For over a decade, the THE Awards have provided a moment to pause, reflect and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of our universities, scholars and researchers. This year, for the first time, they also celebrate the equally exceptional efforts of the professional services, managers and leadership teams working alongside those academics.

By bringing together all of the elements that contribute to a university’s success in this, our biggest ever THE Awards, we are reflecting the true nature of higher education: as a unified effort in which every individual, team and department plays a crucial part. The result, as you will see in these shortlists, is a celebration of talent, creativity and hard work that cannot fail to inspire.

Our congratulations go to every single one of the shortlisted entrants, and our thanks to everyone working in UK higher education for their tireless efforts that make the UK’s universities such an enduring success.

– John Gill, editor, THE

The winners were announced on 28 November 2019, view the photos of the ceremony in our Flickr album .

Below are the shortlists and winning entries, and here you will find an e-book profiling all the winners .

Watch the highlights video

Business School of the Year

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University

Aston Business School, Aston University

Bristol Business School, University of the West of England

Claude Littner Business School, University of West London (winner)

Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire

Leeds University Business School

Excellence in Registry Services

Abertay University

AECC University College

Bishop Grosseteste University

Loughborough University (winner)

Northumbria University

University of Nottingham

International Collaboration of the Year

Sponsored by Huawei

De Montfort University

University of Essex (winner)

Heriot-Watt University

The Human Cell Atlas (Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Broad Institute)

Queen Mary University of London

University of Worcester

Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year

Sponsored by Huawei

Birmingham City University

University of Huddersfield

Manchester Metropolitan University (winner)

Northern Accelerator (the universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland)

The Open University

University of Suffolk

Most Innovative Teacher of the Year

Sponsored by Advance HE

Rachel Bolton-King, Staffordshire University

Sian Burgess, University of Derby

Tom Delahunt, Canterbury Christ Church (winner)

Madeleine Davies, University of Reading

Gill Foster, London South Bank University

Andrew O'Hagan, Nottingham Trent University

Zoe Robinson, Keele University

Sharon Tolaini-Sage, Norwich University of the Arts

Outstanding Contribution to Leadership Development

Sponsored by Advance HE

Bucks New University

University of Chester

Newcastle University

University of Nottingham (winner)

University of Salford

University of Strathclyde

Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community

University of Dundee and Abertay University

Edinburgh Napier University, in collaboration with the Scottish Prison Service and Fife College

University of Hertfordshire

University of Huddersfield

Sheffield Hallam University

University of Worcester (winner)

Outstanding Entrepreneurial University

Sponsored by NCEE

University of Central Lancashire

City, University of London

University of Edinburgh

University of Hertfordshire

Loughborough University (winner)

University of the West of England

Outstanding Estates Strategy

Sponsored by AUDE

University of Birmingham

De Montfort University

Edge Hill University

University of Glasgow

Harper Adams University (winner)

University of the West of Scotland

Outstanding Financial Performance

Sponsored by HSBC

University of Huddersfield

Newcastle University

University of West London (winner)

Outstanding Library Team

Sponsored by Veredus

Abertay University

Edge Hill University

University of Essex

University of Kent (winner)

Newcastle University

University of Strathclyde

Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team

Sponsored by Havas Education

University of Birmingham

University of Bradford

Loughborough University (winner)

University of Nottingham

University of Salford

University of Stirling

Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year

Sponsored by UK Council for Graduate Education

Melanie Green, University of Sussex

Nicky Milner, University of York

Theresa Mitchell, University of Worcester

Gordon Morison, Glasgow Caledonian University

Wen-chin Ouyang, SOAS University of London

Katie Overy, University of Edinburgh

Tong Sun, City, University of London (winner)

Julie Thornton, University of Bradford

Outstanding Strategic Planning Team

Sponsored by Microsoft

Leeds Arts University

The London Institute of Banking & Finance

Sheffield Hallam University (winner)

Staffordshire University

Ulster University

University of the West of England

Outstanding Support for Students

Sponsored by Anderson Quigley

Edinburgh Napier University

Glasgow Caledonian University

University of Leicester

Newcastle University (winner)

Norwich University of the Arts

University of Worcester

Outstanding Technician of the Year

Sponsored by Technician Commitment

Alison Davidson, Staffordshire University

James Davoll, Newcastle University

Vicky Forrest, University of Lincoln

Barbara Kunz, The Open University (winner)

Mel Leitch, Newcastle University

Samantha McCormack, Bucks New University

Brian Paterson, University of Aberdeen

Clare Stevenson, John Innes Centre

Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Sponsored by Adobe

Birmingham City University (winner)

University of Dundee

University of Essex

University of Exeter

Oxford Brookes University

University of Reading

Research Project of the Year: STEM

Sponsored by Elsevier

University of Exeter

Lancaster University

University of Nottingham, in collaboration with UCL

University of Portsmouth (winner)

University of Reading

The Urban Observatory (Newcastle University, in collaboration with the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cranfield, Manchester and Sheffield)

Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year

Sponsored by Amazon Web Services

University of Derby

Leeds Arts University

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

University of Nottingham

The Open University

Swansea University (winner)

University of the Year

Sponsored by HSBC

University of Derby

Harper Adams University

Solent University

University of Strathclyde (winner)

Ulster University

University of Worcester

Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year

Sponsored by Salesforce.org

De Montfort University

Harper Adams University

Queen Mary University of London

Royal Northern College of Music

University of Strathclyde (winner)

University of West London

THE DataPoints Merit Award

Sponsored by THE DataPoints

Entries were not required for this category. This year our data team took a fresh look at the data submitted by UK institutions for our first University Impact Rankings, focusing on their success in meeting specific UN Sustainable Development Goals. Details about this analysis were revealed at the awards ceremony.

University of Aberdeen

De Montfort University

Glasgow Caledonian University

King’s College London (winner)

University of Manchester

University of Worcester

THE Lifetime Achievement Award

Sponsored by Amity University

Entries were not required for this category, and there is no shortlist. Details about the analysis for this category were revealed at the awards ceremony.

Dame Athene Donald