Eligibility
- Nominators - must either be currently enrolled or employed at the University of Melbourne at the time of nominating and must use their @unimelb email address when making their nomination
- Nominees - must either be currently enrolled or employed at the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the time of nomination.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be eligible for the People’s Choice Award.
- Members of the judging panel are excluded from nominating or being nominated for an award.
How to nominate
- Nominations must be submitted by Friday, 24 April 2026, 11:59pm. Any submissions after this date will not be accepted.
- Nominations must be made using an @unimelb email address.
Step 1. Select a nominee
- Your nominee must either be currently enrolled or employed by the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.
- Self-nominations are not recommended. As this is a community-based award, being nominated by another individual will be favourably regarded and the judges may take into consideration how many nominations each nominee receives.
- Nominees must have been currently employed or enrolled at the University of Melbourne for at least six (6) months.
- You may nominate as many people as you like.
Step 2. Fill out your and your nominee’s contact details
- This is to ensure that your nomination is legitimate and so that we can contact your nominee should they be shortlisted for an award.
- All nominees and nominators will also be invited to attend the FEIT Spotlight Celebrations 2026, where the winners will be announced.
Step 3. Write a response about your nominee
Preparing to complete the online nomination form:
- You will be required to answer 3 questions that detail why you think your nominee should win and what they have done to do so. In total, your response will be between 200 and 400 words and may be in the form of dot points.
- The entire process should only take up to 5-10 minutes to complete.
- Supporting evidence can also be submitted however, this is optional.
What happens if you get shortlisted?
- Once nominations have closed on Friday, 24 April 2026, the judges will begin their shortlisting process to select the top three candidates from each award category.
- Winners will be announced at the FEIT Spotlight Celebrations on Thursday, 6 August 2026 and will be published online.
- Shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend an informal chat with the judges, where the winner will be determined for each award category.
- They will also need to provide a short video about themselves, which will be used for the People’s Choice Award voting.
- Shortlisted candidates will be announced online, where voting will begin for the People’s Choice Award. The shortlisted candidate that receives the most votes will win.
Judging panel
- Suelette Dreyfus, 2025 Lecturer of the Year Winner
- Steve Beard, 2025 Professional Staff Member of the Year Winner
- Pramod Dilshan Ranathunga Arachchige Don, 2025 Graduate Researcher of the Year Winner
Prizes
- Each nomination that you make will put you in the draw to win one of two $50 vouchers. One nomination will equal one entry.
- All voters for the People’s Choice Award will go in the draw to win a $50 voucher.
- Shortlisted candidates will receive a certificate.
- The award winner will also receive a $300 voucher and an engraved plaque.
- The student club winner will receive a $300 voucher, an engraved trophy and their club name engraved on the FEIT Community Award for Student Club of the Year shield.
Award nomination guidelines
Please refer to the Awards Nomination Guidelines for further details regarding the award and nomination process.
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology FEIT aims to inspire, encourage and support our community by identifying and celebrating its students, student clubs, professional and academic staff who have made a significant impact to our community for the annual Community Awards, presented at the FEIT Spotlight Celebrations.
Other information
- In submitting a nomination(s) and any supporting evidence to FEIT as part of the nomination process, nominators and nominees accept that, for submitted materials in which they own the copyright, they will grant FEIT a non-exclusive, perpetual licence, free of charge, for FEIT’s noncommercial use of those submitted materials (including publication online in whole or in part).
- FEIT holds the rights to alter or amend any submitted information in regard to spelling, grammar and structure, which may be published online and/or in printed collateral.
- Agreement to the publication of submitted information on social media and any other avenue.
- Each year the judging panel is finalised in May and primarily consists of winners from the FEIT Community Awards of the previous year
Nominations open March 2026
Contact the FEIT events team for more information at spotlight-feit@unimelb.edu.au