Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University welcomed the news and said: "I am proud of our achievement in the Times Higher Awards as this is recognition for the hard work and dedication of our teams across the University.

“From the collaborative approach across the region, to the successful completion of our award-winning Catalyst through to the innovative approach to team working during the pandemic, the work of our Estates team was rightly recognised as Outstanding Estates Team.

“I am delighted Dr Andy Filby's tireless work to break down barriers and promote parity of esteem for the technician community has been recognised by winning the Times Higher Award for Outstanding Technician of the Year.

“My congratulations and thanks to all involved.”

Outstanding Estates Team

Winning the Times Higher Education Award 2021 for Outstanding Estates Team, the diverse role of the Univesity's Estates team was highlighted by two areas showing how we are challenging established thinking in the sector. 

With Covid-19 having a huge impact on our catering and conferencing activities, in June 2020 the Estates team worked closely with People Services and the Unions to identify opportunities for secondments and redeployment. 17 catering colleagues were redeployed into Building Facilities and Security roles providing colleagues with more job security and new career opportunities. 

Feedback from these colleagues has been outstanding and they are extremely happy in their new roles.

Secondly, over the past four years we have worked closely with North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC) to develop innovative frameworks for construction for collaborative use by the 5 regional universities. This has not only benefitted the institutions but also the local economy and communities.

The Capital Team within Estates, working closely with the framework partners and University stakeholders has delivered outstanding facilities in difficult circumstances. 

The completion of the Catalyst Building in 2019 has received outstanding feedback from building users, the construction industry and wider public. Home to two National Innovation Centres, the building was delivered six weeks early and £5m below budget and went on to be awarded BREEAM Outstanding, highlighting the work undertaken to support the University’s Sustainability goals. It has also won both the Regional and National Constructing Excellence in the North East Sustainability Awards. 

The Outstanding Estates Strategy Award was received by Iain Garfield, Head of Estate Planning & Development.

Outstanding Technician of the Year

Dr Andrew Filby has won the Times Higher Education Awards 2021 for Outstanding Technician of the Year.

He is leading the University's "Innovation Methodology and Application" (IMA) research Theme in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, where his vision is helping to change research culture for colleagues, academics, technical staff, and students.

He is based in the Flow Cytometry Core Facility and his technical knowledge and expertise in the field of cytometry is especially evident. He has been able to use his specialism to develop techniques to understand the immunology of Covid-19, form international collaborations and contribute to national and international meetings.  

Andrew has also supported PhD students and recognises their contribution to science, alongside other colleagues which is a particular strength of the Innovation, Methods, Applications theme which articulates Andrew’s vision centred around research culture, EDI and team science. 

The work Andrew has done for this theme has helped fuel the development of an “Innovation and work” Newcastle University Research Centre of Excellence. 

Read here the full list of THE Award winners. 

Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President of Newcastle University welcomed the news and said: "I am proud of our achievement in the Times Higher Awards as this is recognition for the hard work and dedication of our teams across the University.

“From the collaborative approach across the region, to the successful completion of our award-winning Catalyst through to the innovative approach to team working during the pandemic, the work of our Estates team was rightly recognised as Outstanding Estates Team.

“I am delighted Dr Andy Filby's tireless work to break down barriers and promote parity of esteem for the technician community has been recognised by winning the Times Higher Award for Outstanding Technician of the Year.

“My congratulations and thanks to all involved.”