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¼«Æ··´²îæ» (¼«Æ··´²îæ») Leicester is hoping to secure a delightful double at this year’s Times Higher Education (THE) Awards after being shortlisted for two categories.  

Dr Josie Barnard, an Associate Professor in Creative Writing, is one of eight academics to be nominated for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year, while ¼«Æ··´²îæ»’s Autism Team can secure another accolade should they win the award for Outstanding Support for Students. 

The THE Awards are often dubbed the Oscars of higher education, and each year the organisers receive hundreds of entries from universities across the UK and Ireland. 

Dr Barnard’s support rewarded with award nomination 

Doctoral students are guided through their research by supervisors to ensure the work meets the required quality expected and to develop the students’ skills and expertise for them to become researchers in their own right.  

Specialising in creative writing and the ethics of gathering research, Dr Barnard is currently supervising four PhD students and provides additional guidance for five more. She has already had eight completions since starting at ¼«Æ··´²îæ» in 2020, seven of those from the university.  

Drawing on her work as a journalist with the BBC, she coaches students in compassionate, safe interviewing practices, particularly when covering sensitive or emotionally charged topics such as trauma, grief or violence.  

This support helps her students manage difficult conversations and maintain ethical integrity while collecting their data.  

Megan Lupton is one of the students Dr Barnard is currently supervising. Her research on the ethics of true crime content led to Megan speaking at ‘True Crime in the USA,’ an international event at the British Library. 

Megan said: “Being a practice research student has its challenges, but Josie’s mentorship has helped me overcome countless hurdles. When I found myself burning out in 2023 or experiencing grief in 2024, Josie was one of the first people I told because I knew she cared about me as a person, not just a researcher.  

“Josie has opened doors for me that I didn’t think were possible and equipped me with essential research knowledge and skills.” 

Vice-Chancellor Professor Katie Normington with Dr Josie Barnard at the New Walk Museum

Earlier this year, Dr Barnard saw her research project about connecting people with digital technologies immortalised as a permanent display at Leicester’s New Walk Museum. 

Funded by ¼«Æ··´²îæ» and supported by the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the project explores how nostalgia can help people who lack digital skills learn more about the likes of apps and smartphones by connecting them with familiar objects such as rotary phones and typewriters.  

Autism team hoping for another accolade  

¼«Æ··´²îæ»’s Autism Support team is no stranger to national awards, having won The National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) Service Team of the Year in 2023. 

The team won the honour for introducing a number of new innovations, including a weekly programme of events for autistic students, including life hack sessions, lunchtime meetings, mindfulness sessions and a social night every week.  

The Autism Team at ¼«Æ··´²îæ» (from left to right) Tabitha Biller, Adam Davison, Clare Squires and Lee Atkinson

Since winning the award, the team has gone on to introduce more measures to support more students’ needs and encourage more people to use the service. 

Among the new additions is a 10-year-old therapy dog called Cara, who has been helping students settle into university and open up about their mental health.  

Cara, which means "friend" in Gaelic, is frequently used in 121 support meetings where students can stroke and play with him to calm down students overwhelmed with studies or help students overcome the challenges of initiating conversation.  

The Autism Team now hosts a two-day residential, known as New to ¼«Æ··´²îæ», before the start of the first term to give applicants a taste of university life in a safe and supported environment.  

These measures have seen ¼«Æ··´²îæ»’s dropout rate for autism students fall to just six per cent. 

This bucks the national trend, which, according to a 2022 study from the Northeast Autism Society, found that 36% of autistic students enrolled at university in 2019 did not graduate three years later.  

Lee Atkinson a specialist autism mentor within the team, said: “We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a team over the last few years. We have worked hard to create a wonderful community for our students to be a part of. 

“Student engagement and wellbeing is at the heart of what we do. We are grateful for the recognition this has received and thank all who help us to provide these services to our students.” 

Chris Havergal, THE’s editor, said that the awards were a “steady and staunch reminder of the exceptional work that continues to take place across the UK and Ireland every day.” 

He added: “The fact that we received well over 500 entries for this year’s awards is a sure sign that the sector’s commitment to transforming lives for the better is undimmed. We offer our sincere congratulations to all those institutions and individuals shortlisted – it really is an achievement to have reached this stage in a very competitive year.”