Innovation and Impact in Education

Dr Cagri Sanliturk

Dr Sanliturk was nominated in recognition of his exceptional innovation and impact in education, specifically through his transformative work on interview processes for prospective students. Rather than accepting this status quo, he developed an innovative interview game, The Duel, that has fundamentally transformed our recruitment experience. By designing an engaging game format, Dr Sanliturk successfully reframed our interviews from high-stakes examinations into collaborative challenges. This shift has significantly reduced candidate anxiety whilst maintaining rigorous assessment standards.

Professor Gary Burnett

Gary has demonstrated the impact of emerging technology in his MSc User Experience module at the School of Design and Creative Arts. Remarkably, he has lent out 40 VR headsets for students to use for his module and really experience life with VR. The novelty and the genuine practicality of his lesson planning led to a 95-100% attendance rate in every session, leading to one of the highest satisfaction scores in the School.

Dr Sara Saravi & Dr Firat Batmaz

Sara and Firat are exemplary innovators in the field of educational technology at Loughborough University, whose collaborative work is transforming the student learning experience through the thoughtful integration of AI and immersive technologies. Together, they have also pioneered the use of interactive avatars to teach unconscious bias, a project that not only enhances students’ understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), but also exemplifies their shared commitment to embedding these values into the educational experience.

Chris Shore

In 2025 Chris Shore completed two years working as Area Coordinator (Leicestershire) for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP). AMSP’s role is to increase student participation in studying mathematics beyond 16 through outreach and networking activities, with targeted support is offered in areas of low social mobility and low participation. Chris achievements in this role were outstanding: he achieved sustained contact with 81% of all schools in Leicester and Leicestershire. The government target is 33% of schools, and before Chris started the figure was only 57%.