The University of Sheffield has scooped the top prize of University of the Year at this year’s Times Higher Education Awards.
Announced as the winner at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel in Park Lane, London, last night, the judges said Sheffield had stood out as a result of a strategy “based on its values and rooted on its founding principles”. In particular, they praised the institution’s “determination and grit” in focusing on its local community.
Other winners included the University of Derby, which took two awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community and Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative, and Coventry University, which won the title of Entrepreneurial University of the Year and shared the Outstanding Support for Students award with Loughborough University.
The event also honoured Tessa Blackstone, who recently retired as vice-chancellor of the University of Greenwich, with the Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award.
In the citation for her award, Baroness Blackstone, a former education minister, is described as “unique in higher education” for her roles in academia, politics and academic leadership.
Ann Mroz, editor of THE, said: “It has not been an easy year for higher education. Yet even in these challenging times, these awards demonstrate that our universities continue to create, innovate and excel at what they do. The UK’s higher education sector truly is one of this country’s best exports.”
sarah.cunnane@tsleducation.com
- A gallery of pictures from the evening can be found here
The winners in full:
Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award: Tessa Blackstone
Excellence and Innovation in the Arts: University of Warwick
Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers: University of Manchester
Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community: University of Derby
Widening Participation Initiative of the Year: Realising Opportunities Partnership, submitted by Newcastle University
Outstanding Employer Engagement Initiative: University of Derby
Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year: University of Southampton
Outstanding Support for Students: Loughborough and Coventry universities
Most Improved Student Experience: Royal Veterinary College
Research Project of the Year: University of Strathclyde
International Collaboration of the Year: Cardiff University
Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development: Harper Adams University College
Outstanding Contribution to Innovation and Technology: University of Leicester
Outstanding Engineering Research Team of the Year: University of York
Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development: Durham University
Most Innovative Teacher of the Year: David Gibson, Queen’s University Belfast
Entrepreneurial University of the Year: Coventry University
University of the Year: University of Sheffield