* REF papers in the previous round by supporting staff in developing their papers.

Tazeeb’s ability to foster a strong and supportive culture within his department has spurred success in others; he encourages staff to develop strong research and teaching profiles, which has resulted in many staff getting published in world leading journals, serving as editors or on world leading editorial boards and engaging externally on global platforms that have raised their profiles and that of the University.

The Vice-Chancellor's Award for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion recognises an individual member of staff who has substantially contributed to the development and/or celebration of our diverse and inclusive culture by, for example, acting as a positive role model who consistently champions equality, diversity and inclusion, or developing events and activities with demonstrated outcomes.  

This year’s nominees are: Katrina Mack, Dr Noelia Noel and Namy Yu.

Kat Mack, Student Enterprise Manager, Research and Innovation 

Kat keeps EDI at the forefront of her mind in everything she delivers on. This year she won the bid for the University to host the International Enterprise Educators Conference 2023 and as the Project Manager, she ensured it was accessible to all.

Kat heads up Student Enterprise for the University and creates monetary prizes to target student groups who are underrepresented in society, and this attracts philanthropic funding into the University. In addition, she led on creating ‘Building an entrepreneur: Women’s Edition’ - collaborating with the GSA to raise awareness and support for women’s entrepreneurship on campus and beyond.

Kat is now launching a Women’s Entrepreneurship Network, which she is expanding to include all women in and outside the University, while she also sits on the Research and Innovation EDI committee. 

Dr Noelia Noel, Senior Lecturer in Physics, School of Maths and Physics 

Noelia has led from the front in relation to EDI, particularly in the area of biases amongst students linked to their attitudes towards staff related to their protected characteristics.

An integral part of the Physics and Maths EDI committee, she consistently supports inclusive programmes such as the Institute of Physics diversity scholarship, the Daphne Jackson Fellowship, Breaking Barriers, and Surrey Black Scholars. She has supervised dozens of students with neurodiversities, involving her own PGRs in the process, to nurture future inclusive leaders. 

Noelia led the first University-wide Research Culture Week addressing mental health, attainment gaps, and career development and in 2022 established the Surrey Physics Academy, with the goal of promoting and attracting underrepresented / disadvantaged / minority groups to study at Surrey.

Namy Yu, Student Money Adviser, Student Experience 

Namy has a talent for inspiring discussions around EDI, and an ability to create a safe space for people to contribute thoughtfully to sensitive conversations. Inspired by her participation in an online book club during the pandemic she set up a diversity book club which regularly brings together staff from a myriad of backgrounds to discuss the depicted characters and themes. 

Recent examples include ‘East Side Voices’ to celebrate East and South-East Asian Heritage Month, and the TV programme, ‘Small Axe’, for Black History Month. These monthly discussions are often inspiring, moving and uplifting, with Namy guiding the conversations skilfully and creating the space for everyone to have a say, should they wish, thereby inspiring a sense of belonging and connection.

The Vice-Chancellor's Award for Public and Community Engagement is new for 2023!

Awarded to an individual member of staff who has led or participated in the delivery of public engagement activities over the past year that have demonstrably enhanced the reputation and impact of the University. This may be through activities that successfully involve members of the public in research and/or communicate the benefits and impact of our research to non-academic audiences.  It may also be through stakeholder or policy engagement activities that help make a positive difference to society at the local, regional, national or international level.  This award is open to any member of staff whose efforts have been over and above their normal core duties, and for whom public engagement is not their main role.

This year’s nominees are: Michelle Collins, Nathalie Hinds and Iain Main.

Dr Michelle Collins, Associate Professor, School of Maths & Physics/ Astrophysics, FEPS

Michelle has a strong track record in public engagement and played a leading role in delivering Surrey’s part of World Space Week, a large and highly successful STEM-boosting event in Guildford town centre which attracted over a thousand local members of the public, including many children who were inspired by the demos, games and talks she arranged. 

