Social Sciences success in Vice-Chancellor's Awards
Image: John Cairns Photography
The Vice-Chancellor's Awards recognise the achievements and celebrate success across the University – from academics and researchers to professional, technical and support staff, whether they are in colleges, divisions, departments, central services, libraries, museums or elsewhere.
From the Social Sciences Division, the Blavatnik School of Government won the Innovative Teaching and Assessment Award for their North Korea Crisis Simulation for Master of Public Policy students. By combining structural features of a ‘war-game’ this immersive learning experience prepared students to make high-stakes decisions in difficult circumstances, navigating a complex economic, political, and military scenario under time-pressure.
The Research Engagement Award went to the School of Geography and the Environment for their REACH programme. Since 2015, Oxford has led this global programme of research with partners in governments, universities, civil society organisations and UNICEF to improve water security for 10 million poor people by 2024. Through respectful and inclusive partnerships, major advances have been achieved in delivering safe and reliable drinking water for communities, health clinics and schools, understanding and responding to floods and droughts in East Africa and Bangladesh, and addressing river water pollution in Ethiopia.
The School of Geography and the Environment also won the Environmental Sustainability Award for their Global Youth Climate Training, a partnership between the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, the Global Youth Coalition and Eco Interpreters. Through 13 free fortnightly training sessions, the team empowered 4,500 activists under the age of 35 from over 177 countries with the knowledge and skills to navigate and engage effectively with climate change.
The School of Geography and the Environment were also Highly Commended in the Research Culture category for their Ethical Fieldwork Code of Conduct, which provides a framework for helping fieldworkers across disciplines, methods, country context, and career stages improve equity in their fieldwork processes.
There were 250 award entries across the 11 categories this year, with 1,500 individuals included in the nominations. Each of the Division's three winners and the nine projects that received nominations deserve the highest praise for their excellence and hard work.
A full list of winners and highly commended nominations can be found on the awards webpage.
