Awards recognise exceptional teaching in the Faculty of Natural Sciences

A Ceremony celebrating the best teaching in the Faculty of Natural Sciences was held at Imperial last week.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences Awards for Excellence in Teaching are presented each year to members of the Faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the learning process within the College.

Winners collected awards in two categories, with 18 going to academics involved in teaching and learning within the Faculty and 30 awards being presented to postgraduate demonstrators, postdoctoral students, and technicians involved in providing teaching and student support.

Professor Maggie Dallman, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: “In the Faculty of Natural Sciences we are committed to achieving excellence both in our education and research."

"I am delighted that we are able to recognise the dedication, hard work and commitment of our staff and the valuable contributions they make to providing outstanding teaching and support to students.

Shoroko Mombrikotb, a research postgraduate student in the Department of Life Sciences, was recognised for her contributions as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and laboratory demonstrator. She said:

“I am surprised and delighted to be recognised with this award, especially because it has been given to me for doing something I enjoy so much. I have always found great pleasure in teaching. Before I embarked upon my PhD I set up a supplementary science class in West London to teach science to secondary school students, and I really enjoyed watching the knowledge click into place in their minds. I’m very happy that I can continue to indulge my passion for teaching through my work at Imperial”

Professor Terry Rudolph, an awardee from the Department of Physics, said:

"My parents were both teachers, so I grew up around people who highly value good education and often discussed how to achieve it. What I learnt is that while naturally gifted teachers may exist, a willingness to put in a lot of effort thinking about how to help your students achieve understanding of and enthusiasm for the course material is good replacement if you aren’t one!

My research is primarily selfish - I love doing it, and while there is some chance it might one day impact upon the lives of others, I would be lying if I claimed this was my main motivation for doing it. Teaching is rewarding in a different way - you see immediately that you have managed to get something important through to some of the students and know that you have made a difference."

The winners

Academic winners from the Department of Chemistry

Dr Paul Wilde

Dr Andrew Ashley

Prof Henry Rzepa

Dr James Bull

Dr Mike Bearpark

Prizes for Teaching support in the Department of Chemistry

Mr Clyde Fare

Mr Toby Mullins

Mr Ernest Pastor Hernandez

Mr James Sudlow

Mr Simon Turner

Academic winners from the Department of Life Sciences

Dr Stephen Brickley

Prof Stephen Matthews

Dr John Pinney

Dr Michael Tristem

Prof Murray Selkirk

Prizes for Teaching support in the Department of Life Sciences

Dr Giovanna De Palo

Dr Christoph Engl

Dr Tony Nolan

Mr Colin Campbell

Mr Brian Carnell

Miss Shannon Ewart

Mr Edward Harding

Miss Shoroko Mombrikotb

Miss Rebecca Price

Academic winners from the Department of Mathematics

Prof Sebastian van Strien

Dr Andrew Walton

Dr Edward Cohen

Dr John Britnell

Prizes for Teaching support in the Department of Mathematics

Miss Manon Abiteboul

Mr Alexander Bolton

Mr Adrien Grumberg

Mr Andrew McRae

Mr David Rottensteiner

Mr Matt Scales

Mr Griorgry Volovskiy

Mr Julian Waton

Academic winners from the Department of Physics

Prof Matthew Foulkes

Prof Terry Rudolph

Prof Steven Cowley

Dr Subhanjoy Mohanty

Prizes for Teaching support in the Department of Physics

Dr Richard Hendricks

Dr Edward Hill

Dr Alexander Richards

Dr Francisco Suzuki Vidal

Miss Giulia Ferlito

Mr Peter T Fox

Mr Jeremey Turcaud

Mr John Wood