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Academic Awards 2025
Our annual Academic Awards are a way to say thank you and well done to anyone who has gone above and beyond to improve or support your academic experience this year.
Nominations are open from Monday 20th January – Friday 7th March. The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday 8 May at The Cube, SUSU Building 42.
Categories
Students
Best Contribution
This award is for any academic rep who has tried to build a sense of community in their wider Department/School or Faculty. The winner will have stood out for their special effort in communicating with both their cohort and staff, organised events, and kept both students and staff informed about issues and events.
Best Consultation
This award is for any academic rep who has achieved to get quality feedback and listen to the student voice. The winner will have stood out for their continuous engagement with their course-mates, been active and innovative in gathering the students’ opinions on their course, and have relayed these objectively in meetings with staff. They will also have stood out for closing the feedback loop by informing students on course developments and outcomes of meetings in a prompt manner.
Best Academic Impact
This award is for any academic rep who has made a special effort in representing their fellow students on course related matters and has made positive change. The winner of this award will have managed to significantly enhance the student experience by changing and improving the quality of the teaching and learning students receive.
University Staff Members
Best Pastoral Support
This award is for any staff member (or team) who has excelled in providing pastoral support to the student body. They will have shown an exceptional commitment to supporting students on a personal level and have gone out of their way to advise and support students going through hardships. They are approachable and supportive, particularly around potentially sensitive issues.
Best Academic Support
This award is for any academic staff member who has provided outstanding academic support by creating inclusive, accessible, and flexible learning experiences. Examples of this exceptional support may include flexible and innovative teaching methods, high-quality feedback, and proactive adjustments—ensuring all students feel welcome and valued. This category is also open to those who support teaching activities, including Postgraduate Teaching Assistants and demonstrators.
Most Engaging Lecturer
This ever-popular award recognises the range of high-quality teaching that has been taking place at Southampton. A nominee for this award demonstrates the highest level of enthusiasm and passion for the subject they are teaching, offering intellectually challenging experiences for their students. They can keep you interested while teaching a difficult or complex topic, enthusing their students to have the same passion about the subject area that they have.
Example Nominations
Best Academic Support
Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
She goes above and beyond always helping to arrange meetings and get feedback in the best way possible. She’s kind and takes care to listen and make time for everyone.
Most Engaging Lecturer
Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
Through a mixture of teaching techniques, he engages students in a variety of ways ensuring content is related to current topics and everyone has the opportunity to share their ideas. He shows his passion for the topics he teaches in every aspect of the module, using fun activities to make sure discussion is topical and the passion for the topic can be shared between students.
Best Pastoral Support
Faculty of Social Sciences
Some teachers have great knowledge, but some teachers have great knowledge and great ability to teach and advise. She is one of these. She has helped me countless times with queries and responded quickly and effectively when I’ve been stressed. I think the uni should find more staff like her!
Tips for nominations!
The panel’s decision on the winners is strongly based on the quality of the nomination that you put forward. Therefore, if you would like to nominate an academic representative or member of staff we advise you to read the categories carefully, look at the criteria, use examples to explain why you think this person deserves the award and how they have helped you improve your student experience.