Recognising and Advancing Teaching

Excellence (RATE) Awards

I invest a lot of time and effort in the quality of my teaching. In reflection of this I have had several nominations at the RATE Awards in the following categories:

Excellence in teaching in the Faculty of Natural Science

Outstanding Professional Mentoring & Personal Development

I Love my Tutor

Exceptional Student Support

Outstanding Guidance & Mentoring

Fantastic Feedback

Teacher of the Year

Some feedbacks received from students across different BSc Degree Programmes are found below :

Feedback obtained from Undergraduate Students at UoS, Scotland:

  • "Dr M-Surget has demonstrated her passion in sharing her knowledge in class. Her dedication has benefited students in class who previously had no confidence in chemistry. Her patience and clear explanation has helped students become more interested in chemistry. I personally had troubles understanding chemistry and always struggled to pass this subject, but her teaching has sparked interests in me to look deeper in this matter and I am really grateful for her support and inspiration. Therefore I believe Dr Surget has demonstrated the requirements of the Excellence in teaching award."

  • "Hard Working lecturer in a difficult module. Very well organised. High scientific level of teaching. Very friendly and caring attitude towards students. Always available to support students."

  • "Sabine is a very visual lecturer, she's very engaging and puts a lot of thought into the details of her lectures. Outside of lectures she is very easy to talk to, very understanding to personal circumstances and treats students fairly with respect, understanding and compassion. Her work is very current and she makes the subject exciting and attainable. She's very clever and offers constructive feedback. "

  • "Sabine is one of those lecturers who inspires me to do my best, and learn as much as I can. She is not only very intelligent, but has a good way of explaining complicated subjects in simple ways. It seems that she always takes into account how the students are feeling, and helps us to feel more confident. She is also available over email and seems approachable. Sabine is realistic about the effort a project or subject will take to master and gives the students the tools they need to become proficient. I think a professor should make you feel as though you can succeed at your chosen subject, and Sabine is a perfect example of this. Even though the class she lectured in wasn't my favourite module, I always enjoyed her contribution and looked forward to her lectures. She is the type of woman that inspires other women to pursue science!."

  • "Sabine is absolutely fantastic. She's great in lectures and really engages with everyone - making it very clear what it is we need to understand most. Sabine understands when topics might be difficult and goes over things fully in a really encouraging way. She is an inspiration.."

  • "Dr Sabine Matallana Surget's mentoring had and still has an enormous impact on my motivation, determination and the way I see my future. Sabine did not simply provide me with direction but also significantly contributed towards my personal and professional development. She made me believe in myself and presented me opportunities which exceed anything that I thought to be possible at this stage of my education.I believe that Sabine's influence is mainly owing to her exceptional approach, which outmatches by far any teacher/lecturer I have ever met."

  • "150 words are not enough to express neither my gratitude nor my respect towards Sabine but I sincerely believe that there is nobody who deserves this award more than she does."

  • "Recently because my personal tutor due to issues I was facing. From the first meeting me had she has been completely supportive and made me excited for what I could continue on and do in the future. Have since had meeting when freaking out about everything and she was great at putting things into perspective and suggesting ways to try to minimise stress."

  • "Dr Matallana-Surget is always ready to help her students, devoting a great deal of energy and time in doing so. She is always eager to answer any questions and be by the students' side, no matter what thy require. She is an excellent person and amazing lecturer. Never has she refused help of any sorts to her students and always strives to give 100% of her attention when asked to help."

  • "Explains everything thoroughly, works with us in the lab and independently, moving the dissertation along at a good pace. Helped with CV writing, I got to see how applications should be structured & ones that she would consider/not & why. Providing life guidance: opening my mind to possibilities of the world & to experience life to its fullest & you should try lots of things. Her influence gave me the courage to go forward to apply to be an 'extra' on tv & I actually got to be, while still studying at uni! She is so organised I actually have more free time during my dissertation because we everything we can get done in a day & doesn't waste time waiting around for things to happen. Sabine deserves a RATE award for her continuous hard work, going above and beyond most lecturers and she should be recognised for this."

  • "Sabine seems to take on the most tasks at uni and through connections abroad yet provides the best individual feedback ever and in good time. She has pointed out things I have always done and other lectures never mentioned it was not correct, she points out where to expand and what is actually wrong. If I did something good or different she will point out that it was creative and makes me feel like I can do better than average. Sabine is extraordinarily organised is putting in 110% for her students and career which I admire. It helps that she is my diss supervisor so I know how organised she is but other students will have only had her for a few lectures/practicals."

