School of Social and Political Science

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Georgia Cole in the School of Social and Political Science has received the University of Edinburgh’s Rising Star Chancellor’s Award for her outstanding contribution to teaching in the area of Social Work. 

Georgia joined the School in May 2020 as a Chancellor’s Fellow and has made a significant impact to teaching and research since then. She is committed to widening access to higher education and supporting students to excel on their programmes.  

The Rising Star Award is one of four annual Chancellor’s Awards, recognising innovation, relevance, creativity, personal dedication and impact. It is presented to an early career colleague, appointed to the University in the last five years, who has made a significant contribution in either teaching or research. 

Some of Georgia’s achievements at SPS that led to the award include: 

• Acting as co-investigator for Foundations for All, a MasterCard Foundation-funded participatory action research project designed to assist refugee students in Uganda to access higher education. She designed and delivered elements of the teaching programme, particularly for the courses English for Adults and Study Skills, for which she also coordinated and wrote research outputs. She also led the development of a comprehensive online toolkit on how to establish blended bridging programmes for refugee learners, and now leads an ESRC-funded project on higher education admissions reform for refugee learners in Uganda. 

• Developing a study skills programme for Social Work students, which has been particularly beneficial for students joining the University later in life or through articulation programmes. This has also inspired other developments within SPS. 

Head of Social Work George Palattiyil said: “Georgia has made a significant contribution in teaching with an impressive commitment to widening access to higher education. Her work on Foundations for All has been transformative in facilitating access to higher education for displaced and refugee young people in resource-poor environments. She is an exemplary colleague and a highly regarded educator and researcher.” 

The University’s Chancellor, HRH The Princess Royal, presented the awards last night (18 January) at an event at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. As Georgia noted in her acceptance speech, many of the initiatives she has been able to design and participate in have only been possible because of the secure employment and relative autonomy of her Chancellor’s Fellowship, and due to the incredible teams she works with in Social Work, the Refugee Law Project, the Mastercard Foundation and Edinburgh Global. 

Congratulations, Georgia! 

 

Georgia with other members of the FFA Team (Apollo Mulondo, Martha Akello, JJ Miranda and JB Falisse) at the THE-UNHCR Refugee Inclusion in Higher Education Conference in the Playfair Library, 18 January 2023