University of Liverpool Staff awards 2024 Picture by Gareth Jones
Pictures by Gareth Jones
Do you know someone or a team that has introduced new thinking to improve a particular aspect of the University’s work? They could be recognised at this year’s Staff Awards for Innovation of the Year sponsored by Unilever.
Innovation of the Year recognises teams or individuals who have introduced new technology or innovative thinking to transform colleagues’ working environment at the University. Innovations may include those that develop skills, improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact, or improve the experience of colleagues or students using a particular service. Nominations are welcome for Professional Services and academic colleagues.
Last year’s winners
Last year’s Innovation of the Year award went to Mike Aspden from the School of Dentistry (pictured above) and The Prosper team from The Academy (pictured below).
As a dental instructor Mike Aspden was recognised for his role educating students in the technical areas of dentistry. Mike has been instrumental in the sourcing, installation and running of all digital equipment, including intra oral scanners, 3D printers and milling machines with CAD CAM now embedded within the dental curriculum. Mike has been instrumental in the creation of a framework of resources that allows students to build their knowledge in this field, increasing in complexity each year, providing skills that modern clinical practice requires. He collaborates with industry partners and clinical staff to improve learning resources and advises other dental schools and hospitals that are beginning on the digital journey. Mike was also recognised for producing training programmes for staff and providing ongoing mentoring for other technicians.
The Prosper team led a £3.6m Research England funded initiative, successfully developing a new model for post-doc career development for careers both within and beyond academia. Its aim was to break down the entrenched view that success for post-docs was linked to pursuing an academic career. This culture change challenge required the Prosper team to co-create a framework of development opportunities and resources with post-docs, their Primary Investigators, and a range of employers who needed to better understand what post-docs offer.
Participants showed significant improvement in levels of confidence, broadened career horizons, and career development behaviours. An important legacy of the project is the open-access ‘Prosper Portal’ which is now available across the sector. The portal incorporates all the resources from the pilots as well as additional resources for managers of researchers and institutions. An additional £450k from UKRI is aimed at accelerating this sector uptake.
How to nominate
Staff can nominate a colleague or team through the online nomination portal on TULIP. Through the portal you can save and manage all your nominations and submit them when you are ready. You can access the portal to make a nomination on TULIP here (log-in may be required).
Guidance for making a nomination is also available via the Staff Awards Intranet site.
Nominations can only be made by University staff for their colleagues. Nominations cannot be made by, or for, Postgraduate Research Students (PGRs) or students studying at the University or sole external parties.
Self-nominations cannot be made for individual awards, but can be made for a team award when the nominator is part of that team. Please also note that the same nominations should not be submitted in multiple categories.
Full descriptions of all awards are available on the Staff Awards webpage where there is also a link to make a nomination. Nominations close on Friday, 10 January 2025.
The award winners will be presented with a certificate and a specially commissioned trophy at a ceremony in June. If you have further questions or queries, or require a hard copy nomination form, please e-mail: staffawards@liverpool.ac.uk