  • "First of all, Sabine is undoubtedly one of the best lecturers in the School of Natural Sciences. Additionally, the majority of the students can confirm that she provides more support than any other lecturer and students can definitely count on her. Furthermore, she is very approachable which makes reaching to her for help really easy. Finally, Sabine is striving to give a chance to every student under her supervision to publish a paper, alongside their dissertation, which I believe will be a huge benefit in the pursuit of future careers for the students who manage to get published.."

  • "Most organised lecturer ever! Sabine is my dissertation supervisor and she has explained everything well and worked with us in the lab and then let us work independently and moves out dissertation along at a good pace. Provides excellent feedback on assignments. Approachable, and friendly."

  • "I nominate dr matallana-surget due to he wonderful attitude towards teaching at her lectures and practicals along with her support outwith. She takes time to answer emails and really seems to take care within her responses. she was very easy to understand in her teaching and always made it clear what was most important to learn. her methods are very easy to understand and are of great help when trying to learn the practical science module as a whole."

  • "I wanted to nominate her because she has made the heavy theory of laboratory skills interesting and comprehensible. She is also a very positive and informative lecturer, who both my friends and I really like. She made the transition into university easier."

  • "Dr Surget was a great help throughout my academic life here in Stirling. Thanks to her help I was able to not only decide what I want to do after I graduate but also helped me to reached those goals. I am truly grateful I had the opportunity to have her as my tutor. Thank you Sabine!!"

  • "Dr Surget has helped me personally more than any other lecturer or advice specialist I could approach. Her approachability made me feel comfortable talking about my personal circumstances, she helped me with a reference for another university course and I will forever be grateful for her help. She is an expert in her field and I have no qualms about approaching her to ask a question and she even took the time to sit with me for over an hour to help me discuss possible career paths and she gave me her own background so I could appreciate what she was saying was truthful."

  • "Sabine is sooooo lovely. The feedback I've had throughout this module along with discussing things out-with (PhD opportunities etc) has been so valuable to me. I'm always wanting to do better and I feel like she has an amazing way of highlighting areas that I'm good at, but also where I can improve. Any feedback via email has always been really helpful too. :)."

  • "I would like to thank Sabine from all my heart for all she has done for me. Not only she is a wonderful tutor, lecturer and dissertation supervisor, but throughout my third and fourth year she was, is and will remain my role model. Her kind words and fantastic successes fuelled my motivation to apply for a PhD. And again, thank to Sabine’s support I obtained a PhD! I feel so privileged for having Sabine as my guide through my university times, thank you a million times. I am excited to share my PhD adventures with you!”

  • ""Most supportive lecturer ever! Always on hand to help, especially through this crazy time everyone is going through.”

  • “Sabine is always looking for ways to help out, and bring people together”

  • "Makes even difficult topics so fun and manageable! So patient and kind - will make sure that you understand before moving on. Sabine puts so much effort into making the lectures fun as well, it is obvious she has really tried to make the most of online lectures/learning as well. "

  • "Kind and caring lecturer. She gives great and timely feedback on all the work the students send to her.
Always make sure the students understand the notions and complicated parts of a lesson before continuing. Easy to speak to, and replies to emails very very fast.
Great lecturer to have, listens to the students."

  • "I nominate Dr Matallana-Surget for her dedication in delivering the best student experience possible for her module Practical Science Skills I: Laboratory Skills. From the detailed timetable of the module structure to the special effects in the lecture videos it is clear that a lot of time and effort was put into preparation for this semester and I believe she deserves a chance in receiving this award. "

  • "Despite not being my official tutor, Dr Sabine Matallana-Surget has always been open to give me advice, spreading happiness and making sure I was doing well. Every time time I needed support, she was immediately available.
Speaking to her gives me self confidence and helps me to make the right choices and to have a clearer vision of who I want to be in the future."

  • "Sabine has made chemistry content incredibly accessible while being wonderfully warm and always approachable. Her explanations are always clear and she is very good at teasing out why someone does not understand a particular piece of content."

Dean of Teaching award

2019

To increase the practical experience gained by our students and therefore maximise their employability, I conducted a Pilot Study for the Labster Virtual Laboratory simulations used for the first time at UoS in 2016. I was awarded the Dean’s Award for Innovation in Learning & Teaching – Winner in BES Division (26th March 2019). The experience I gained with new e-learning tools proved to be very helpful to cover the ILOs especially during the global pandemic (2020-present). Those virtual labs are now used in 17 modules within FNS and 9 modules in BES.

Inspirational Woman award

2023