She led the Astrophysics Group’s contribution to the event, including arranging demonstrations and activities to inspire visitors, organising people to give soap box talks and helping with the event logistics. She encouraged academics and PGRs alike to get involved, facilitating new opportunities for many. 

Michelle used her experience at doing entertaining public engagement talks (she’s a dedicated regular who’s done Bright Club and Pint of Science) by delivering a well-targeted soap box talk.

Nathalie Hinds, Head of Operations & Partnerships, Institute for Sustainability

Nathalie is rapidly emerging as a leading voice in the Sustainability cause - both locally and beyond.

Her involvement on the Institute’s multi-award-winning animation video, Remember the Future, began as a vision to break away from the corporate narrative, as she wanted to capture people’s hearts and minds in new ways. By storytelling, the animation engages with people of all ages and backgrounds with the power to change.

With the help of Jon Weinbren and his creative team, Nathalie was able to communicate a vital, strong message about protecting Planet Earth for generations to come through a medium that can be shown in a business or academic setting, and she is now working on commercialising the asset.

Iain Main, Sports and Landscape Manager, EFCS

After 38 years’ service at the University, Iain continues to make a striking all-round contribution.

In the year since he took responsibility for both campuses, Iain has overseen improvements in the presentation of the grounds and the sports pitches and contributed to the University’s success in several prestigious awards. These include a Green Flag Award, marking green spaces of significance.

Iain is committed to enhancing the student experience and has organised library wellbeing events, spoken at lectures and supported the student Garden Society, as well as provided volunteering opportunities to a wide range of staff and students.

A passionate advocate of biodiversity, Iain has also supported the University’s submission to the THE Impact Rankings by promoting social sustainability.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovator of the Year is presented to an individual who has developed an outstanding innovative product, technology, process or service that clearly demonstrates an economic, social or environmental benefit to society.  

This year’s nominees are: Dr Alison Callwood, Professor Xavier Font and Dr Zoe Harris.

Dr Alison Callwood, Senior Lecturer in Integrated Care (Midwifery), School of Health Sciences, FHMS

Alison’s innovation journey has led her to become an internationally recognised Structured Interview Specialist. Her work has created a University identity that reaches far beyond the healthcare sector where it all began.

Alison’s research into building fairness into online interviews culminated in the development and commercialisation of an asynchronous interview platform called SAMMI®. She has been awarded multiple Innovate UK grants including the prestigious Innovate UK Women in Innovation award in 2023.

She successfully works across professional spheres with two multinational industry partners. Her work was recognised by the Royal College of Midwives in 2023 when she was awarded a Fellowship. Alison and her team are finalists in the Times Higher Education Awards for Digital Technology Innovation of the Year 2023.

Alison is an inspirational role model for how to develop impact from research. She has over 20 publications, succeeded in revenue generation and investment and brought the University of Surrey to the heart of policy.

Professor Xavier Font, Professor of Sustainability Marketing, Centre for Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Visitor Economy, FASS

Xavier's nomination is based on his innovative strategies fostering impactful research. His collaborative efforts within and beyond his school have cultivated partnerships with industry and governments, consistently aiming for sustainable change as a core theme. Noteworthy achievements include his team's contracted work by the European Commission (EC), resulting in white papers and articles influencing policy.

Xavier’s involvement in EC projects, such as analysing sustainable tourism indicators and conducting stakeholder consultations, significantly impacted the 2020 European Tourism Convention during the COVID period. These efforts contributed to the European Agenda for Tourism 2050 and the development of significant EU-wide policies, guiding tourism-related funding.

Moreover, Xavier led experiments on presenting sustainability data to policymakers, influencing Green Destinations' approach and garnering interest from multiple governments. His contributions extend to pioneering research methodologies that evaluate policy interventions' effectiveness in promoting pro-sustainability behaviours. His leadership in substantial projects, securing scholarships and industry collaborations, underscores his commitment to fostering impactful, sustainable change in academia and industry.

