Professor Galina Paramei from the Department of Psychology has been awarded a Senior Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
The HEA is the national body that champions teaching excellence. They work with governments, ministries, universities and individual academics in the UK and around the world, with a focus on teaching as part of the wider student learning experience.
To be elected to Senior Fellow, Professor Paramei had to provide evidence of sustained effectiveness in relation to teaching and learning, including organisation, advising, leadership and management of specific aspects of teaching and learning provision.
The Fellowship is awarded to those who show a commitment to personal and professional development, and who influence colleagues’ professional practice.
Professor Paramei serves on the University’s Faculty Quality Learning & Teaching Committee and is Faculty Newsroom Representative. She is leader of the 'Perception and Action' Research Group and a member of the 'The Aesthetic Brain' Research Group. Her main areas of research are colour vision, and cognitive mechanisms of perception of emotional facial expressions and aesthetic appraisal of visual stimuli.
Professor Paramei was also given a special mention for her inspirational teaching style in a book by Hope alumnus Tolga Aykut, now a businessman based in Dubai.
Tolga wrote: “I told her I wanted to get my doctorate in neuroscience. She nodded. ‘Let me tell you something Tolga, your standards are low, but you have potential. You could do great work, but at the moment you lack discipline. From now on you will sit at the front of every class. You will not come to class dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, you will dress respectfully. At the end of every class you will collect the notes from the lecturer. If he or she objects, find a way around it. But make sure you get the notes. Lastly, I expect you to select me as your dissertation tutor’. I only needed to be told once.
“Post Galina, my best elevated. If I couldn't find the journal I was looking for, I would find the details of the authors and write a personal letter to each one of them, asking for a copy of their work.
“…my dissertation was later expanded and published in the journal of Psychophysics. The headline contained both the professor's name and my own and to this day it remains one of my proudest achievements.”?