MPLS Awards for Outstanding Research Supervision

Supervisor demonstrating lab work to students

The University and MPLS Division already run award schemes to recognise a range of activity, spanning Teaching, Research Impact, Diversity and Inclusion, Innovation and Engagement, Professional Services, and Environmental Sustainability. Until now, there has not been a specific opportunity to celebrate the supervisors and research group leaders who do so much to ensure that our doctoral students and early-career researchers are supported effectively as they set out on their academic careers.

We are committed to ensuring that our DPhil supervisors and research group leaders foster an environment in which students and researchers can thrive, in line with our responsibilities under The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and our academic mission to advance learning through teaching and research.

Annual award scheme

Following on from the success of the previous three years, we will be running the MPLS Awards for Outstanding Research Supervision again this year. This annual awards scheme was launched to celebrate colleagues who demonstrate leadership and best practice by nurturing and supporting research colleagues in their role as DPhil supervisors or research group leaders. These awards are less about research excellence and the standing of an individual research group leader, and more about recognising the members of our research community who excel in their everyday supervision of colleagues and professional commitment to people development.

Line managers and supervisors at any career stage can be nominated for an award, and nominations are welcome from all research groups in MPLS. Full details of how to make a nomination can be found in the information below.

The deadline for all nominations for the 2025 / 2026 round of awards is 5pm on Monday 23 March 2026.

Nominations

1. Two nomination submissions (via MS Forms) are necessary for each proposed supervisor. First nominations should be from current researchers or research students in the group of the nominee. Second nominations may also come from current group members but past members are also encouraged for areas where smaller research groups are common. Each nomination can have multiple signatures from eligible researchers. If you are thinking about nominating your supervisor please talk to others to ensure there are not more than two nomination forms are submitted. Only two will be read.

2. Testimonials from each nominator form the basis of the nomination in three criteria. These are:

How does your supervisor enable members of the research group to develop their skills and abilities? (Please give specific examples. Maximum 150 words)
How does your supervisor create a positive, inclusive working culture in the group? (Please give specific examples. Maximum 150 words)
What examples do you have of your supervisor going above and beyond the ‘essentials of supervision' in leading your group? (Please give specific examples. Maximum 150 words)

3. When submitting nominees are asked to declare if they have any perceived conflicts of interest.

Judging

The testimonials will be submitted via Microsoft Forms to the award team.
The judging panel will be made up of early-career researchers, recruited primarily from our MPLS departmental researcher representatives, and who have not provided a submission for that round of nominations and are not associated with any nominated supervisor (i.e. group member).
The panel will be chaired by one of the Associate Heads (Research, Education or People), whose role is purely to chair the meetings, to clarify rules and to provide technical oversight of fair procedure.

Scoring

Using the assessment criteria provided to them the judging panel will assign a score from 0 to 5 against each of the criteria, according to how well each entry meets the criteria. Where panellists believe an entry falls between 2 scores, half points may be awarded.

0: No evidence, or the evidence provided is not relevant to the criterion
1: Poor (limited evidence with little relevance to the criterion)
2: Adequate (some evidence, but it is not made relevant or does not meet expectations)
3: Good (solid evidence)
4: Very good (shows signs of excellence)
5: Outstanding

Awards

We expect to give 5-10 awards each year.
Awards will be publicised through divisional and departmental communication channels and announced online, with winners recognised at a divisional reception later in the year.
Nominations can only be received for supervisors who have not received this award in the previous 4 years (i.e., a typical DPhil or postdoctoral appointment cycle), previous awardees will be listed on the MPLS website (read about the 2022/2023 winners, 2023/2024 winners & 2024/2025 winners).

Eligibility

Nominees can be anyone in an MPLS department who supervises DPhil students and/or postdoctoral researchers and fellows.
An awardee cannot be nominated again within four years of a previous award.
The nominee will have been in post for at least 2 years