The theme of this round of the Awards was the University’s international research partnerships, and a total of 3,097 votes were cast to decide the winners.
These collaborations enable impact that could not be delivered by UK partners alone, and strengthen the University’s global position as a centre for ground-breaking research and academic excellence.
The University has a long history of international engagement – spanning individual academic collaborations, joint educational programmes, business engagement and institutional partnerships.
The eight Award finalists joined Professor Steve Rothberg (Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research) and Catherine Allford (Head of Research Development) for an online Awards ceremony yesterday afternoon.
From the strong field of contenders, the winners are:
Emine Şimşek, Dr Ian Jones and Dr Iro Xenidou-Dervou
Mathematics Education Centre
This international project has found that the meaning of the equals sign is widely misunderstood – impacting achievement in mathematics, particularly algebra.
Funded by the British Academy, Emine Şimşek worked with academics, teachers and students in six countries and discovered that the misunderstanding is global – and stems not necessarily from textbooks, but rather teachers’ knowledge, understanding and ability to explain the concept.
The project’s findings have far-reaching impacts for teacher education policy and programmes worldwide.
Professor Steve Rothberg offered: “Very many congratulations to all of our finalists. Their international partnerships show the global reach of Loughborough’s research which is absolutely fundamental to our strategic vision.
“We have connections worldwide and are proud to work alongside so many leading international institutions – including the National University of Singapore, University of Queensland and North Carolina State University – as well as organisations across the globe, large and small, from the International Paralympic Committee to the Creative Centre for Community Mobilization (Malawi).
“The CALIBRE Awards will be back in the autumn – watch out for further details later in the year.”