Excellent Supervision Award

RDM Excellent Supervision and Sir Andrew McMichael Award for Mentorship

These awards recognise the excellent supervision that goes on across the Radcliffe Department of Medicine (RDM) and the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM). Excellent supervisors nurture their trainees by being available to them, taking an interest in their development and careers, and respecting them, among other things. They are inspiring role models who act as guides, assisting their trainees to achieve their potential. 

To celebrate and recognise excellent supervision of DPhil students and postdocs, RDM and WIMM make a joint call for nominations for the RDM Award for Excellent Supervision and the Sir Andrew McMichael Medal for Mentorship in December and the awards are made in January/February.

Both awards are titular and winners will receive a certificate to commemorate their achievement and will be listed on the RDM or WIMM website. The RDM awards are made at RDM Day and the WIMM award at WIMM Day.

ELIGIBILITY

Nominees need to be RDM or WIMM PIs who have actively supervised DPhil students or postdocs in in the year prior to the deadline. Senior post-docs who have actively supervised students can also be nominated.
You can nominate people who have previously been nominated regardless whether their nomination was successful, with the restriction that re-nominations for previous award winners should be at least five years after their award was made.

Nominations can be made by RDM and WIMM DPhil students (including DTC students) and postdocs (current or completed/left the Department/WIMM during 2022/23). More than one person from a group can submit a nomination but each nomination must be no more than 500 words.

NOMINATIONS

Nominations can be made by RDM and WIMM DPhil students (including DTC students) and post-docs.

Nominations should be in the form of a short supporting statement of no more than 500 words setting out concrete examples of how the PI demonstrated excellence in supervising and mentoring DPhil students or postdocs. If there are multiple people nominating the supervisor, you may each submit a nomination of no more than 500 words each.

ASSESSMENT

Nominees will automatically be considered for both schemes (subject to eligibility).

The Selection Panel will look in particular for evidence of some or all of the following:

• A willingness to spend significant time and effort on the support of students.
• Regular contact with students and quick responses to questions and problems raised.
• Expertise and knowledge and a commitment and capacity to transfer these to students.
• Honest and supportive engagement with students' data and ideas.
• Mentoring and willingness to advise on careers following study, including recognition of a range of possible successful next steps.
• A supportive and encouraging attitude to students' personal and professional development, including the development of transferable skills and participation in sport, clubs and societies, charitable work and teaching.
• Prioritisation of students' needs and welfare above all other concerns.

For nominees at an early career stage, it is normally expected that a nominee will have supervised students across a minimum of two different cohorts. It is expected that the supervisees referenced in a nomination will have successfully completed their transfer of status, but they may not yet have received leave to supplicate.

For nominees at a senior career stage, it is normally expected that a nominee will have supervised students across a minimum of five different cohorts. It is expected that at least three of the supervisees referenced in a nomination will have received leave to supplicate.

A panel consisting of representatives from the RDM, the RDM Career Development Committee and the RDM Athena Swan Steering Group, as well as RDM and WIMM student and postdoc representatives will read the nominations and select one winner for each award based on the strength of the written support received. No nominee will receive more than one award. Additional commendations may be made at the panel's discretion.