Dr Alexandra Ramadan has been awarded the Outstanding ED&I Champion – Researcher award by the Maths, Physics and Life Sciences division in their annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion awards.
The award recognises outstanding dedication, sustained commitment and effective leadership in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion; Dr Ramadan received numerous nominations for her commitment to improving ED&I in the Department of Physics and the wider university community.
As well as mentoring and training younger students in her lab group, Dr Ramadan participates in a range of outreach activities, hosting students for research placements and speaking to classrooms. Notably, along with Dr Kathryn Boast, she set up a themed public lecture series, Challenges and Changes, as a platform for hosting speakers to talk about sexism, racism and homophobia in academic environments. The lecture series also came highly commended in the 'best initiative’ category recognising both Kathryn and Alex.
‘Dr Alex Ramadan is not only an outstanding scientist, she is also carrying out truly transformative work for understanding the ED&I challenges of our Department – the importance of her work and her leadership are difficult to overestimate,’ comments Professor Sonia Contera, Associate Head of Department for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. ‘I am absolutely delighted that her commitment to change has been recognised by this award. The Challenges and Changes lecture series is a brilliant grass-roots initiative driven by Alex as well as Kathryn and I would like to congratulate them both on its success. Thank you too to all those members of the Department that have supported such initiatives and amplified and embodied the message – everybody has a role to play and it is fantastic to see the progress we are making.’