Celebrate Our Staff – June 2019

Here we celebrate our colleagues’ achievements across the University this past month.

Simon Vallance, Course Design Manager, and Ben Pierce, Senior Production Lead

Online course win medea award June 2019

The ‘Transport Systems: Global Issues and Future Innovations’ online course, developed by the Digital Education Service and academics from the Institute for Transport Studies, has been awarded the MEDEA Award 2019 for professionally produced educational media. The online course won the award for its innovative use of video and animation in order to provide an engaging, interactive, stimulating and social learning experience.

The course was created out of a need to provide the best quality student education that inspires future generations of transport professionals. With this as a motivation, the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) approached the Digital Education Service (DES) to create an online course that captures prospective students’ imagination. The successful collaboration between the two teams is the outcome of combining academic expertise from ITS with effective course design and innovative multimedia production from the Service.

Carol Elston, Head of the DES said: “This recognition underscores the hard work of a team from the DES and the ITS, whose core value is to create innovative online learning that reaches millions of learners worldwide.”

Dr Yue Huang, lecturer at the ITS and lead educator of the online course says: “The course provides an excellent platform that people can learn, not only from educators like us, but from everyone else who has a passion to shape the future of transport systems.”

Read more about the course’s award.

Alexia Moncrieff June 2019

Dr Alexia Moncrieff, Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the School of History, has received the Bryan Gandevia Prize for Australian Military-Medical History by the Australian War Memorial. The award is in recognition for Dr Moncrieff's PhD thesis 'We are entitled to some control': the Australian Army Medical Corps in the First World War.

Dr Moncrieff said: “I am honoured to have been awarded the Bryan Gandevia Prize for 2018 and I am grateful to the Australian War Memorial and to Dr Gandevia's friends and family for their support of emerging scholars. This award will help me complete the research for my second book, a study of the letters from an Australian doctor to his parents during the First World War.”

Read more about Dr Moncrieff’s prize.

Hannah Preston June 2019

Hannah Preston, Research Support Officer from Leeds University Business School (LUBS) and Editor of the Research and Innovation Blog, has recently celebrated publishing the 250th post on the blog. Launched in October 2015, the purpose of the blog was to provide a platform to help disseminate the School’s research to a wider audience, both within and outside of academia.

Hannah said: “We wanted to make sure the blog was accessible, informative and engaging. We have used it as a space to promote our researchers’ achievements, share informed opinions, offer useful advice, reflect on research experiences, recruit participants for research studies, and showcase our researchers’ excellence and knowledge.

“As Editor, I really enjoy finding out what our researchers are working on and helping them share their findings with the public. It's been a great way for me to connect with our researchers and to learn about lots of different subjects."

Visit the Research and Innovation Blog.

Regina blaszczyk June 2019

Professor Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Professor of Business History from the School of History, has been awarded the Millia Davenport Publication Award from the Costume Society for America for her book ‘Fashionability: Abraham Moon and the Creation of British Cloth for the Global Market’. The Davenport Prize is the highest award bestowed on a book in fashion history or fashion studies. Her book book explores the relationship between the textile mills of Yorkshire - the firms that provided the entire Western world with warm wool fabrics - and their customers.

Professor Blaszczyk: "I'm delighted to see this highly interdisciplinary work – the book combines material culture studies, design history, global history, fashion studies, and business history – honoured in this way. The award is a tribute to interdisciplinary studies at Leeds."

Read more about Professor Blaszczyk’s award.

Students around a table June 2019

The Leeds Sustainable Curriculum, led by Sustainability Service, has received the Whole Systems Approach Award at the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) conference earlier this month in São Paulo, Brazil. The award recognises sustainable campus projects that have excelled at integrating sustainability into the culture, education, research and operations right across the University's Schools and services.

Dr Louise Ellis, Sustainability Director, said: “Winning this award is a reflection of the hard work of a number of different people across the University, including staff from research, teaching and professional services.

“Working in collaboration has been the key to our success. Our approach to the curriculum reflects the wider University approach to sustainability – looking at the whole picture rather than individual projects.”

Read more about the award.

