2014 Winners

The winners at the 2014 Excellence Awards were:

Postgraduate research student of the year (President’s distinguished achievement award)

  • Andrew Welfe (Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences)
    In addition to undertaking his research at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change research, Andrew has represented the University at the 2014 Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore, and has acted as Postgraduate Chairman of the University's Student Sustainability Forum and as Student Representative for the University's Carbon Leadership Group.
  • Denis Volkov (Faculty of Humanities)
    Denis has several prestigious awards for his work in Russian and Iranian studies and has built up an outstanding publication record.
  • Charlotte Brassey (Faculty of Life Sciences)
    Charlotte has produced excellent outputs in terms of both her published papers, in her international impact and in her public outreach work in schools and elsewhere.
  • Chris Miller (Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences)
    Winner of the Daniel Turnberg Cup, Chris has combined an exceptional research output with clinical training in advanced cardiac imaging and is now mentoring several junior research fellows.

Read more about this year’s winners (PDF document, 27KB).

Best outstanding output

  • Dan Thornton (Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences)
    Dan's first-author paper on the discovery of four very short duration bursts of radio emission originating from billions of light years away accrued 21 citations in just four months.
  • Patrick Doyle (Faculty of Humanities)
    Patrick's article 'Understanding the Desertion of South Carolinian Soldiers during the Final Years of the Confederacy' was published in the Historical Journal and combined meticulous analysis of a little-known government document with the personal letters (found only in manuscript in American archives) of South Carolinian soldiers and their families.
  • Guillaume Jacquemet (Faculty of Life Sciences)
    All of Wellcome Trust-funded student Guillaume's first-author papers from his PhD research were published in the ensuing 12 months, each with a high impact.
  • Shruti Garg (Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences)
    Shruti's work reported the first evidence on prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in Neurofibromatosis type I. It is notable for its novel findings, methodological rigor and clinical and research consequences.

Best contribution to postgraduate research environment or society

  • David Ward (Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences)
    David has made significant contributions over a sustained period of time to several voluntary charity projects in the local community, including his own project for people aged 20-26 with learning disabilities, organising fun days, trips and parties, and taking part in homeless outreach programmes.

Best contribution to internationalisation

  • Sundas Chohan (Faculty of Life Sciences)
    Sundas introduced an international branch to her Faculty's Postgraduate Society. She has been pivotal in organising numerous international social events, as well as supporting events at the international workshop during intro week.