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HE Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award

HE Bioscience Teacher of the Year

WINNER ANNOUNCED

The Royal Society of Biology, the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS) and Oxford University Press are pleased to announce that the Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year 2021 is Dr Nigel Francis of Swansea University.

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Dr Nigel FrancisNigel is an associate professor at Swansea University Medical School. He studied pharmacology at the University of Bath before completing a PhD in immunology at the University of Birmingham. After a postdoctoral position at Cardiff University, he started working at Swansea University, where his teaching focuses on immunology and the development of graduate skills across all years of the undergraduate programmes.

Nigel is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2020 he was awarded the British Society for Immunology Teaching Excellence Award and is a recipient of Swansea University’s Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award.

On his teaching philosophy Nigel says “I believe that for students to get the most from their education they need to be actively engaged with the learning material. For me, this means providing students with the opportunity to review resources in their own time and create an environment where they are encouraged to experiment, question assumptions and most importantly not be afraid of making a mistake.”

Nigel impressed the judging panel with his winning case study on the #DryLabsRealScience network: the use of videos to enhance student learning and engagement during laboratory teaching.

As well as the title of Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year 2021, Nigel receives the £1,000 Ed Wood Memorial Prize, £250 worth of Oxford University Press books, and one year’s free membership to the Society.

Congratulations to the other worthy finalists, Dr Helen Vosper (Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen) and Dr David Lewis (University of Leeds), both of whom receive £150 and one-year of free Royal Society Biology membership.

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About the award

Proudly supported by the Royal Society of Biology, the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS) and Oxford University Press, the Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award seeks to identify the UK’s leading bioscience higher education (HE) teachers, recognising the invaluable role they play in educating and inspiring the next generation of biologists.

For further information about the award, please contact hubs@rsb.org.uk.

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