UNSW’s Postgraduate Council awarded Dr Maria Cunningham, from the School of Physics, the "Outstanding Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision Award".

In a ceremony held by the PGC on the 12th November, 17 academics from across the University were recognised for Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision. In addition, Maria was one of only three academics to receive the "Outstanding Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision Award".

Supervisors are nominated for these awards by their postgraduate research students. There are two categories of award: 'Supervisor Award' which is given to successfully student-nominated supervisors, and 'Outstanding Supervisor Award' - to be given to the top few student-nominated supervisors, based on their nomination form. The supervisors are nominated using the criteria of Academic attitude; Relationships; and Researcher development.

In their nomination, Maria’s students wrote: “Maria is an outstanding supervisor who goes well out of her way for her students. She is so generous with her time, knowledge and professional network. Maria gave me the freedom and independence I needed to flourish as a researcher. Maria is an advocate for women in science and an excellent role model."

Photo: Dr Maria Cuningham with two of her PhD students, Claire-Elise Green and Shaila Akhter