Waterford Institute of Technology has been shortlisted for the THE Awards (Times Higher Education Awards) in the Widening Participation and Outreach category. The THE Awards are widely known as the “Oscars of higher education”. The awards ceremony will be held in London on 25 November this year.

The nomination recognises the achievements of WIT’s Calmast STEM Engagement Centre for organising Maths Week Ireland which happens throughout the island of Ireland every October. Waterford Institute of Technology is up against Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Cardiff University, University of Dundee, Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Nottingham.

These are the 17th annual THE Awards. There are 20 categories in total, covering a wide range of university activity across leadership and management, administration, and academia.

Welcoming the announcement, WIT President Professor Willie Donnelly said, “We are extremely proud and very pleased to be amongst the shortlisted institutions in the Times Higher Awards. That our nomination is in the area of outreach and participation is especially pleasing. The nomination recognises the excellence of our Science outreach activity through the work of Calmast which has been promoting science and technology for many years through the region and Ireland. I want to congratulate and thank colleagues in Calmast, in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, and in the other contributing Schools, and of course the many partners who help with the work. The nomination is also a firm endorsement of WIT’s efforts to widen participation in education and scholarship throughout society. The nomination comes in the same week that we welcome a record number of first year students to the Institute and we are encouraged by the nomination to continue to work hard to ensure as many citizens as possible benefit from our knowledge and to open up paths to education for all.”

Maths Week coordinator Eoin Gill welcomed the news, noting that over 600 nominations were received across the 20 categories. “It is wonderful to be shortlisted this year, the first year that the awards have been open to higher education institutions in Ireland. We feel very honoured to be among 6 excellent initiatives in the important category of widening participation and outreach. This is testament to the wonderful partnership across all higher education and with others on the Island of Ireland that work together under the guiding ethos of ‘Maths for All’.