It’s the award ceremony that all the UK universities look forward to with anticipation all year. This week saw The Times Higher Education Awards dish out another set of prizes. The most wanted? University of the year 2022. Let’s take a look at all the winners.
For almost two decades Times Higher Education have celebrated and acknowledged the achievements of UK universities and those who have made it all possible. This particular year looked back to the academic year of 2020-21 were students and universities alike struggled to continue degrees the best they could whilst facing COVID-19.
The awards look at research, teaching and student support amongst other things. Considered for this year was also their response to the pandemic.
The Winners From The Times Higher Education University Awards 2022
All categories were judged by chief executives, librarians, former deans and the editor of THE himself. On the 2022 nominations and winners, he said:
“The picture that is painted is of a sector that has risen to the occasion with skill and confidence, and refused to be pushed off course.”
Here are the winners:
International Collaboration of the Year
University of York
Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year
Andrew Radford, University of Bristol
Highly commended: Becky Milne, University of Portsmouth
Outstanding Library Team
Lancaster University
Outstanding Estates Team
Dublin City University
Highly commended: University of Salford
Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year
Dublin City University
Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year
Middlesex University
Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year
Royal Northern College of Music
Outstanding Entrepreneurial University
London School of Economics and Political Science
Highly commended: London South Bank University
THE DataPoints Merit Award
University College Cork
Research Project of the Year: STEM
University of Reading
Outstanding Support for Students
St Mary’s University, Twickenham
Most Innovative Teacher of the Year
Michael Daly, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Highly commended: Francesco Fornetti, University of Bristol
Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community
Sheffield Hallam University
Highly commended: Edge Hill University
Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Leicester, in collaboration with the University of Foggia
Outstanding Contribution to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
University of Huddersfield
Outstanding Technician of the Year
Hong Lin, University of Reading
Highly commended: James Fox-Robinson, Durham University
Business School of the Year
University of Exeter Business School
Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team
King’s College London and ZOE
The Outstanding Achievement Award
Every year, the Times Higher Education Awards also give out an outstanding achievement award. This year, it went to Dame Mary Beard.
Beard stepped as a professor of classics at Cambridge University after four decades at the institution. The THE award celebrated her unique enthusiasm for the subject.
“As a scholar, she has broken through the ivory tower’s walls and brought her unique enthusiasm for the subject — crucially, what it can teach us about contemporary life and politics — to the world.
“At a time when the role of academics in general and that arts and humanities, in particular, are questioned by some, UK higher education is fortunate enough to have a star that shines as brightly as Dame Mary, and it is our honour to present her with this year’s THE Outstanding Achievement Award.”
THE University Of The Year 2022
The most coveted prize of the night is also the first to be awarded, so the anxious feeling doesn’t have to be felt for long.
This year, Northumbria was named the very best for a multitude of reasons. The university took on the task to transform itself from a polytechnic into a research-intensive modern university. This was achieved in 2021 with a Research Excellence Framework submission that recorded the largest-ever rise in research power of any UK university.
The judges said on giving Northumbria the award:
“Northumbria is an example of a university that set a long-term strategy and pursued it with great clarity, transforming the institution’s research profile but without leaving behind its hugely valuable and distinctive attributes as a modern university.
“The scale of its ambition, the rigour and effectiveness with which it had been pursued and its role in transforming lives and supporting its region all make it a deserving winner of the year’s award.”
