University online course wins national award

19 Mar 2015

The University is celebrating winning the Guardian University Award for Online and Distance learning for the MOOC “Introduction to Physical Chemistry” at a ceremony last night.

In fact, we were one of the most successful entrants receiving recognition for all five shortlisted entries.

“Introduction to Physical Chemistry” has already attracted 15,520 active participants from 159 countries.

Dr Patrick J O'Malley from the School of Chemistry helped develop the winning course: “This award is well deserved recognition, not only for the individuals involved but for the wider university. Implementing any MOOC requires team work on a massive scale and that was certainly the case for our Introduction to Physical Chemistry.”

We were runners up in four categories:

• Employability - Meet the Professionals speed networking events (Development and Alumni Relations)
• International project – In Place of War (Music and Drama)
• Social and community Impact – HCRI's work on international disaster relief (HCRI)
• Sustainability project – the end of term re-use scheme for leftover student equipment (DSE)

Overall the university had the highest number of recognitions out of all the higher education institutes shortlisted.