Winners of the 2008 Provost’s Teaching Awards Announced

Posted on: 29 May 2008

Recipients of the 2008 Provost’s Teaching Awards include Prof. Sylvia Draper, School of Chemistry and Dr Paul Spiers, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, School of Medicine, who were recognised for their dedication and commitment to teaching and learning excellence. In addition, Dr Oran Doyle, School of Law received the Provost’s Early Career Teaching award and Professor Cyril J. Smyth, School of Genetics and Microbiology was presented with the Provost’s Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award.

Provost Dr John Hegarty presented the winners with their citations and awards at a ceremony in the Provost’s House on 26 May. There were 23 overall nominations by staff and students of Trinity for this year’s awards which are presented to academic staff members who have made an outstanding contribution in the pursuit of teaching excellence in College and promote teaching as a scholarly activity. The scheme is sponsored by the Higher Education Authority and funded under the National Development Plan 2000-2006.

The candidates were selected through a rigorous process involving their nomination by their students or peers in College, an assessment of their teaching philosophy, practice and scholarship, an evaluation of their teaching portfolios, and consideration of review reports from their academic peers.  This process was overseen by the Provost’s Teaching Award Review Panel, comprising the Director of Centre for Academic Practice and Student Learning (CAPSL), three representatives of the academic staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and an external examiner who has the difficult task of selecting the winners.