Dr Zoe Harris, Senior Lecturer in Environment and Sustainability, School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, FEPS

Zoe is leading the high-profile Taeda Tech Project, funded at £4m by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on the development of a novel aeroponics systems for larger crops, with a current focus on willow as part of the UK’s biomass strategy.

An advocate of sustainability and innovation at Surrey, both internally and externally, Zoe was in the first cohort of Commercialisation Fellows, and she champions innovation in her the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, where she's based. Two of her PhD students have since engaged with the innovation department as IAA Officers.

Zoe leads the University’s innovative Global Graduate Award in Sustainability, a programme which attracts approximately 150 attendees each year, fostering sustainability skills and knowledge. She is also UK lead for the International Energy Association’s (IEA) Task 44: Flexible Bioenergy and System Integration.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teacher of the Year recognises and rewards staff who have been teaching at the University of Surrey for three or more years and have made a significant contribution to enhancing students’ learning experience and the quality of their learning. 

This year's nominees are:  Professor Ioana Boureanu, Dr Venetia Evergeti and Dr Andrew Hulton.

Professor Ioana Boureanu, Professor in Secure Systems & Head of Surrey Centre for Cyber Security (SCCS), FEPS

In 2020, Ioana became one of the founders of Surrey's Academic Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity Education (ACE-CSE), which was recognised by His Majesty's Government at Gold-level of Excellence. Ioana has been its co-director for past three years, channelling her passion for teaching and pedagogy into the new ways and varied means in which computer science can shape the insights of future generations.

Ioana takes pride in the positive educational impact that the ACE-CSE team and programme has on the everyday lives of students not just in her Centre, School or Faculty, but across the whole University and beyond – as it feeds into the national and international landscape of computer science education, via projects, public outreach and pedagogy-oriented publications.

Dr Venetia Evergeti, Associate Professor and Director of Learning and Teaching, FASS

Venetia is consistently achieving excellence in student learning experience, through her innovative teaching and student-staff partnership projects. Students and colleagues commend her for her highly interactive style of teaching and her collaborative approach that inspires and guides others. 

She recently established the Sociology Graduate Teaching Assistants Academy, a developmental programme that draws on current research on the importance of subject-specific training of GTAs. This pioneering initiative provides exceptional guidance for GTAs, developing their teaching skills, whilst also ensuring that UG students get a superb learning experience in their seminars.

Venetia regularly obtains funding from the Teaching Innovation Fund and uses this to make outstanding improvements to the student experience and raise the University’s profile through publications and presentations in international conferences.

Dr Andrew Hulton, Senior Lecturer and Section Lead in Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, FHMS

Teaching across the Nutrition, Food and Exercise Science department, Andrew puts his prior applied practice within sport to good use - his accreditation as a Sports Scientist with the British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences (BASES) for both physiological support and pedagogic practice, feed into his teaching which includes experiential learning to ensure that students are exposed to authentic assessments that support their learning and enhance employability. 

Although Andrew’s focus is on teaching, he has continued to publish peer review papers in scientific journals and book chapters, which strengthens his research informed teaching style. In addition, student:staff partnerships play a key role in these publications, and he continues to work with students to conduct robust research to support their academic career.

Furthermore, Andrew has interests in pedagogical research and has been successful in gaining innovation grants and seed funding to support his pedagogic activities, which have included investigating innovative presentation tools, the use of activity guides to support learning, and the use of industry standard software to support digital and employability skills.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Researcher of the Year recognises staff that have spent ten years or less as an independent researcher and whose recent research has successfully challenged dogma, created a new field of research, elucidated a new paradigm, made a fundamental change in thinking or had a significant impact on society.  

This year’s nominees are: Dr Lirong Liu, Dr Joanna Moss and Professor Erich Round.

Dr Lirong Liu, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Environment and Sustainability

Lirong’s research integrates systematic modelling at multiple scales to address conflicting environmental, social and economic objectives in scientific issues to support sustainability, with a focus on climate change mitigation.

