The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme celebrates and recognises individuals who have had an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in UK higher education.
I was absolutely delighted to learn I had won this teaching award – it is a tremendous honour. It means a great deal to me to have my commitment to student learning and teaching excellence recognised in this way, and I look forward to continuing to inspire and support students on their learning journey.
“A guiding principle of my teaching is accessibility: shaped by my personal experience as a first-generation university student from a deprived working-class background, and reinforced when I was diagnosed dyslexic during my physics degree. It helped me understand why I felt certain subjects and lecturers felt more accessible than others.
“Recognising that students learn and engage with material in different ways has driven me to create inclusive, creative, and multi-modal learning environments that actively break down barriers to education, many I experienced myself. My teaching strategy provides multiple points of entry to ensure students from all backgrounds are supported, motivated, and able to find pathways to meaningful engagement.”
Dr Julian Dean
Senior Lecturer in Materials Science
Julian is renowned for making Materials Science exceptionally engaging, accessible, and practical. He brings science to life through memorable, hands-on demonstrations, such as his famous liquid nitrogen chocolate fracture experiment, which has now become an established part of the student induction in the Diamond laboratories.
Committed to improving student employability, he has helped bridge the gap between academia and industry. He has worked with partners such as the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), and the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, a livery company, to bring real-world expertise directly into the curriculum. He also collaborated with colleagues across professional services to pioneer an authentic science communication project for his students.
Julian co-created FlashyScience alongside Professor Dan Allwood. This virtual experiment platform has achieved extraordinary global reach, offering students flexible, remote learning while supporting schools, colleges and other institutions worldwide. Today, the platform is used by thousands of students each month in over 120 countries.
Nurturing the next generation of educators is a core priority for Julian. To support this, he has created vital training programmes for new teachers and student demonstrators at Sheffield, while continuing to shape academic excellence on a broader scale as Deputy Faculty Director of Education.+
