UQ has four finalists in national teaching awards

The University of Queensland will have four finalists in this year`s Australian Awards for University Teaching, which will be announced at Parliament House in Canberra on December 3.

In 1988 UQ became the first University in Australia to introduce awards to reward teaching excellence, and other institutions have since followed suit. This year’s UQ awards will be given tomorrow, Thursday, November 21 at a Brisbane Customs House ceremony.

In 1997 national teaching awards were introduced, and UQ has won national awards in each of the five years since.

Individual UQ finalists in the Australian Awards for University Teaching to be announced on December 3 are:

• Biological Sciences, Health and Related Studies — Associate Professor Peter O’Donoghue (School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences)

• Economics, Business and Related Studies — Stephen Gray (School of Business)

• Social Sciences — Dr Nan Bahr (School of Education)

In the Institutional section, the University’s Community Service and Research Centre at UQ Ipswich is a finalist in the Innovative and practical approach to the provision of educational services to the local and/or regional community category.

There were 97 nominations in 10 individual and institutional categories for this year`s awards, which carry $35,000 in prize money for the Prime Minister`s Award for University of Teacher of the Year, with $40,000 for the winner of each of six categories. Institutional awards carry prizes of $50,000 each.

The awards are the culmination of this the Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC) sixth National Teaching Forum on Internationalisation and Cultural Diversity which will be held in Canberra December 2-3 at The Rydges Hotel, Canberra.

Dr Hans de Wit, Senior Advisor International, Universiteit van Amsterdam will speak at the Forum. Dr de Wit is visiting Australian as part of the AUTC’s visiting scholar program. Dr de Wit will conduct a seminar tour of various Australian universities in late November. He will present a public lecture entitled Internationalisation at home: the internationalisation of the curriculum and the teaching and learning process on November 25 at UQ at The Women`s College "Playhouse", College Road, UQ St Lucia.

Further details of the Australian Awards for University Teaching and the forum can be accessed at the Australian Universities Teaching Committee website at www.autc.gov.au

Media: Further information, contact Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248.