Excellence in Education Prizes

Selection criteria

Candidates must distinguish themselves in two specific areas, namely:

Outstanding teaching, as demonstrated through:
- Excellent course evaluations by students;
- Endorsement letters from students;
- Development of innovative content and incentives that engage students in learning processes;
- Involvement in the development of new courses, labs, or curriculum;
- Creativity and impact in pedagogy and/or applications in the development of courses (i.e. online and blended courses);
- Variety in their offer of courses, small and large groups, undergraduate and graduate.
A solid research program, as demonstrated through:
- Research grants;
- Awards for research;
- Publications;
- Significant contribution to a particular field of research;
- National and international recognition.

This prize is limited to regular professors. Each recipient will receive a $10,000 grant towards research on innovative teaching practices.

Recipients

Christopher Boddy

Christopher Boddy is a professor in the department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa. His research is at the interface of chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology where he studies microbial natural products and their biosynthesis. He received a Bachelors of Science from the University of Alberta in 1995 and a PhD at The Scripps Research Institute in 2001. He was a Post-doctoral Fellow at Stanford University from 2001–2004 and in 2004 he joined the Department of Chemistry at Syracuse University as an Assistant Professor. In 2008, he moved to the University of Ottawa and was the Director of the undergraduate Biochemistry program from 2014–2024. He is passionate about equipping students with a deep understanding of foundational principles at the chemistry-biology interface so they can not only solve textbook problems but are also able to apply these principles to real world and emerging scientific questions.

Marie-Hélène Brunet

Professor Marie-Hélène Brunet is a committed professor who anchors her research and teaching in school-based teaching practice. She actively contributes to a work and study climate centered on inclusion, listening and recognition. She draws on her expertise in the didactics of history to offer support to teachers in Ontario, Quebec and the French-speaking world. She has published in a number of scientific and professional journals, but has also directed and supported the creation, dissemination and promotion of innovative and Société Histoire Canada, critical teaching materials. A recently funded project, in partnership with the Canada's History, proposes a research-design methodology to make available up-to-date, expertly researched resources, in French and English, highlighting the diverse historical experiences of Canadian women. Her teaching is driven by the principle of critical emancipation of students. Among other things, she has developed, as a community of practice within the Teacher Training program, the podcast Histoire d'enseigner. This project broadcast conversations between researchers and students in order to decompartmentalize practical and theoretical knowledge. Professor Brunet is also active in several research teams, including a pan-Canadian one (Thinking Historically for Canada's Future) and one in French-speaking Europe (Genre : didactique(s) et pratiques d'enseignement).

Thomas Burelli

Thomas Burelli is a professor in the Civil Law Section at the University of Ottawa. He teaches international environmental law, natural resources law and video game law. From the outset, Professor Burelli has used game-based learning in his teaching. He has created a simulation of international negotiations on climate change. He also integrates scenarios and role-playing games into his courses. For example, during the first session on natural resources law, the professor is kidnapped during the break. The students are his only hope of freeing him and discovering who is behind the kidnapping! Alongside these strategies, which require very little technology and resources to deploy, Professor Burelli also mobilizes virtual tools. In 2020, when access to the Faculty of Law was not possible for students, with the help of his inseparable sidekick Alexandre Lillo and two talented students (Rami Halawi and Simon Garceau), Professor Burelli participated in the reproduction of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law in the game Minecraft. The faculty was thus able to organize a virtual back-to-school for new and old students! Still with his colleague Lillo, in 2022, he created the video game Reset 2047 to enable everyone to familiarize themselves with video game law in a futuristic Ottawa where video games have been banned! Finally, he is currently involved in a virtual reproduction of the Supreme Court of Canada, and in the creation of an original adventure to mark the institution's 150th anniversary.