As an Early-Career Researcher just promoted to Senior Lecturer this year, Lirong has an impressive funding record-- as Surrey Principal Investigator for the UKRI Energy Demand Research Centre and the Horizon Europe project on ‘Wellbeing, inclusion, sustainability and the economy’.

Lirong created the ‘Energy Modelling for All’ project improving EDI in the energy research community and opening doors for women in energy modelling through training, collaboration and long-term mentorship. 

She has been invited to join the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and inform the media debate running up to, and at, COP28.

Dr Jo Moss, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychology, FHMS

Jo leads a programme of research which focuses on understanding behavioural and cognitive diversity in people with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions. Her work is widening participation in research for people within these under-represented populations and is improving access to up-to-date research findings through the development of core impact resources.

This year, Jo has published nine papers in leading neurodevelopmental academic journals, whilst also delivering on grant funded projects, including a prestigious Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Award as well as research funded by external (Cerebra, Centre for Education Neuroscience, CdLS Foundation UK & Ireland) and internal (ESRC IAA, FHMS FRF, HEIF) funding schemes.

With a strong ethos for improving the efficiency of scientific knowledge exchange, Jo has this year led the innovative development of a novel online teacher training resource. Since its launch in March 2023, over 300 people have registered to access this resource from across the world.  

Professor Erich Round, British Academy Global Professor of Linguistics, School of Literature and Languages, FASS

Erich leads cutting-edge and highly interdisciplinary research at the intersection of human language diversity, cognitive modelling and evolutionary dynamics.

A British Academy Global Professor, his research has ranged from living with the last speakers of the Kayardild Aboriginal language of Australia, to adapting phylogenetic methods from biology to study language diversity, to developing computational models describing the evolutionary dynamics of language complexity.

This year, Erich was awarded a UK Horizon Europe Consolidator grant, selected by the European Research Council. The five-year project charts an ambitious plan to unravel the foundations of human phonology— the sounds we speak and the intricately complex ways we combine them - by bringing together a constellation of Bayesian models of cognition, the motor dynamics of articulation and models of linguistic cultural evolution.

In November 2023, Prof. Round became the research centre leader of the Surrey Morphology Group.

The Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research Supervisor of the Year recognises an individual who has created the most supportive, stimulating and inspirational research environment for their students during their time at the University.  

This year’s nominees are: Dr Anesa Hosein, Dr Lisiane Meira, Dr Tan Sui and Professor Diane Watt.

Dr Anesa Hosein, Head of Educational Development & Research, Surrey Institute of Education

One of the joys of Anesa’s academic life is working with and supervising her doctoral candidates, in particular, creating a doctoral community that shares her love of culture, food, and higher education research. As the founding PGR director of the PhD in Higher Education at the Surrey Institute of Education (SIoE), she drew on her Trinidadian background to create a weekly online social meeting space, called Limes, to enable a sense of belonging and to keep a pulse on the PGR community.

Using the Limes as a springboard, Anesa has supported PGRs development in sharing cutting-edge new research, research methods and academic skills as well as creating spaces for sharing culture and food, through bring and share lunches. PGRs have remarked that the Limes have been a lifeline for their mental health and wellbeing and own personal and academic growth.

Dr Lisiane Meira, Lecturer, Clinical and Experimental Medicine, FHMS

Passionate about DNA repair, Lisi aims to inspire her PGRs to do their best research in an inclusive and supportive research environment which respects and values the individual strengths of each student.

A gifted experimentalist, nothing makes her happier than sharing lab space with her students, occasionally doing experiments together and discussing their results during their lab meetings.

Believing herself extremely fortunate for having interacted with so many talented students over the course of her career, Lisi knows that good researchers can only be formed in an environment of trust and where both students and supervisors follow the norms of collaborative research. As such, she encourages her students to look for opportunities to disseminate their results and to collaborate with other researchers, including attending conferences and getting to know other PGRs outside of the Leggett building.

