We are pleased to announce that the winner of PsyPAG’s Outstanding Doctoral Supervisor Award 2011 is Dr Stephen Butler, from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health at the University of Strathclyde. He was nominated by his postgraduate student Mel McKendrick, and his colleague Dr Lisa Woolfson.
Dr Butler has been given this award in recognition of the continued support and encouragement he gives to his postgraduate students. He has been described as respectful, understanding, and supportive of postgraduates’ issues by welcoming them into the academic community and thus ensuring his researchers are prepared for the world of work and their future careers. In her nomination, Mel said “Dr Butler has truly made my doctoral journey a pleasure and a wonderful learning experience. I would be honoured to repay his efforts over the past few years with a nomination for the best Doctoral Supervisor and would be delighted to see him win.” His colleague Lisa added ‘Dr Butler is an excellent supervisor and an enormous asset to the department.’
The judges felt that Dr Butler clearly goes above and beyond his duties to ensure his postgraduates are successful. Mel described how ‘not only has he encouraged me to submit papers and attend conferences, but he has welcomed into me to his academic peer group and made substantial efforts to make me feel valued in the research community. He has gone over and above the call of duty many times in making sure that his students are safe and happy when visiting conferences with him and encourages positive working relationships within his lab group. Moreover, he has stayed on in the lab or worked many weekends on my behalf and on the behalf of his other students despite the demands of his own responsibilities. Furthermore, he has strongly supported my interests in knowledge exchange activities and collaborations and my endeavors to commercialize my research. At times he has sacrificed time and resources for his own research to support both me and his other supervisees in our efforts to fulfill our PhDs and carve out an academic career. He regularly forwards us invitations to training events and talks that he thinks will interest me particularly or our small lab group as a whole. He also makes sure that we are included in social events and tries to bring the postgraduate community together with the staff to encourage a cohesive department.’
In recognition of the award, Dr Butler has been awarded a £20 Amazon voucher and both he and his nominee Mel have been invited to write an article for our Quarterly magazine. PsyPAG will be hosting the Outstanding Doctoral Supervisor Award again next year so watch this space!