Heriot-Watt University has been shortlisted in two categories of the Times Higher Education (THE) 2012 Awards - 'Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development' and 'Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers.
Heriot-Watt's nomination for the 2012 THE Awards recognises the success of two initiatives led by the University's 'Academic Enhancement' department, namely Heriot-Watt Crucible and the training and development programme of Edinburgh Beltane.
Heriot-Watt Crucible
Heriot-Watt Crucible will be competing with other shortlisted programmes from universities such as Bath, Cambridge and Newcastle, for 'Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development', a prestigious award which seeks to recognise and reward imaginative schemes that foster leadership development in Higher Education in the UK.
Set up in 2011 following the success of Scottish Crucible, Heriot-Watt Crucible aims to help academic staff develop skills, knowledge and connections to enhance their research capacity and impact through interdisciplinary collaborations and knowledge exchange. Participants engage with experts from academia, industry, media and government and have gone on to form a flourishing Crucible Alumni Network many of whom took part in the inaugural €˜European Crucible €™ launched in Dublin at ESOF 2012.
Edinburgh Beltane
Edinburgh Beltane will compete in the 'Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers' category having been nominated for its innovative approach to encouraging and facilitating high quality 'Public Engagement' activities for researchers. Edinburgh Beltane is a collaborative €˜public engagement with research network €™ supported by five Scottish Universities including Heriot-Watt.
Researcher Development Coordinator, Dr Rob Daley who leads Academic Enhancement €™s contribution to Beltane said, "The Edinburgh Beltane Fellowship Scheme has been particularly successful, recruiting 15 Public Engagement Fellows and two Honorary Fellows in the past four years who have excelled in designing and delivering highly imaginative ways to engage the wider public in academic research". Edinburgh Beltane Fellows represent a wide range of disciplines including Social Sciences, Science, Business and Politics, and a wide spectrum of seniority (from post-docs to professors).
Dr Ruth Neiland, Head of Academic Enhancement at Heriot-Watt University said: "We are delighted to receive this double nomination for the 2012 Times Higher Education Awards. We have seen the real impact that both Heriot-Watt Crucible and the Edinburgh Beltane Fellowship Scheme have had on the researchers participating in them, so it is especially rewarding to have that impact recognised at the national level through these THE nominations".
The winners of the Times Higher Education Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on 29 November 2012.