Aims of the Award

The main aims of the Award are to:

Provide national recognition and reward for excellence in teaching and supporting student learning in the biosciences for individuals in the UK home nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
Raise the status of teaching in the biosciences as a scholarly activity
Support individual bioscientists in reflecting upon and enhancing their professional practice in support of student learning
Develop case studies of effective teaching practices which have been demonstrated to enhance student learning and disseminate these across the UK

Who is eligible?

The competition is open to all bioscience teachers in UK higher education, including those involved in higher education provision within further education. To enter, the bioscience teacher in question should be currently employed by a UK educational institution on a part-time or full-time, fixed term or permanent basis.

There is no limit to the number of applications per year from an individual bioscience department/institution.

Previous shortlisted individuals are not eligible to apply the next year but may enter again in subsequent years. Individuals who are not shortlisted may enter in consecutive years.

How do I enter?

The process of entry is by self, peer or management nomination by completion of the entry form which should be emailed to the Head of Education. Applications should address the criteria as set out on the following page and should aim to give the judging panel enough information to build up a picture of the candidate’s teaching. A limit of 500 words applies to each section of the application form (this excludes words in reference lists). All applications must be counter-signed by the applicant’s Head of Department or line-manager to confirm the accuracy of information in the application form. In cases where an electronic signature is not available, a print copy of the application should be sent in addition to the electronic version by post to:

Rachel Lambert-Forsyth CBiol MSB
Head of Education
Society of Biology
Charles Darwin House
12 Roger Street
London
WC1N 2JU

To download an entry form click here.

The judging process and the judging panel

Learn more about the judging panel and criteria

The award will be presented at the Society of Biology AGM in April.

Background to the Award

The Bioscience Teacher of the Year Award has been developed from the UK Centre for Bioscience’s Ed Wood Teaching Awards which were established in 2008/09 to provide an annual opportunity for bioscience academics to receive national recognition for their outstanding learning and teaching practices, and to identify and publicise the practice of bioscientists which has been proven to enhance the student learning experience. OUP were delighted to become sponsors of the award in 2011, working in partnership with the Centre to strengthen and raise the profile of teaching excellence in the biosciences.

In 2012, the running of the award passed to the Society of Biology, with OUP continuing as sponsors.

The Ed Wood Teaching Awards were originally based on the scheme of the Higher education Academy Engineering Subject Centre and incorporated a framework of excellence adapted with permission from the University of Leeds.