Staff Prizes

We’re very excited to let you know that three academics from UON have each received a Blackboard Exemplary Course Program (ECP) Award for their NILE courses. This recognises staff who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to creating engaging, innovative, and student-centred learning experiences in their Blackboard (i.e. NILE) courses.

The recipients are:

• Carey Allen – Lecturer in Psychology
• Dr Muhammad Hijazy – Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management
• David Meechan – Senior Lecturer in Education

To reach ECP standard is a major achievement and effectively means that these NILE courses are amongst the best anywhere in the world!

Ten members of UON staff recently teamed up at Sixfields Stadium to take part in the Carlsberg Cup, a corporate football tournament hosted by NTFC.

On Friday (15 May), UON FC took on competitor teams from local business including AIT Worldwide Logistics, Agetur and Grosvenor Leasing – all in a bid to bring home the winner’s trophy.

After kicking-off the tournament with a 1-0 victory against AIT Worldwide Logistics (who would evenly go on to win the Carlsberg Cup), UON FC secured enough points to reach the finals – but narrowly missed out on the final win.

A University of Northampton Professor is among the recipients from every part of the UK who have been named in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours list.

Eunice Lumsden (now Emeritus Professor) has been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to children’s rights and welfare.

Professor Lumsden is a leading UK academic in early childhood. Her career spans nearly half a century, with a strong focus on social justice, equality, equity research, policy development and sector leadership.

After more than 20 years in frontline social work, Professor Lumsden joined the University of Northampton in 2002.

Since that time, she has built a substantial research and publication portfolio addressing workforce development, poverty, safeguarding and the professionalisation of early childhood education and care.

A new book by a University of Northampton academic is offering researchers fresh ways to design and conduct qualitative interviews.

‘Enhanced Interviews: Creative Approaches to Qualitative Research Interviewing’ aims to make interviews more engaging, ethical and insightful. The book has been co-authored by Dr Maged Zakher, Senior Lecturer in Cross-Cultural Management and Faculty Lead for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience in the Faculty of Business and Law, together with Dr Hoda Wassif, Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching, from the University of Bedfordshire.

Qualitative interviews are central to research across business, health, education and the social sciences, yet many researchers feel unsure about how to move beyond standard question-and-answer formats. The new book introduces the idea of “enhanced interviews”: conversations that are carefully designed around activities, artefacts, environments or media that place participants’ perspectives and comfort at the heart of the process.

UON academic’s research has been given a boost thanks to Internal Funding.

Internal Funding calls, managed by the University’s Research and Knowledge and Exchange team, are a vital mechanism for turning academic expertise into impact.

This funding can prime projects by developing pilot data for larger external grant applications, foster collaboration and public engagement, and/or assist with bridging funding gaps.

Internal Funding calls are also part of how the University aligns with the local and national Government’s priorities around research, innovation, and industry strategy.

This approach helps the University establish itself as a hub of engagement and research, driving growth and fostering understanding of people and place through collaboration and innovation. Some internally funded ideas can also, in time, be developed into viable business ventures.

Dr Tanya Richardson’s research was originally supported by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Childbase Partnerships – a national group of nurseries – which examined environments to support speech and language development for children over three years of age.

For the next phase, Tanya needed support to analyse the effectiveness of a toolkit (‘EASAL’) to help the language and communication development of younger children (less than three years old) and babies, using nursery settings.

UON MSc Psychology student Brogan Read came on board as a research assistant. Brogan went into four Childbase settings to see how applicable the toolkit was for these infants and interview the staff to get their views on using the toolkit and how it was worded.

Helping teachers and young children develop the skills and resilience needed to respond to climate change was at the centre of an international project supported by academics from the University of Northampton (UON).

The two-year Eco-Creative Pedagogies: Training the Next Generation of Teachers on Green Skills and Resilience project brought together academics and researchers from UON’s Institute for Social Innovation and Impact (ISII) in collaboration with Lancaster University, and the Education Reform Initiative (ERG) at Sabancı University in Turkey, with funding from the British Council.

ISII’s Professor Richard Hazenberg and Associate Professor Ecem Karlıdağ-Dennis helped develop an innovative curriculum aimed at embedding environmental awareness and resilience in pre-school and primary education.

A University of Northampton academic has been appointed to a new Ministry of Justice advisory panel to review and scrutinise how artificial intelligence and advanced analytics might be used within the youth justice system.

Professor Claire Paterson-Young, Professor of Social Justice at the University’s Institute for Social Innovation and Impact, has joined the Preventative Analytics for Youth Justice Advisory Panel (PAYJAP), an independent body providing expert advice on the use of data-driven technologies in the youth justice system.

The panel has been established to review and advise on proposals for using machine learning and advanced analytics to support early intervention, improve outcomes for young people, and reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

The panel’s role is to advise on emerging approaches, ensuring they are ethical, legally sound, and in the best interests of children.

Alexandra Vujcich, Director of Digital, Data and Transformation at the University of Northampton was part of the IT Leaders 100 – a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2026.

Alexandra leads across digital, data, and technology functions with a people-first philosophy and is known for her calm, strategic approach. Alexandra has built high-trust teams through periods of significant change, delivering work spanning cyber resilience, complex technology programmes, architecture governance, and cultural transformation.

With a focus on building collaborative cultures grounded in trust and transparency, Alexandra brings both strategic clarity and human warmth to complex challenges. She believes the best outcomes happen when people feel safe, valued, and heard.

Narinder is a Technical Demonstrator in Computing. In June the Vice Chancellor was delighted to join the School of Technology Away Day and present a Vice Chancellor’s Award to Narinder after having worked at the University for 40 years. Thank you Narinder for your hard work and commitment.

University academics help shape national discussions on gender equality in Vietnam.

UON academics have been supporting research capacity and contributing to national policy discussions on gender equality and gender-based violence through a series of high-profile engagements in Vietnam.

Professor Richard Hazenberg and Associate Professor Ecem Karlidag-Dennis, from the Institute for Social Innovation and Impact, delivered a P2A ASEAN-sponsored academic writing workshop in Da Nang, helping more than 30 researchers strengthen their publication and research skills through group sessions and tailored one-to-one support.

They also led a policy roundtable in Hanoi hosted by Hanoi National University of Education, which brought together representatives from Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), UNESCO, the British Council and universities from across the country to discuss improving gender equality and preventing gender-based violence in higher education and schools.

Congratulations to the following colleagues who have been awarded Advance HE Senior Fellowship:

• Anastasia Adogah
• Doaa Aljamal
• Karen Anthony
• Jennifer Cartwright
• Triantafyllos Kanakis

Senior Fellowship provides an important external validation of the expertise, leadership and impact of our colleagues recognising their contribution to effective practice in teaching and learning.