Driving excellence through research, teaching and community – Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards 2024

I have worked at LBU for 19 years now, having joined as a Lecturer in 2005. I currently teach on an MSc in Public-Health Health Promotion, and an MSc in Health and Care Policy, run in partnership with Kings College London, following a successful commission granted by the Department for Health and Social care.

I currently supervise five PhD students and am one of the post-graduate research (PGR) tutors for the School of Health, supporting our PhD community of staff and students. Over the last year, myself and Angela Oates (the other PGR Tutor – yes there are two of us in the School of Health!), have worked to build a community of practice for our PhD students. We have provided networking opportunities, themed workshops in line with requests such as careers outside of academia, and the first School of Health PGR Symposium, which ran in September 2024. This work has led to our nomination in the category of Developing a Research Community.

I am also an active researcher, working to provide evidence about interventions in the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCSE), especially those supporting vulnerable and marginalised populations. I specialise in gendered health promotion, working to research women for women - so use qualitative, creative, and participatory methods. I work as part of the Centre for Health Promotion Research team, all of whom are involved with the CommUNIty Initiative which has led to our team nomination for a Local Champion Award.

My research interests also extend into the curriculum - and so I have been using pedagogical research findings to inform our course teams’ approach to both teaching and student support.

For example, I led a project training postgraduate students as peer researchers. Findings from this piece of work were used to enhance our MSc offer, introducing activities to increase a sense of belonging, and developed into a book chapter, with the students/peer researchers as co-authors.

My interest in linking research and the curriculum has led to my secondment to CLT, who I work with for one day per week. I support staff making fellowship claims to Advance HE as a critical friend, and I review staff claims. I deliver educational development workshops to staff across LBU and I also led a project to develop our university wide Undergraduate Marking Descriptors. This work led to my nomination in the Teaching Impact Award category.

I feel passionate about learning (for myself and for others) and always enjoy working with people – professionals, students and community members. I have always enjoyed the variety of experiences we have in academic life, and I find student success the most rewarding aspect of my job.  My research work - in particular the peer approaches - is great for skills development for all of us who are involved, as we all learn together.

In the future, I have a new course to deliver (MSc with Kings), which has just started in September 2024. We are working to educate fast track civil servants to postgraduate level and support them in conducting research in practice as part of their professional development. I also have a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) project starting this month (November 2024), in partnership with Sheffield University, exploring professional support in the VCSE sector.

My advice for others is to always look for opportunities in all areas of our roles, and to keep saying yes. Academia can be tough, and there are many rejections but if we stay passionate, then we are never short of ideas, opportunities and new things to enjoy.