HEA announces recipients of National SATLE Impact Awards
By Maura O'Shea
Posted: 13 January, 2026
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has today announced the recipients of the 2025 SATLE Impact Awards, a national recognition award celebrating outstanding achievement and demonstrable impact arising from projects supported through Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) funding. The awards celebrate initiatives that have progressed beyond initial implementation to demonstrate tangible benefits for students, staff, and institutions, together with clear potential for sustainability, scalability, and wider sectoral adoption.
This year’s awardees reflect key strategic priorities for teaching and learning in higher education, including digital transformation, academic integrity, education for sustainable development, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
The recipients of the 2025 SATLE Impact Awards are:
| Institution | Project | Category |
| University College Dublin | Promoting a Culture of Academic Integrity in Unsupervised Assessment through Co-Design of Instructional Tools | Academic Integrity |
| Trinity College Dublin | Digitally Enhanced Practical Teaching in Health Sciences (DEPHT) | Digital Transformation |
| Trinity College Dublin | Embedding Education for Sustainable Development across the Disciplines at Trinity | Education for Sustainable Development |
| Technological University of the Shannon | SustainF1 TUS – Design and Manufacturing of a Formula Student Race Car Using Recyclable Materials and In-House Technology Through Collaboration Between Multidisciplinary Academic Staff and Student Teams | Interdisciplinary |
| Dublin City University | FACCtS – Enhancing the Data Literacy and Analytics Learning Experiences of 1st and 2nd year university students | Interdisciplinary |
| University College Dublin | FAIR Game – A Student-Created Academic Integrity Game | Interdisciplinary |
Each awardee will receive €25,000 in funding to support the continued development of their project, or to explore related avenues of research and practice.
Professor Marie Clarke, Chair of the HEA Student Engagement, Teaching and Learning Committee, said:
“High-quality teaching and learning is central to the strength of Ireland’s higher education system. The SATLE Impact Awards recognise initiatives that are delivering real impact for students and institutions, and demonstrate how sustained, strategic investment can strengthen academic practice, support student success, and contribute to a more resilient and forward-looking sector.”
Professor Leo Casey, Education Consultant and former Director of the Centre for Education and Lifelong Learning at the National College of Ireland, added:
“Reviewing the submissions for this year’s SATLE Impact Awards highlighted the depth of thoughtful, evidence-informed work taking place across the sector. I would like to commend all applicants for the quality of their submissions. The projects selected for award were distinguished by a strong focus on evaluation, sustainability, and transferability beyond their home institutions, together with clear evidence of impact on teaching and learning practice.”
SATLE, administered by the Higher Education Authority, has played a central role in strengthening teaching and learning across Irish higher education. Since 2022, more than €23 million has been allocated to the sector through SATLE, supporting institutions to pilot, evaluate, and scale high-quality, evidence-based approaches that respond to evolving sectoral priorities and learner needs. The SATLE Impact Awards build on this progress by recognising projects that demonstrate excellence, innovation and national impact.
