CEU's 2021 Excellence Award Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the CEU Teaching Excellence Award 2021:

• Nadia Jones-Gailani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender Studies
• Levente Littvay, Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations 

Congratulations to the winners of the CEU Award for Outstanding Research 2021:

• Federico Battiston, Assistant Professor in the Department of Network and Data Science
• Mihaly Fazekas, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy and the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations 

Congratulations to the winners of the CEU Staff Excellence Award 2021:

• Borbala Darabos, Coordinator in the Department of Political Science
• Eva Tornyos, Senior Payroll Officer on the Human Resources Office

Congratulations to the winner of the Community Service Excellence Award 2021:

• Kirsten Roberts Lyer, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations , and Disciplinary Committee Chair

Citations:

The winners of the CEU Teaching Excellence Award 2021

Prof. Nadia Jones-Gailani has distinguished herself as an innovative, dedicated, and exemplary teacher. Among her many accomplishments, she has been one of the pioneers of decolonizing the curriculum movement at CEU. In this capacity, she has redesigned courses in the Gender Studies department to be more reflective of our students’ diverse experiences, more sensitive to power structures, and more analytically insightful in their exploration of multiple dimensions and critiques of knowledge. But it is not just the curriculum in which she innovates, but in her teaching methods, adopting an approach that is scholarly, that combines research and personal relevance, and is highly collaborative. This dedication to her students extends beyond any particular course or initiative, but encompasses her approach to everyone she works with, from MA students to her PhD supervisees. Her students consistently note not just her scholarly teaching, but her ethics of care and ability to inspire. It is with great honor that we recognize Prof. Nadia Jones-Gailani with the CEU Teaching Excellence Award.

Prof. Levente Littvay is known across the student body, his department, and his many professional networks as a dedicated and innovative teacher. After organizing summer and winter schools in methods and techniques for the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) for several years, Prof. Littvay found himself in the spring of 2020 in the unenviable position of having to lead the redesign of 27 courses for 600 students for the online environment. He did so with his usual commitment to scholarly teaching, finding information where available and collecting data when not, collaborating, experimenting, and refining formats and techniques. With the return of CEU teaching in the fall, he continued to innovate, test, refine, and crucially, assist his colleagues across Political Science and beyond. Prof. Littvay was the inaugural recipient of the CEU Distinguished Teaching Award in 2015. It is a testament to his ability to continuously innovate and demonstrate leadership in new teaching formats that he is recognized as the joint recipient of the new CEU Teaching Excellence Award in 2021.

The winners of the CEU Award for Outstanding Research 2021

Professor Federico Battiston for his seminal work on the structure and dynamics of higher-order networks, and innovative applications of network science to other disciplines, including anthropology, neuroscience and urban design as published in the Journal Nature Human Behaviour, among other outstanding publications in 2020-21.

Professor Mihaly Fazekas for his cutting-edge work in helping us understand the link between the politicization of governmental agencies and political favoritism in procurement, as well as his policy-relevant research on identifying corruption risks and winning the IMF anti-corruption challenge.

The winners of the CEU Staff Excellence Award 2021

Borbala Darabos, Coordinator in the Department of Political Science

(As cited by the Nominators from the CEU community)

....initiated a social media training for department coordinators, which is vital for our work. Bori has also been key in liaising with the IT team and organized MS Teams training for the department coordinators, held by IT colleagues. Bori has also had a vital role in organizing the weekly department coordinators' meetings, has invited a number of units to participate, and excellently chaired these sessions. These occasions were extremely useful for both department coordinators and central unit colleagues. These are key in times when we can't meet in person. Bori (with Kriszta Biber) also worked on a completely new Exam Form to be used in Austria, by all departments, and presented the complete draft to SRO and the Academic Secretary for approval. 

Bori has been a key figure in establishing new norms in Vienna and in the bi-campus cooperation. Bori led the initiative of arranging new Vienna stamps for each academic unit, has been a key figure in interunit dialogue between the Communications Office and academic department coordinators....

Eva Tornyos, Senior Payroll Officer on the Human Resources Office

(As cited by the Nominators from the CEU community)

...a model of exactitude, reliability, thoroughness, efficiency and proficiency in her work. She has been unfailingly helpful, and attentive throughout to the best interests of both the CEU as an institution and to individuals with whom she dealt, attentive to both immediate and broader concerns.

....provides consistently excellent assistance in dealing with CEU administrative requirements and state obligations such as tax issues.... incredibly competent, friendly, understanding and helpful!

The winner of the Community Service Excellence Award 2021

Kirsten Roberts Lyer, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations, and Disciplinary Committee chair

(As cited by the Nominators from the CEU community)

As chairperson of the disciplinary committee, Kirsten has had responsibility for some of the most difficult issues on campus, relating to harassment, unprofessional conduct and intimidation. The role demands a lot in terms of time, but it also requires discretion, respect for confidentiality and sound moral judgment. I think this exemplary service to the community deserves special recognition.

Kirsten has done a fabulous job in her role of the PD of SPP's MPA program; has prepared our new EMPA program, passed it through the Senate, and is now working on its accreditation; and she has served as the chair on CEU's disciplinary committee. Her evaluations as a teacher are excellent. As HoD, I can attest that Kirsten has been doing an immensely fine job as a pedagogue and member of the SPP/CEU community.