THE Awards 2021


The Times Higher Education Awards have been recognising outstanding achievements in UK higher education for the best part of two decades, but never before have they shone a light on the level of effort and creativity that was demanded of universities throughout the 2019-20 academic year.

The response required, and delivered, in the face of a global pandemic was unique, and many of the awards submissions reflected those unprecedented circumstances.

Universities’ great strength is not just that they respond to circumstances, but that they also provide a level of constancy at times of uncertainty and change. The award winners profiled in the pages that follow demonstrate that 2019-20 was not just a year of pandemic disruption, it was also a year in which incredible achievements were made in all the areas you would hope and expect: world-changing research, brilliant learning and teaching, international and industrial engagement, and the full gamut of activities that run through universities like words through a stick of rock.

We hope that you will find inspiration reading these stories of excellence, as we did. Many congratulations again to all of our winners, and to all of those shortlisted.

– John Gill, editor, THE


The winners were announced on 25 November 2021, 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

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

Bournemouth University and the University of Strathclyde

University of Manchester

University of Nottingham (winner)

University of Strathclyde

University of Sussex

University of Westminster


Research Project of the Year: STEM

Sponsored by Elsevier

De Montfort University, in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University

University of Glasgow

University of Manchester

University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Population Health (winner)

University of Reading

Royal Holloway, University of London, in collaboration with the University of York, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust


Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year

Durham University

Heriot-Watt University

King's College London (winner)

University of Plymouth and Plymouth College of Art

University of Reading

University of West London


Widening Participation or Outreach Initiative of the Year

Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Cardiff University

University of Dundee

Manchester Metropolitan University (winner)

University of Nottingham and partners

Waterford Institute of Technology


THE DataPoints Merit Award

Sponsored by THE DataPoints

Entries were not required for this category.

University of Aberdeen

Bournemouth University (winner)

University College Cork

University of Dundee

University of Exeter

University of Manchester

Newcastle University

University of Surrey


THE Outstanding Achievement Award

Sponsored by Anderson Quigley

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert (winner)

(There is no shortlist for this category.)