To be a good supervisor you need to be genuinely curious about your students - their beliefs, their goals, and what drives them. You need to create boundaries and deadlines to help them to progress but leave space for ‘real life’ to happen, and get in the way, as it always does. Students need to have well timed challenge to help them to make progress but not be overwhelmed. Working closely with fabulous colleagues has helped me to learn, reflect, and grow, which in turn benefits my students.
Dr Melissa Glackin, winner of the 2025 Supervisory Excellence Awards
26 January 2026
ECS academics and professional services staff honoured at College Doctoral Awards
Dr Melissa Glackin, Reader in Science and Environmental Education, and Angela Casey, Technical Services Manager were celebrated at the 2025 College Doctoral Awards.
Melissa became the overall winner of the College Supervisory Excellence Awards, celebrating outstanding achievement in PhD supervision.
During her time as a supervisor at King's she has provided consistent support to all her doctoral students, from before they had even registered, through any difficulties they encountered including return to study after interruptions. Her supervisory guidance has helped them to see the bigger picture, what to prioritise, and how to avoid taking on too much whilst keeping the highest standards for themselves and their research.
On reflecting on her own supervisory practice Dr Glackin said:
Angela Casey was recognised in the Doctoral Support Awards for her dedication to the success of doctoral students, with particularly mention of her contributions to improving the working spaces for PGR students at ECS. Last August, a celebratory event was held to mark the completion of work on the PGR space on the 5th floor of Waterloo Bridge Wing.
Melissa and Angela were presented their awards at a ceremony in November 2025, which brought together all award nominees across each faculty. The pair were recognised again at the Winter Graduations in January 2026.