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Maisy Wood is an exceptional young person who has taken her learning from the classroom into the real world and has done some incredible things intellectually within the university and outside. I met her during my War, Migration and Health class where she was enthused by the connections between the bodies, borders and the politics around it. She wrote the most incredible essay and scored a first. Her group presentation was on sex trafficking of Eastern European Women in London, and she shouldered the theoretical nuance and the empirical side of things quite effortlessly. She is passionately interested in questions of gender, race and class and during her year abroad did a 4-month fellowship in Delhi working with a women’s organisation where she documented violence against homeless women. It is here that she developed her love for storytelling and using stories creatively in knowledge production. 

I had the privilege of supervising her dissertation which was looked at the public private divide in feminist literature on space and applied it to a landmark rape case in India and a very progressive legislation and showed how law continues to be patriarchal through time. She has written the most theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich piece of work which earned her a distinction. The project is publication worthy.

In addition, she has volunteered with Music Action international, an organisation that used music as therapy. She has been involved in migrant justice causes in the city and works in a transition home for young people supporting them.  She is a force in every realm she inhabits and is very deserving of the award.

On a hands-on class field trip to the university botanical grounds, I saw Ms. Wood take on a seemingly insurmountable challenge of digging out a sign embedded in concrete. Ms. Wood undertook the task with such gusto and determination that she inspired others to help her and, in a surprisingly short time, the sign was removed and a garden in its place. Such leadership, determination and work ethic are emblematic of Ms. Wood’s outstanding student citizenship in three key areas: the classroom, the local community and the global community.

In the classroom, beyond excelling in course content, Ms. Wood improved course delivery by participating in fora on diversity and inclusion, as well as the programme, offering her own ideas as well as voicing the concerns of others who were not able to attend or did not feel comfortable sharing. In my Disaster Mobilities course, she wrote and animated a poem on theme of citizenship and borders, the quality and heart of which left the class speechless.

In the local community, Ms. Wood is employed part-time as a support worker for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in residential housing, ensuring their safety, well-being and development, as well as preparing asylum claims. Ms. Wood reflects on communicating with the young people: “I think it’s a dyslexia superpower to learn how to make myself the most understandable to people who find it difficult to understand others in English.

Ms. Wood completed a one-year internship with Music Action International and currently volunteers for Conversations Over Borders. She participates in protests and campaigns related to women and queer rights, immigration justice and Palestinian freedom.

I am truly honoured to be awarded the Citizenship Award. I am grateful to my lecturers for their unwavering support throughout my time at HCRI. Their passion, strength, and dedication have inspired me to stay committed to contributing to the department, my wider community, and to the pursuit of international justice.

I couldn’t be studying this degree without actively working toward a better future for all, and having that supported is both encouraging and heartwarming. I’d like to thank HCRI for the past three years of learning, growth and hope.

I nominated Selim Iyidrili in Year 3 for the BSc IDMHR citizenship award for services to others in HCRI. In addition to being the head of the HCRI Society and trying to involve countless number of our students, he has been at the heart of my HCRI podcast recordings programme, giving HCRI students the opportunity to research and record case studies of recent disaster events. 

He was also a major player in the two student simulation days I have run in the past couple of years - playing a role in organising and delivering the events. Additionally, he has helped me deliver simulations to local schools (out of university) - giving up his time to support a cause which reaches out to local students.

How wonderful it is to be recognised by you, that for some reason my foolishness and goofery has been recognised for an award. Having come across this degree by chance and the fact that I’ve been able to finish this degree by luck, is not only a coincidence but a catastrophe – which my peers graduating from this mouthful degree shall manage. 

My friends and lecturers in this course are the ones that deserve the praise as they have given me the best time of my 3 years here in the UK and all I’ve done to contribute to HCRI as an international student with the HCRI Student Society and other volunteering opportunities were an effort to thank them for their time and amazing efforts. Thanks to them, I’ve turned most of my free time in university (also known as ‘independent learning’) into wonderful memories and CV bullet points (!).

HCRI’s greatest features are the closeness of the staff and the students, the knowledge stored in and shared from each room of the HCRI office in the most lovely building at the UoM, and the shared passion of each student to better understand the dark chapters of conflict and disasters in our world to create light out of darkness. Thank you and live in peace!

I nominated Bradley Williams for the Outstanding Student Citizenship Award. His performance throughout the Global Health module and his dissertation work have demonstrated not only academic strength, but a deep commitment to the values that define citizenship in this field.

Bradley’s dissertation stood out as the most impressive I’ve supervised to date. His writing was clear, rigorous, and ethically grounded, reflecting a strong capacity to engage with complex issues in a critical and compassionate way. His classroom contributions were equally thoughtful, often linking course themes to broader questions of social responsibility and care. He actively supported collaborative work and helped create a positive learning environment for others.

Beyond the classroom, Bradley’s interests and experience reflect a genuine commitment to social impact. He has worked as a mental health support worker in a secure psychiatric unit, collaborated on research into digital interventions for CBT in children, and participated in a Winter School at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, where he carried out fieldwork on maternal nutrition and poverty. He has also volunteered in both primary care and educational settings, using his skills to support others at multiple levels.

Bradley’s focus on mental health, health equity, and decolonial perspectives in global health further speak to the kind of integrity and critical awareness that this award seeks to recognize. His trajectory shows that he is not only an excellent student, but also a thoughtful and engaged member of the global health community.

Coming into HCRI from a medical background, I was nervous about stepping into a new environment, but I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and supportive both the staff and fellow students were. The critical insights I gained from lectures and discussions with my peers have permanently shaped how I think about my future medical practice. The trip to Mumbai was an invaluable experience of humanitarian and disaster response, and the course as a whole has been fascinating. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in global health.