Nominations for Honorary Awards

The University confers honorary awards in order to make a public statement of the University's values and commitments. All University staff are invited to nominate candidates which can be submitted throughout the year.

Nominations

The Principles for Honorary Awards provides information on the different awards and the criteria against which nominations will be considered.

Honorary Degrees and the Chancellor's Medal

Nominations for Honorary Degrees and the Chancellor's Medal should be submitted to the Ceremonies Unit and will be acknowledged. Nominations from a single member of staff are welcome and nominations are strengthened if they have the support of a group of staff or a department.

• nomination form (word format) for Honorary Degree and Chancellor's Medal

All nominations are considered by the Senate Advisory Panel on Ceremonies and Honorary Degrees with recommendations being put forward to Senate in December, where members will vote in a confidential ballot to approve the awards. Nominations can be submitted at any time. The deadline for nominations to be considered in the next round is Wednesday 23 October 2013.

Nominations for Honorary Degrees and the Chancellor's Medal should include a proposal for an Orator to produce and give a speech on the life and achievements of the candidate. The orator must be a member of University staff and may be the main nominator. It is preferable for the orator to have a connection with the candidate. If the orator is not also a nominator, the nominator must contact the proposed orator in advance to ensure that they are willing to take on this role.

Honorary degrees are generally awarded at Congregation and successful candidates will be invited to attend either the Summer or subsequent Winter Congregation following Senate.

Chancellor's Medals are awarded at a special dinner generally held during the Epiphany term.

Dunelmensis Award

Nominations for the Dunelmensis Award should be submitted to the Development and Alumni Relations Office.

• nomination form (word format) for Dunelmensis Award

The Dunelmensis Award is generally presented at the Annual Alumni dinner held in London in October.

Further Information

All nominations must be treated in confidence by everyone concerned. Nominees must not be made aware that they have been nominated and no contact should be made with their family, friends or staff.

Successful nominees will be contacted by the Vice-Chancellor and invited to accept the award.

All nominators will be informed of the outcome of their proposal following Senate.

Names of existing honorary award holders are listed in the University Calendar and copies of speeches given at recent events are also published online.

Any problems experienced when downloading the proposal form or attempting to access the links above should be reported by email to the Ceremonies Unit.

Specific enquiries regarding the nomination process should be directed by email to: m.l.towes@durham.ac.uk