"I believe Becky would be a deserving recipient for this award for a whole host of reasons. She has been an excellent supervisor for the first 18 months of my PhD, encouraging me to produce my best work not by pressuring me or loading me with large amounts of work, but by leading by example with an unbelievable work ethic. Whenever I require assistance she goes to great length to help me, including putting off important personal work and coming in during weekends to look after experiments when I am unable to. Additionally, being a first year student there have inevitably been times when I have made mistakes or things have simply not worked out as planned. At no point has she made me feel undeserving of the position and is instead very supportive. Finally, whilst I am sure many students receive similar levels of support from their supervisors, what I believe sets Becky apart is that she also treats many other students and technicians in the same way. Multiple other PhD students have spoken with me about how she has often taken time out of her day to aid them with lab work that is nothing to do with our laboratory group, or simply to just ask how they are getting on and provide advice. Due to this she often stays late or comes in at weekends to complete her own personal work, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

In addition to her work, Becky also endeavors to make everyone in the team feel welcome, involving new members in group discussions and events, whether this is larger events such as barbeques or simply taking a coffee break. For birthdays of every laboratory member she takes the time to bake a cake and buy a present, and encourages others to join and celebrate. Basically, she works hard to ensure that everyone in the group is having a good time both at work and in their personal life.

Finally, like many other groups, funding has become an issue recently. However, whilst this has put considerable pressure on Becky, she has at no point let it change the way she treats me, which I appreciate greatly. She deserves the award, and the prize associated with it would be a great way to reward her for her efforts throughout the year."

Nominated by Oliver Troy, The Stafford Lightman Group, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

"Becky is a fabulous person to have around the lab. She is from Australia originally so brings a lot of Australian sunshine and happiness to the group. There is no such thing as a stupid question with Becky, she answers with carefulness and thought. She works many long hours to fit everything in, and has no worries about saying yes if you ask for any assistance, she is very happy to help you get the best from your lab work. I'm so happy that she's been my line manager for over 18 years! We have a fabulous team and Becky is at the heart of it."

Nominated by Yvonne Kershaw, University of Bristol, United Kingdom