Culture, Community & Inclusion Awards

The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (IoN) Culture, Community & Inclusion Awards is a biennial institution that recognises staff and students who help create a positive research, learning and working environment. These awards celebrate contributions that strengthen our culture, foster inclusion, support communities, and amplify our impact across IoN, UCL and beyond.

We invite nominations for individuals or teams who exemplify outstanding contributions across the following categories.

Eligibility criteria

Who can be nominated

All members of the IoN community may be nominated for an award, including:

• Staff: academic, research, teaching, technical and professional services
• Students: undergraduate (BSc), postgraduate taught (PGT), postgraduate research (PGR) and PhD
• Teams or groups: interdisciplinary or single‑unit teams (e.g. staff groups, student groups, mixed staff and student groups, labs, committees, support teams etc). Most awards are open to both individuals and teams, unless otherwise specified in the award description.

Specific restrictions are mentioned in each Award.

Self‑nominations
Self‑nominations are permitted. If submitting a self‑nomination, you will be asked to provide brief supporting evidence in the form of a reference letter (200 words max).

Who cannot be nominated

Individuals in paid EDI-specific roles at the Institute of Neurology are not eligible for nomination, including:

• EDI Project Manager
• EDI Deputy Director

This ensures an unbiased and fair recognition process for the wider IoN community.

Award categories 

1. EDI Role Model Award: Recognises individuals who champion equity, diversity and inclusion through their everyday behaviour, leadership or advocacy. Nominees inspire others through their actions and help create a fairer, more supportive environment. This award is open to: individuals, all staff, all students.
2. Societal Impact Award: Celebrates those who raise the profile of IoN through outreach, public engagement, societal impact or acting as a visible ambassador for neuroscience. This includes work with communities, charities, schools, patient groups, or through public‑facing communications. This award is open to: individuals, groups, all staff, all students.
3. Inclusive Research Award: Recognises individuals or teams who embed inclusive practices into research, such as co‑production, equitable partnerships, diverse participant recruitment, inclusive methodologies or efforts to reduce bias in research design. This award is open to individuals, groups, all staff, all students.
4. Change the Pattern Award: Celebrates contributions that strengthen kindness, respect, psychological safety, wellbeing and a culture of care within the IoN community. This includes offering practical or emotional support, promoting positive mental health and workplace culture, challenging unacceptable or harmful behaviours, improving group culture, and actively modelling the values of the PATTERN initiative. This award is open to: individuals, groups, all staff, all students.
5. Inclusive Leadership Award: Recognises leaders — formal or informal — who demonstrate compassion, fairness and transparency, and who actively foster belonging, inclusion and psychological safety within their teams, departments or programmes. This award is open to: individuals, all staff, doctoral students with leadership responsibilities.
6. Student Community Award: Celebrates students who support peers, build community or actively contribute to an inclusive and positive learning environment. This may include mentoring, representation, advocacy or initiatives that improve the student experience. This award is open to: individuals, groups, BSc, MSc, and MRes students.
7. Doctoral Community Award: Recognises PhD students or groups who enhance the doctoral research environment, promote connection and collaboration and strengthen the wider research community through events, peer support or wellbeing initiatives. This award is open to: individuals, groups, PhD students.
8. Inclusive Teaching Award: Celebrates teaching that is accessible, inclusive, innovative and responsive to diverse student needs and learning styles. This includes curriculum inclusivity, diverse teaching materials and approaches that support all learners. This award is open to: individuals or teams involved in teaching, including academic staff, researchers, teaching staff, technical staff or professional services staff with teaching responsibilities, and students who contribute to teaching.

Nominations form

Please submit your nomination using this form: Culture, Community & Inclusion Awards Nomination Form

For any questions please reach out to ion.equality@ucl.ac.uk

We encourage you to prepare your responses in advance. When completing your nomination, you will be asked to provide your contact details and the details of the person or team you are nominating (name, email, and staff or student category). You will then be asked to provide a supporting statement. The questions differ slightly for self‑nominations. Please see below for the supporting statement questions. Questions marked with an asterisk (*) are compulsory.

For all nominations (nominating someone else)

1. * Please select an award category.
2. * Please describe the contribution made by this person or team and why you are putting forward this nomination. (Please describe the actions, behaviours or initiatives that demonstrate outstanding contribution to culture, community, inclusion or diversity. Please keep answers to ~200 words)
3. * What impact has their contribution had? (This may include impact on you, colleagues, students, the wider IoN community or external communities. Please keep answers to ~200 words)
4. Any additional comments or examples to support this nomination.
5. If there is an award category that you feel we should include in future years, you may share suggestions here.

For self‑nominations

1. * Please select an award category.
2. * Please describe your or your team’s contribution and why you are putting forward this nomination.  (Please describe the actions, behaviours, or initiatives that demonstrate outstanding contribution to culture, community, inclusion, or diversity. Please keep answers to ~200 words)
3. * What impact has your contribution or your team’s contribution had? (This could include impact on colleagues, students, the wider IoN community, or beyond. Please keep answers to ~200 words)
4. * Please provide a brief supporting reference for your self‑nomination.  (A short supporting comment (100–200 words) from a colleague, student, supervisor, or external partner/collaborator confirming your contribution. Please paste the text below and include the referee’s name, email and role)
5. Any additional comments or examples to support this nomination.
6. If there is an award category that you feel we should include in the future, please provide a few details and we can review this.

Awards Ceremony

Awardees will be announced and celebrated at the Culture, Community & Inclusion Awards Ceremony in 2 June at the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, where we will recognise exceptional contributions across the IoN community. The full event schedule has yet to be finalised, but the awards ceremony should take place between 14:00 and 15:00.

We look forward to celebrating the people who make IoN an inclusive, supportive and inspiring place to work and study.

Past Winners

Winners were announced on 16 July 2024 during the IoN EDI Away Day & Celebration event. The winners were chosen by an independent panel external to the IoN, ensuring a fair and unbiased selection process. You may find out more about each nominee in the ION EDI Awards 2024 booklet

EDI Role Model Award

• Joanne Thomas

EDI Advocate Award

• Michael Foster

Wellbeing Advocate Award

• Argyro Alatza
• Fiona Kinsella

Inclusive Teaching Excellence Award

• Prof Tim Young

Workplace Culture Transformation Award

• Dr Edward Smith
• Dr Christina Toomey

EDI Beaconing Award

• Dr Javier Bautista

Diversity in Research Award

• Dr Jess Jiang