Skip to main content

Royal Holloway academic wins at THE Awards 2023

Royal Holloway academic wins at THE Awards 2023

  • Date08 December 2023

A Royal Holloway academic has been awarded an ‘Oscar of higher education’ for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year at the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards.

Markbrownheroawards

Professor Mark Brown, from the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year at the awards ceremony in Liverpool on the 7 December.

In his work as a research supervisor, Professor Brown has successfully supervised 54 research students over 20 years and was described as an ’exceptional’ doctoral supervisor by the THE Awards.

Professor Brown has passionately pushed for students from less privileged backgrounds to pursue doctoral research.

This passion resulted in more than 50% of his PhD students becoming the first generation in their family to pursue an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, with women accounting for nearly 50% of his PhD students.

The THE Awards, often referred to as the ‘Oscars of higher education’, have been running since 2005, celebrating the year's most groundbreaking work across the higher education sector.

Nominations for the award were announced in September, with Royal Holloway’s StoryFutures, StoryTrails: The People's Metaverse, also being nominated for the Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences category.

Professor Mark Brown said the following: "I was overwhelmed and completely surprised - all the short-listed candidates were excellent.

"I feel hugely honoured, but also grateful to all my mentors and research students who helped me develop my supervisory skills."

Explore Royal Holloway

Get help paying for your studies at Royal Holloway through a range of scholarships and bursaries.

There are lots of exciting ways to get involved at Royal Holloway. Discover new interests and enjoy existing ones.

Heading to university is exciting. Finding the right place to live will get you off to a good start.

Whether you need support with your health or practical advice on budgeting or finding part-time work, we can help.

Discover more about our academic departments and schools.

Find out why Royal Holloway is in the top 25% of UK universities for research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Royal Holloway is a research intensive university and our academics collaborate across disciplines to achieve excellence.

Discover world-class research at Royal Holloway.

Discover more about who we are today, and our vision for the future.

Royal Holloway began as two pioneering colleges for the education of women in the 19th century, and their spirit lives on today.

We’ve played a role in thousands of careers, some of them particularly remarkable.

Find about our decision-making processes and the people who lead and manage Royal Holloway today.