Lara Pilutti

Dr. Pilutti is an Associate Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and leads the Clinical Exercise Physiology Laboratory in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Since beginning her academic career, Dr. Pilutti has taught and mentored over 2,200 students at the undergraduate and graduate level. The focus of her teaching and mentorship is learning through practical application in real-world contexts. In the classroom, Dr. Pilutti engages students through experiential learning opportunities. Recently, she has creatively integrated Community Service Learning into large courses in health sciences, providing unique opportunities for students to apply course content to current and local health issues. Dr. Pilutti has developed an internationally renowned program of research focused on the role of exercise for people living with multiple sclerosis. Trainees are an integral component of Dr. Pilutti’s research from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level. In the laboratory, Dr. Pilutti creates a positive and practical learning environment, and she is dedicated to developing the next generation of researchers and health professionals.

Bijan Raahemi

Bijan Raahemi is a professor of Information Systems and Analytics and directorof the Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD) Lab at the University of Ottawa. His areas of research lie within the interdisciplinary realm of technologies and management focusing on advanced machine learning and data mining methods and their emerging applications in business, engineering, and healthcare. Dr. Raahemi has established the Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD) lab funded by Canada Foundation for Innovation, where he has trained over 65 researchers (Master’s, PhDs, and Post-Doctoral Fellows) in our graduate programs of Digital Transformation and Innovation (DTI), Computer Science, and Systems Science. His research program in the KDD lab is funded by the Federal and Provincial governments (CFI, NSERC, MITACS, OCI), as well as private industries (Bell Canada, IBM, Nokia, Ciena), and public organizations (CHEO Hospital, Royal Ottawa Hospital), totaling over $1M in research grants as the Principal Investigator. With a passion for teaching, Dr. Raahemi has developed new undergraduate and graduate courses providing advanced learning experiences to our students. He has actively contributed to the development of the Digital Transformation and innovation (DTI) graduate program, an interdisciplinary program jointly offered by three faculties at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Raahemi has also contributed to restructuring the MIS (Management Information Systems) undergrad program. Founded on his research, and collaboration with private and public organizations, he brings to his classes examples of real-world applications of data analytics in business, engineering, and healthcare. Introducing our students to emerging topics and software tools, Dr. Raahemi makes every effort to prepare students for today’s competitive job market.

Adam Rudner

Professor Adam D. Rudner leads uOttawa Phage Hunters, a series of laboratory courses that have provided over 300 students authentic research experiences as they discover, purify and characterize novel bacteriophages or phages (viruses that infect bacteria) and then carefully analyze and research the genomes of a subset that are sequenced. uOttawa was the first Canadian university to join the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program that supports over 150 schools worldwide offering these courses. He implemented these courses so that the students can experience the excitement of research, but also the challenges of experimental failure and the drudgery of repetition. Students develop a sense of project ownership and learn how persistence leads to interpretable results and the joy of discovery. These courses have been shown to increase retention in STEM fields and have had an amazing impact on several cohorts of Translational and Molecular Medicine students who have excelled in their undergraduate research. Teaching these courses has also renewed Professor Rudner’s own excitement in discovery and led to an unanticipated change in his laboratory’s research focus. Other than a love of phages, he is very fond of coffee, has been a hobby beekeeper for over 25 years, cooks and gardens, and may be seen running or cycling to work.

Nomination

Deans will recommend candidates to the University of Ottawa Excellence in Education Prizes Selection Committee following assessment by the respective faculty's teaching personnel committee (an extract of minutes is to be included with recommendation).

Nominees are chosen within the nominations received by the deadline. Nominations must include:

A statement outlining the basis and justification for the nomination (maximum two pages);
A copy of the nominee's complete and current curriculum vitae;
A copy of the summary of the nominee's teaching evaluations for the previous three academic years (i.e., the A Report – Summary), excluding students' comments;
A maximum of four letters of support from colleagues or students (indicate if originally provided for another prize);
A short text from the nominee indicating the use that will be made of the funds, more specifically:
- Project objectives;
- Timeline;
- A precise and justified budget;
- Impact project will have on the broader university teaching community.

Completed nominations are to be submitted to the Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs. Please provide our office with one electronic version to [email protected]. Generally, decisions are made within three months.

Should you require additional information, please write to [email protected].