We received 297 nominations in our fifth year of the Above & Beyond recognition scheme, 2021 was slightly kinder to us than the previous year, but we still faced some challenges however they didn’t deter us from recognising our colleagues for their contribution to the University’s success.

For one year only, we introduced a special award; Pride of Napier. This was designed to award an individual and team for their outstanding contribution throughout the first year of the pandemic.

As always, our panel had a very tough job of reviewing all 297 nominations, but the unique thing about the Pride of Napier award was that, once the panel had agreed who was on the shortlist, the final decision was left to our colleagues to vote on the winners of the Pride of Napier individual and team awards.

The Above & Beyond ceremony was held as a virtual event on Wednesday 16 June – and this was the first time that we were able to invite everyone along to the ceremony.

The Above & Beyond Team collaborated with a production team (Catalyst) in their small studio outside Edinburgh, the event was broadcast through MS Teams, it almost felt a little bit normal with a band providing live music and even some of our shortlisted candidates got dressed up for the occasion!

Check out Edinburgh Napier’s Greatest Show here.

Here’s a summary of the winners below:

• Ambitious award: Fiona Mason, Head of Business Engagement & IP Commercialisation - RIE 
• Inclusive award: Miriam Hussain, Engagement & Events Coordinator & Cecilia Fisher Marketing and Communications Partner (Schools) - Marketing & External Relations Department
• Innovative award: Technical Team in School of Applied Sciences
• Leadership Excellence award: Emma Trotter (Lecturer) – School of Health & Social Care
• Learning & Teaching award: The Digital Support Partnership Team
• Outstanding Student Experience award: The Student Accommodation Team – P&F
• Partnership award: Dawn Smith, Public Engagement Manager - RIE 
• Pride of Napier Individual award: Emma Trotter (Lecturer) – School of Health & Social Care 
• Pride of Napier Team award: The Student Accommodation Team - P&F
• Professional award: Edinburgh Napier University Cleaning Team – P&F
• Research & Innovation award: Luca Mora (Lecturer) – The Business School
• University Enterprise Award: Ruth Cochrane (Lecturer) – School of Arts & Creative Industries 

We also continued to recognise colleagues who have given 25 years’ service and our colleagues who achieved HEA fellowship in 2019.