Congratulations to Dr Deborah Costain, who is the winner of the 2018 Tower of Teaching award. The Tower of Teaching Award is made each year, on the basis of a student vote, to a member of staff for outstanding teaching in the department.

Dr Mark MacDonald, Head of Undergraduate Teaching, said, "Debbie consistently receives very positive feedback from students. In addition to a third year undergraduate module, she is heavily involved in our postgraduate taught courses, both in teaching and programme design. Several students have told me that Debbie has inspired them to pursue a career in her own area of research, medical statistics, which is an enviable achievement for any teacher."

The poll for nominations for the prize received over 100 student responses and the result was decided by a panel of previous winners, taking account of the numbers of students encountered by each lecturer nominated. The panel congratulated Deborah Costain on being this year's winner, with honourable mentions to Dr Anthony Nixon and Dr Chris Braun.

This year, a new prize was awarded to the Graduate Teaching Assistant who best demonstrates teaching excellence, on the basis of student nominations and student feedback. The result was decided by the undergraduate teaching committee, and this year’s winner is Jared White. Dr MacDonald said, “Jared has been a valuable and reliable tutor on our pure maths modules for many years. He will be missed next year, when he undertakes a post-doctoral research position elsewhere, now that he has successfully passed his PhD viva. We thank him for all the excellent teaching he has done here. Congratulations to Jared.”