Alexandru Moldovan June 2019

Alexandru Moldovan, PhD Researcher from the School of Chemical and Process Engineering, has won second place in the Weird and Wonderful category of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s photography competition. His photograph called ‘Crystal Summit’ shows the surface of paracetamol grown onto a glass slide from solvent. It was imaged using polarised light to give the different colours.

Crystal Summit June 2019

Crystal Summit

Alexandru said: “I am both honoured and shocked to receive this award. The photo was taken with a home microscope that I had pieced together from eBay purchases, and while I spent lots of time taking the photo, I did not think it would be up to standard for any competition. I have been overwhelmed with the responses for this image and have carried on taking micrographs of crystals at home away from my normal PhD work.

“If you are interested in what medicines and supplements look like under the microscope, I have a growing gallery of images.”

Read more about Alexandru’s award here.

parkinson_building

We have successfully retained our institutional HR Excellence in Research Award following an eight-year external review. The award demonstrates our sustained commitment to researcher development and our implementation of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. We have been particularly commended on our Career Architect programme and plans to implement 10 days of protected development for all research staff.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lisa Roberts said: "This award reflects not only our institutional commitment to providing the best environment we can to support and develop our research colleagues, but it also reflects the leadership, dedication and enthusiasm of all those involved in shaping our vision and then delivering it. We have made great progress together over the last few years and I look forward to ensuring that Leeds remains one of the best places to develop your research career."

Read more about our award.

Aris theotokis June 2019

Dr Aristeidis Theotokis, Associate Professor of Marketing from LUBS, has been awarded Best Conference Paper award at the Academy of Marketing Science Conference held in Vancouver. The paper entitled ‘The impact of a Complement-based Assortment Organization on Purchases’ examines whether and why organising product categories according to the consumption goal they serve may increase purchases compared with organising product categories according to their attributes or physical characteristics. 

Dr Theotokis commented: “It is a great honour for all of us who have worked on this research project. For our paper to be selected as the best paper, among more than 350 presented, is a huge honour at this prestigious academic conference.”

Read more about Dr Theotokis’ award.

LUBS exterior June 2019

Leeds University Business School (LUBS) has achieved a further five year EQUIS re-accreditation, issued by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Global. This important accolade reaffirms its position as a top international business school. EQUIS is the leading international system of quality assessment, improvement and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. It is acknowledged worldwide by potential students, faculty, employers, corporate clients and the media.

Executive Dean, Professor Peter Moizer said: “I am very pleased that LUBS has been given EQUIS accreditation for a further five years. This award is much valued by staff, students and alumni of LUBS. It is a great testament to the drive and dedication of LUBS staff as well as the achievements of our students.”

Read more about LUBS’ accreditation.

Arran Rees June 2019

Arran Rees, PhD student and undergraduate tutor based in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural studies, has been awarded an International Placement Scheme Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. During the fellowship, he will be working with the Institutional Archives and closely alongside the Director of Digital Services to assess and research the institution’s historical approach to collecting born-digital and computer-based objects.

Arran said: “I am looking forward to developing the international scope of my research and collaborating with colleagues in the USA.”

Read more about Arran’s fellowship.

PeterBuckleyHonoraryDoctorate10July2018

Professor Peter J. Buckley OBE, Professor of International Business and Founder Director of CIBUL from LUBS, has been awarded the City of Rennes Medal by the Mayor of Rennes, highlighting the essential role that research plays in communities and organisations, both at a local and international level.

Professor Buckley commented: “To receive such an award from the City is marvellous recognition. Business Schools are an excellent conduit of knowledge between the “global“ and the “local”. They transmit and absorb knowledge and expertise (and personnel) between Brittany and its surrounding nation, continent and the world.”

Read more about Professor Buckley’s award.

Purba Hussain June 2019

Purba Hossain, postgraduate researcher and tutor in the School of History, has been awarded the Marshall Fellowship by the Institute for Historical Research. Purba's research explores the role of Calcutta in mid-nineteenth century global indentured labour networks, which extended from India to British plantation colonies.

Purba said: "I am very excited and honoured to be awarded the Fellowship. It's a wonderful opportunity to continue my doctoral research on Indian indentured migration and share research ideas."

Read more about Purba’s award.


Please contact Internal Communications if you or one of your colleagues would like to appear in this monthly feature. This is open to all staff – professional and academic.

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