Approximately 4,500 postgraduate research students are registered at King’s, drawn from all parts around the world and researching across all disciplines. Each year, hundreds of PGRs complete their degrees and graduate with a doctorate, going on to become leaders in academia, research, industry, and beyond.
The King’s Doctoral College introduced the Doctoral Researcher Support Excellence award in 2023 to recognise all the members of staff who make important contributions to doctoral student success but aren’t one of a doctoral student’s primary supervisors.
This year’s winners of the Doctoral Support award are; Dr Lucien Heurtier (NMES), Professor Helen Fisher (IoPPN) and Boma Campbell (FoLSM). This year’s winners represent the broad range of staff at King’s who support doctoral researchers’ success, with a member of research (Dr Heurtier), academic (Prof Fisher) and professional services staff (Boma Campbell) all being selected due to their significant impacts on supporting doctoral students.
The winners receive £1000 to use on their professional development and a certificate signed by the Vice-Chancellor of King’s College London, Professor Shitij Kapur.
Below are some highlights from their nominations and comments from the winners.
Dr Lucien Heurtier, Research Associate, Physics (NMES)
A short quote from Lucien’s nomination:
“Beyond the realm of academic supervision, Dr Heurtier has demonstrated exceptional care to PhDs. His enthusiasm for the personal and professional development of PhDs is truly appreciable. His proactive engagement includes providing invaluable advice during job searches and teaching all PhDs in the group to build personal websites that enhance their professional profiles. His empathy and availability during challenging times ensure that PhDs feel valued and supported, contributing to a positive and nurturing academic environment.”
From Lucien about winning the award:
“As a postgraduate student and even as an early career researcher, I often lacked support from professors and colleagues when facing the many obstacles one encounters in academia. It always struck me that more experienced professionals usually forget how hard it was when they were younger and I promised myself to never forget, and to always help younger peers and share my experience with them as much as I can. Beyond a simple academic distinction, this award thus means a lot to me: it is a token that I managed to never forget.”
Professor Helen Fisher, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology in the SGDP Centre and ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health IoPPN)
Some short quotes from Helen’s nomination: 
“She is incredibly generous with her time and is proactive in her approach to supporting PGRs (those who she doesn’t supervise directly). This includes, for example, feedback on draft chapters, fellowship applications, job applications, and papers; a monthly ‘ask me anything’ initiative; signposting to development and other opportunities; SO many mocks (vivas, upgrade vivas, job/fellowship interviews); and a training programme that spans a wide range of topics – from impact and media engagement to grant writing and research governance – that’s freely
available for all Centre-affiliated PGRs to attend.
Helen is a spectacular human being and team player. She is always looking out for opportunities for capacity building and to showcase students’ work and strengths to make them shine…Helen is key to creating a safe and supported learning environment for our PGRs at the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.'”
And a short comment from Helen: “The absolute favourite part of my job is supporting junior researchers at King’s to thrive! Therefore, I’m extremely honoured to receive this particular award.”
Boma Campbell, Faculty Operations Officer (Research & Impact) (FoLSM)
Here is a short quote from Boma’s nomination:
“…Boma has been instrumental to bringing together support for PGR students within a very large and complex faculty that is FoLSM. She works very independently and reaches out to all the relevant teams across KCL to build relationships and get things done. Boma works with a continuous improvement mindset, consistently reviewing the processes for both students and staff – trying to streamline the processes to minimise the stress for both.
Boma makes a huge impact on the support we can offer to PGR students in FoLSM , from taking on safeguarding , managing support for study meetings and holding their hands during the induction process. She also heavily supports our clinical PGR with research passports and makes sure that PGR who need occupational health and/or DBS checks are supported in getting access to these facilities. This kind of activity makes a huge difference to individuals as they join the Kings PGR community.”
and a comment from Boma about winning:
“I was pleased to have been nominated for Doctoral Researcher Support Excellence award. To win has been a pleasant surprise and very encouraging. Thank you! I hope to continue to develop postgraduate research support across the Faculty and to work with central University teams to increase the profile of doctoral research.”
For staff and students at King’s you can find more details about the award on the King’s Doctoral College hub SharePoint: Doctoral Support Award