{"id":11420,"date":"2026-10-28T10:08:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazines.soton.ac.uk\/fels\/?p=11420"},"modified":"2026-10-29T09:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:24:32","slug":"celebrating-fels-success-at-the-2026-vice-chancellors-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazines.soton.ac.uk\/fels\/2026\/10\/28\/celebrating-fels-success-at-the-2026-vice-chancellors-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating FELS success at the 2026 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Celebrating FELS Success at the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards <\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Dr Bieito Fernandez Castro<\/a>, who received the Rising Star Award at this year\u2019s Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rising Star Award celebrates the next generation of highly skilled staff whose ideas and innovations position us for future success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bieito, Associate Professor in the School of Ocean and Earth Science, received the award for his outstanding research, teaching, and publication activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr Bieito Fernandez Castro receiving his Rising Star award from the Vice-Chancellor<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since joining the University in 2024, he has secured almost \u00a38 million in competitive funding as principal investigator, including an ERC Consolidator Grant and an ARIA Forecasting Tipping Points grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also leads a growing research group of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students, establishing significant research capacity early in his Southampton career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this, he has maintained strong publication momentum in high profile journals including Nature Geoscience and Nature Communications, developed a rich teaching portfolio, led modules and contributed across several others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also serves as editor for a leading international journal in his field and has developed new industrial partnerships with ocean technology companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On receiving the Rising Star Award, Bieito said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis prize is an expression of how lucky I am to have this working environment, where it\u2019s very collegial, we all work together, we support each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something very unique and I am very lucky to be here and be supported by my colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Awards took place on Friday 2 October, with finalists and guests gathering at the Hilton Southampton Utilita Bowl to celebrate their achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The awards attracted a record 806 nominations this year, with the VC Awards panel selecting 37 individual and team finalists for the 12 award categories. The awards ceremony celebrated every finalist before going on to announce the winners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to all those who were shortlisted from across FELS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspiring Leadership Award<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n