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John Cairns Photography
The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards are a University-wide celebration of our outstanding people. There were 160 award entries across the 11 categories this year, with 1,300 individuals included in the nominations.
We are delighted that teams including members of NDCN and OxCIN were recognised in this year's awards:
Diversity in Death and Dying: Medical Student Museum Experience - Teaching and Learning Award
‘Diversity in Death and Dying’ is an interdisciplinary training session for medical students. The session removes students from hospitals and immerses them in the Ashmolean Museum, deploys cultural objects and images to prepare them for end-of-life care. The session incorporates insights from palliative care, neuroscience, psychiatry, history, art, and theology, among other disciplines.
This innovative medical training draws on the expertise of NDCN's Gina Hadley and Gabriele de Luca along with Jim Harris (Ashmolean), Sally Frampton (History of Medicine), Ariel Dempsey (Theology), Joshua Hordern (Theology), and Bee Wee (Palliative Care). The training also works with NHS practitioners as well as the innovative Expert Patient Tutor programme, including Jane Hannah, Lynsey Bennett, Victoria Bradley, Derek Bethell, Rachel Lane, and Sally Bromley.
As the tutors explain, the reality is that every doctor will encounter death in their training and, very likely, throughout their career. While death may be something that is always difficult to prepare for, this session enables medical students to discuss death and dying openly and with empathy, drawing on cultural artefacts to articulate fears, anxieties, and hopes. Rather than avoiding the subject or trying to define it as a purely medical event, the session fundamentally draws on the insights and expertise of humanities scholarship to situate end-of-life care and bereavement within a variety of cultural frameworks, while also integrating patient perspectives.
Embedding positive research culture through Ambassador Programmes - Research Culture Award
The Ambassadors Programme started seven years ago, as a Public Engagement Ambassador Scheme set up to encourage, train and support our research and core staff to engage the public with neuroimaging research. The programme has since expanded to train Open Science Ambassadors, EDI Ambassadors, and PE ambassadors across other departments and Oxford University Sport.
The programmes have had a huge impact on the Centre and are a great example of how the team strive to implement values of inclusivity, engagement and Open Science.
The team brings together expertise in research and public engagement from Carinne Piekema, Hanna Smyth, Stuart Clare, Holly Bridge, Bernd Taschler, Karla Miller, Sana Suri, Louise Auckland, Andrew Taylor and Jacqueline Pumphrey, as well as from all the ambassadors who have contributed over the years.
Stuart Clare said
Our ambassador scheme has seen over 100 research and core staff trained and supported to engage with the public, develop and promote open science practices and help make our Centre a more inclusive place. We’re delighted that this programme has been recognised in the Vice-Chancellors awards. This is a fantastic achievement, and wonderful recognition of our commitment to creating positive research culture and engaging with the wider community.
OxCIN members Stuart Clare, Carinne Piekema, Hanna Smyth, Holly Bridge, Heidi Johansen-Berg, Malte Kaller, Morgan Mitchell, Saad Jbabdi, and Louise Auckland were also recognised for their role in the Oxford Young Sports Leaders Programme, which was awarded the Local Community Engagement Vice-Chancellor's Award to recognise the positive difference it makes to the lives of individuals and communities in Oxfordshire.
The programme, run by the Oxford SDG Impact Lab, connects local schools with the University through sport and education. Featuring inclusive sports, workshops led by academics, access to University facilities, and mentoring by University students, OYSLP fosters belonging, develops skills, and builds bridges between the University and local communities.