UCL celebrates staff commitment to inclusivity at Widening Participation & Student Success Awards 24

On 1 Feb 2024, UCL hosted its Widening Participation (WP) & Student Success Community of Practice Awards at Bidborough House to celebrate and recognise the outstanding efforts of teams and individuals across UCL to help make it a place for everyone, no matter their background.

Run by the UCL WP & Student Success Community of Practice, the event brought together staff, students and academics from across UCL, including those who have a role in widening participation and student success. 

The evening was a celebration of the work of the nominees and their tireless work towards making UCL more accessible to underrepresented groups. Nominees could be nominated by anyone at UCL, and this was one of the CoP’s most nominated years yet with a tough task set for judges Lucie March, Head of Access & Widening Participation; and Paulette Williams, Head of Student Success.

Christian Lao (UCL Space and Climate Physics) beat all competition and was announced the winner of the Student Award "for unparalleled dedication, deep sense of kindness and sheer breadth of impact on WP school students throughout his PhD." Further quoting the nomination, "Christian has successfully led projects including the Mullard Space Science Laboratory Space Science Week and the Orbyts programme."

Orbyts is a multi-award-winning movement that partners scientists with schools to empower school students to undertake world-leading research. The project aims to address diversity issues in science and to support short-supply science teachers who have extensive time pressures. 

Upon receiving the award, Christian said: "I'm very grateful to have been nominated for the Student Award at this year's WP CoP Awards and to be considered amongst the other outstanding nominees. A special thanks go to my colleagues running the Orbyts programme for the opportunity to be part of such an amazing project. Thank you to Widening Participation & Student Success for a wonderful evening to hear about all the impactful programmes going on at UCL.”

Maths Extra Project from UCL Mathematics was named the runner-up in the Student Success Award for its "effective targeted approach to the long-term success and retention of Access students in UCL Mathematics degrees." 

The initiative not only addresses the challenges faced by Access students but also actively contributes to a sense of community, support, and success within UCL Mathematics degrees. Dr Nikoleta Kalaydzhieva (UCL Mathematics) collected the award on the night.

Lauren Gillett, one of the event organisers and WP & Student Success COP leads, said: "The UCL Widening Participation & Student Success Community of Practice Awards was a chance for us to come together as a community and celebrate the fantastic work being done across UCL. We saw so many nominations, from impactful projects to individual efforts, and it was great to recognise the commitment of so many colleagues to inclusivity.

"We really want to thank everyone who came, contributed, nominated or were a part of the awards and invite them to keep being involved with our Community of Practice. Thanks for contributing to another successful year, and we look forward to 2025." 

Attendees heard from first generation students, students who had previously attended UCL’s Access & Widening Participation events, academics, and colleagues from across UCL, who recounted the work of the winner and runner-up in each category and the background to their nomination for the award. Nominees came from all over UCL, emphasising just how embedded Access and Widening Participation is in the DNA of UCL.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Professor Antony Smith, Vice-Provost (Faculties), who formerly held a key role in Widening Participation when he was the Vice-Provost (Education & Student Affairs). His speech highlighted the importance of the work, often voluntary, that takes place behind the scenes at UCL in order to facilitate the university’s Widening Participation and Access offering, as well the work that then goes into student success, ensuring all students have an equal chance to flourish at UCL. 
 

Images

• Top: Student Award winner Christian Lao and Student Success Award runner-up Dr Nikoleta Kalaydzhieva. Credit: Inga Bertasiute.
• Bottom: Orbyts team. Credit: Inga Bertasiute.

Links

• Original article on the UCL Access & Widening Participation website
• Join the WP & Student Success CoP
• A third of pupils who engage with UCL access and widening participation events go onto apply to UCL 
• UCL Access and Widening Participation Impact report
• UCL's Access and Participation Plan for 2020/21-2024/25 
• News from UCL's Access and Widening Participation team
• Learn more about the Access and Widening Participation Priority Groups
• Visit the Access and Success Departmental SharePoint for key contacts and resources 

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