Staff from across the University were recognised at this year’s Staff Awards 2023 ceremony, which took place at the historic and stunning venue of St George’s Hall in Liverpool.
Around 300 staff attended the event with University of Liverpool alumna, Mairead Smyth, senior reporter and presenter for BBC North West Tonight and Politics North West, returning to host the evening’s awards.
A record number of 527 nominations were received from across the institution, topping the total from last year. Staff were recognised across 18 categories with the Sir Alastair Pilkington Learning and Teaching Awards also presented on the night.
Unsung Hero
One of the most popular awards of the evening amongst colleagues is the ‘Unsung Hero’ award, which was awarded to Tina Green from the Human Anatomy Resource Centre.
Tina Green wins the Unsung Hero award
Tina was recognised for her positive approach, resilience and hard work, as a valuable member of the technical team. Tina, who is passionate about positive mental health awareness, has trained herself to spot signs of poor mental health, guiding colleagues to appropriate support.
The Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science (LCCS) was awarded the team Partnership of the Year Award. The collaboration involving the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital has become a team of over 50 principal investigators and over 100 research staff, producing around 1,000 publications with approximately £30 million in research funding, supporting the citizens of the Liverpool City Region to live healthier lives.
Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science (LCCS) – ‘Partnership of the Year’ Team Award
New Equality, Diversity and Inclusion awards
This year saw the introduction of two new awards focusing on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Dr Kamila Zychaluk from the School of Physical Sciences won the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University’ award. Kamila was nominated by colleagues for organising race equality workshops and establishing a network of EDI champions on all maths decision-making committees. She has also contributed to outreach events such as ‘Girls in Maths’ and co-ordinated the ‘Women in Maths’ network.
Dr Kamila Zychaluk – ‘Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University’
Liverpool Law Clinic were team winners of the new ‘Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Society’ award. The clinic provides free legal advice and representation to those unable to access it elsewhere. Last year it assisted around 450 clients, providing public legal education, representing clients with statelessness, asylum and refugee family reunion applications.
Clean Air Africa
The winning team for ‘Research Impact of the Year’ was CLEAN-Air(Africa) from the Institute of Population Health. In Kenya 23,000 people die each year from exposure to household air pollution (HAP). This team’s research has aided the Kenyan Ministry of Health on a strategy focusing on HAP, health awareness and prevention to raise awareness and empower communities. The project has now engaged with ministries in Uganda, Rwanda and Cameroon to adopt the HAP prevention initiative.
Members of CLEAN-Air (Africa) pick up the award for ‘Research Impact of the Year’
Lecturer of the Year
The Management School’s Dr Salma Raheem was awarded ‘Lecturer of the Year’ for her significant innovation to the Human Resource Management module with excellent feedback. Dr Raheem has supported a decolonisation of the curriculum, diversifying the reading list to include international authors from different parts of the world and introducing a refreshing series of guest speakers on her module.
University of Liverpool alumna, Mairead Smyth (right), senior reporter and presenter for BBC North West Tonight and Politics North West, presented the awards with Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Jones (left) on hand to congratulate fellow colleagues.
Remarkable commitment
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Jones, presented the awards and congratulated all those recognised for their hard work and commitment towards the University.
Speaking to colleagues at the awards, the Vice-Chancellor said: “I’m really thrilled to be at my first Staff Awards ceremony. Tonight is all about celebrating you and your incredible work in making the University of Liverpool the world-leading institution it is. Your dedication, expertise, talent, and remarkable commitment is extraordinary”
“A special thank you to everyone who has put time and effort into nominating deserving colleagues and teams. Your participation makes the awards what they are.”
The full list and details of all the winners and commended colleagues have been published on the Staff Awards intranet site, which is also accessible from the front page of the staff intranet.
Full photos from the evening will be also be available shortly (Pictures by Gareth Jones).
Below are some of the highlights on Social Media celebrating the evening:
At the wonderful @StGeorgesHallLV for the annual @LivUni staff awards. So many great colleagues and their achievements to celebrate at the end of another busy year. #Congratulations pic.twitter.com/8DXitdkByQ
— Louise Kenny (@louiseckenny) July 11, 2023
Proud to be here tonight at @StGeorgesHallLV for the @LivUni Staff Awards! Congratulations to everyone who is nominated tonight! pic.twitter.com/5vU7QIAf5t
— Widening Participation at University of Liverpool (@LivUniWP) July 11, 2023
What a wonderful way to celebrate 14 years of marriage to @andyjs80 – hosting the awards for @LivUni – where Andy and I got together TWENTY years ago 💗. pic.twitter.com/W5Lx0s0ObY
— Mairead Smyth (@maireadtsmyth) July 11, 2023
WE WON! ‘Greatest Contribution to the Student Experience’ at @LivUni Annual Staff Awards 2023 at @StGeorgesHallLV 👏 for our cross-faculty ‘Creative Consultants’ module in @LivUniSLSJ! @princessjack @goldingel @livunicareers #awards #excellence #careers pic.twitter.com/BEeZsuNSOV
— Matt Jones (@MattUoL) July 11, 2023
Another lovely evening with the best team celebrating the #Smilesquad nomination for the @LivUni staff award for outstanding public engagement working with @LFCFoundation to improve #childrenoralhealth across our city we missed you @Dentist_janine @EmmaaMorgan and Jemma Hunter pic.twitter.com/W6jfaCt6BJ
— Professor Sondos Albadri (@AlbadriSondos) July 11, 2023