Commentary

Recipients of The Queen's Prizes comment on the impact and benefit of the award for their work:

Professor Sujit Banerji, Executive Director Postgraduate Programmes, International Manufacturing Centre The University of Warwick

Most university recognition and focus is on research and driven by research assessment processes.  Teachers and educators sometimes feel forgotten and not sufficiently appreciated in those exercises.  This award [The Queen's Anniversary Prize], the only significant one for teaching, goes a long way towards recognising this basic raison d'etre of universities and provides a powerful boost to the morale of staff engaged in teaching and education activities.  Besides this benefit, the contribution of the award towards a university's prestige, recognition and draw for potential students is of course well recognised.

Professor Brian Cantor FREng, Vice-Chancellor The University of York 

The University was awarded a Queen's Prize in 2005 for its research into novel agricultural products and their applications.  The following year our Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) secured major funding of $13.6 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve supplies of an anti-malarial drug, obtained from the Artemisia plant using the latest genetic and analytical technologies.  A second grant from the Foundation, amounting to $12.49 million, was awarded in 2009 to support late-stage development of high yielding varieties and their delivery to the supply chain.  Winning the Queen's prize four years previously was in my view one of the quality markers which helped consolidate the relationship with the Foundation and secure the second tranche of funding.

Professor Alan Fenwick OBE, Professor of Tropical Parasitology and Director of SCI, Imperial College London 

"The award in round 7 of The Queen's Anniversary Prize to the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) which was Imperial College's entry ["Effective and affordable control of parasitic diseases in Africa"] has proved to be very influential in confirming SCI's status and credibility in the international field of Public Health.  SCI staff have been invited to participate in a number of policy meetings at the World Health Organisation, the G20 and in the United States.  Recently [October 2010] SCI was awarded a contract by DFID for £25 million to be invested in the control of schistosomiasis and intestinal worms in Africa.  I am sure that the status of SCI was enhanced by the Queen's Prize and surely proved to DFID that we were a credible organisation able to implement the programme they were wanting to support."

Professor Shirley Pearce CBE, Vice-Chancellor and President Loughborough University  

"It is clear that the awards have made a real difference at a number of levels.  The external validation that the Prizes deliver is a very significant boost to the staff involved.  Our academic and support staff are extremely proud of the Prizes and each department that has won them utilises them in their daily work in a number of ways.  It is also the case that participation in the scheme leads to a process internally which helps us take stock of what we are doing and review our strengths and weaknesses.  Gathering evidence to support our submission has revealed rich seams of excellence within the University which might not otherwise attract the attention they deserve.  It has also helped us to gain a clearer understanding of how our external partners perceive our work and we have been greatly heartened by the warm endorsemenrts we have received." 

Baroness Blackstone BSc PhD, Vice-Chancellor The University of Greenwich 

"[The Prize] helps us to market the University as such and is in this way valuable in recruiting students and staff.  One of the things that I particularly value about the Prize is that it recognises outstanding work across a range of university activities including widening participation, teaching and enterprise.  So much external recognition is confined to world class research.  It is especially helpful to universities which are less research intensive than others.  Prestige should not be entirely about research.  As far as the project is concerned ["Tabeisa" : a UK/Africa partnership supportuing local business enterprise and tackling root causes of poverty"] it has consolidated the relationship between the existing partners and of course for the project staff it has been a huge boost and recognition of their achievement.  It has been particularly helpful in dealing with potential collaborators internationally, providing additional reassurance about the effectiveness of the project." 

Professor Geoff Mays, Head of School, Cranfield Defence and Security  

"The Queen's Anniversary Prize is a mark of educational excellence.  The award of the Prize to Cranfield University in October 2007 ["Building sustainable mine-clearing capabilities in affected countries"] in recognition of our commitment to humanitarian demining has provided substantial and immediate benfits to the University.  The award was announced by the United Nations Mine Action Service to the global mine action community in November 2007, and our success then cascaded down to demining organisaions and to individuals who benefit from our efforts.  Of particular importance is the  benefit to our own staff - managers and support staff at Shrivenham and to those in the field providing education, delivering training courses, conducting applied research and providing consultancy services.  The award has increased the commitment of all those who contribute to our important mission and humanitarian goals."   

Doug Boynton OBE, Principal Telford College of Arts and Technology 

"The Queen's Award [2007 for "Delivering econically important skills on employers' premises"] has undoubtedly helped us to work with a range of organisations from both the private and public sector.  Companies are aware of the award and relate it with quality organisations and in all cases we are congratulated for winning such a prestigious prize.  From the perspective of the company that we use to generate business leads for us it is a major advantage when introducing Telford College's services.  Organisations take immediate notice and it undoubtedly helps open doors, gain appointments and be awarded contracts." 

Professor Madeleine Atkins, Vice-Chancellor Coventry University 

"The award [2007 for "Educating tomorrow's world leaders in automotive design"] has been most beneficial when exploring overseas partnerships, leading the way for benchmarking capability and establishing esteem in discussions.  It has provided additional weight to our application for establishing a Fulbright Scholarship in the department and continues to be a valuable recruitment tool in all our presentations and literature." 

Professor Chris Lowe, Head of the Department of Biotechnology University of Cambridge  

"There is no doubt that the award [2007 for "A 21st century model of applied research and entrepreneurship in biotechnology" developed by the Institute of Biology] has been invaluable in raising our profile overseas where The Queen's Anniversary prize is known and has been particularly helpful in our case for promoting the Institute's activities in, for example, new territories such as the Middle East and Gulf States where Royal connections are very strong."   

Julia Hawkins, Centre for Mathematical Sciences University of Cambridge 

"The prestige of the Prize and the endorsement whcih it represents has been helpful in our fundraising efforts.  Since winning the prize [2005 for "The Millennium Mathematics Project: inspiring the study of mathematics"] we have secured funding from a number of corporate and charitable donors, including a major gift from the US-based Goldman Sachs Foundation to establish a new programme working with school students and teachers from disadvantaged communities." 

Nigel Carrington, Rector University of the Arts London 

"We held a number of celebratory events [around the award in 2007 for "Educating the world's creative shoe and accessory designers"] and these created new links for the London College of Fashion with people and companies with whom we are now working.  It has also boosted our fundraising efforts, particularly with the Livery Companies, and raised the profile of our footwear and accessory courses."