Dr Tan Sui, Associate Professor (Reader) in Materials Engineering, FEPS

Tan has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication, and unparalleled mentorship as a PhD supervisor, making a profound impact on her team and the broader organisation.

With two graduated PhD students and seven ongoing PhD students, Tan has consistently led her team with a clear vision. The ability to set high standards, provide guidance, and lead by example has inspired all members of her team to excel. Her students agree that Tan has gone above and beyond to support and nurture the professional growth of her team members. She actively seeks out opportunities for team members to enhance their skills and knowledge, ensuring that they are up-to-date with industry trends and technologies.

Professor Diane Watt, Professor of Medieval Languages, School of Literature and Languages, FASS

Committed to developing a stimulating research community, Diane understands the importance of mentoring the next generation of researchers, supporting them through every stage of the postgraduate journey and offering advice on their career trajectories.

She leads an international research network on medieval women’s writing. Set up 8 years ago with funding from the Leverhulme Trust, from the outset she ensured that postgraduate researchers were fully integrated. She also co-founded SGS: the Sex, Gender and Sexualities interdisciplinary research group in 2019; it became a FASS research centre this year.

Diane recognises the important of collaborative supervision, seeing it as an incredibly generative process for the student and supervisors alike.

Praised for her inspirational supervision, she encourages her students to articulate how their work is located within the discipline, and within humanities and social sciences, and how it contributes to larger or pressing issues and debates.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Early-Career Teacher of the Year recognises and rewards staff who are within their first three years of teaching and have made a significant contribution to enhancing students’ learning experience, and quality of learning. 

This year's nominees are:  Dr Christopher Basu, Dr Daniellie Dove and Dr Kelly Kousi.

Dr Christopher Basu, Lecturer in Veterinary Anatomy, School of Veterinary Medicine, FHMS

Chris’ spirited mantra to students is to embrace failure and take risks. Through his roles as veterinary anatomy lecturer, year 1 lead, module lead and open research champion, he inspires students to grow professionally and personally.

He has enhanced the learning experience across the vet school through the strategic use of technology, such as 3D printing, and with his authentic approach to learning. He is most at home in the anatomy teaching laboratory, where he creates a safe, playful learning environment where students feel they can step out of their comfort zone and stretch their abilities.

When he can find a way to support a colleague, Chris thrives. He knows that the curriculum works best when the academic, technical and support teams are working together.

Dr Danielle Dove, Fellow of the Institute for Sustainability, School of Literature and Languages, FASS

Danielle’s significant contribution to teaching has been repeatedly noted by both students and colleagues. In recognition of her innovative and inspirational co-design and delivery of a second-year module, she was awarded a Value Award for Teaching Innovation and Inspiration in 2022. In May 2023 she was nominated for the Lynne Millward Award for Academic Staff Member of the Year, which is run by the University of Surrey Students’ Union. Nominations for this highly competitive award are submitted by the students themselves.

Enthusiastic and approachable, Danielle actively works to foster a supportive, welcoming, and respectful environment for her students to thrive. She is a passionate and dedicated lecturer committed to supporting and enhancing student learning and development.

Dr Kelly Kousi, Lecturer of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, FEPS

Kelly leads a group focused on Materials for Sustainability and is also responsible for all Labs in Chemical Engineering. She particularly focuses her teaching methods on enhancing the teaching experience and making teaching inclusive. 

She has secured funding to upgrade teaching equipment, works on including VR and social media in the curriculum and has received a grant to help address the barriers mature Postgraduate students face in the Chemical Sciences. Due to the reach of this initiative, she was invited to speak at the Royal Society of Chemistry's Inclusion and Diversity Forum. 

Kelly has worked with the Museums of Northumberland in the ‘Our Past, Your Future’ campaign to inspire young students to follow careers in STEM, has been acknowledged in the WE50 awards for her work on Inclusion and Equity in Engineering, is a Chief Editor of the NGO Greek Women in STEM and has received an award from the RSC for Innovative Teaching.