Staff profile

Professor Sam Nolan is Director of the Durham Centre for Academic Development (DCAD), where he leads strategy and delivery across digital learning, researcher and academic development, foundation and pre-sessional programmes, and academic communication. He oversees a multi-strand portfolio supporting Durham University’s priorities in curriculum design, technology-enhanced learning, and institutional responses to generative AI.

Sam’s career began in astrophysics: after completing an MSci in Physics at Imperial College London, he undertook a PhD in Gamma-Ray Astronomy at Durham University, followed by a NASA-funded appointment at Purdue University, USA. Upon returning to Durham, he worked as a PDRA in Physics before moving into roles in education leadership. His early innovation involved developing virtual laboratories and e-learning tools to ease student transitions into higher education — initiatives that have since supported thousands of students annually.

Over time, Sam shifted his research focus toward the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). As Head of Scholarship at Durham’s Foundation Centre and in his role with the Cherenkov Telescope Array outreach, he established a strong profile in physics education research. From 2012–18 he served on the Institute of Physics Higher Education Committee and in 2015 founded the Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship (ESLTIS) conference — an interdisciplinary meeting for teaching-focused academics which has since become a key forum for sharing best practice. He also co-founded the cross-disciplinary journal Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education(enhancingtandlinhe.org), providing a platform for colleagues to share practice and evaluate innovation across the sector.

Sam continues to publish cutting-edge work. In 2025 he authored “Leading change at the programme level: A phenomenographic study” in Innovations in Education and Teaching International (DOI: 10.1080/14703297.2025.2561035), investigating how academic leaders conceptualise leading curriculum change in research-intensive universities. The study showed that leadership approaches to programme change are highly varied — from collaborative and inclusive to more directive and competitive — and are shaped by both personal motivations and institutional pressures. It highlights the importance of soft power, stakeholder negotiation, and context in driving effective change. He is also co-author of Creative Thinking in University Physics Education (IOP Publishing, 2022), which explores creativity as a central competence in disciplinary teaching and learning.

Sam is a sought-after keynote speaker on the evolution of the education-focused academic career, the future of digital education, and the role of AI in transforming how universities teach, assess, and engage learners. His talks draw not only on theory but on his hands-on leadership and research, including his recent phenomenographic study and broader work on creativity and programme-level change.

His published output also includes co-editing Widening Participation, Higher Education and Non-Traditional Students(Palgrave, 2016) and Leading Innovation and Creativity in University Teaching: Implementing Change at the Programme Level (Routledge, 2022). These volumes examine widening participation, programme-level leadership, and the practical translation of creativity and innovation in teaching.

Sam’s leadership has been recognised via several awards: Durham’s Excellence in Learning & Teaching Award (2014); a National Teaching Fellowship (2016); and Principal Fellowship of Advance HE (2018) for strategic leadership of staff and researcher development. He also led Durham through successful reaccreditation with the Advance HE twice.

Since joining DCAD in 2018, Sam has held senior leadership responsibilities: as Deputy Director for Academic Excellence he oversaw academic researcher development, digital learning, and launched the Education Lab, Durham’s hub for innovation in teaching and learning. In 2023 he became Director of DCAD, with full oversight of the Centre’s portfolio — including undergraduate, postgraduate, pre-sessional, foundation programmes, and institutional strategic initiatives such as the Teaching Excellence Framework, decolonisation strategy, and AI for Learning.

Within the wider higher education community, Sam serves on editorial boards for New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences and Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in HE. He collaborates across faculties and departments to shape educational policy and practice, working with national and international bodies including Advance HE, the Institute of Physics, and the Coimbra Group.

Committed to widening participation, educational creativity, and enabling both staff and students to thrive, Sam’s work stretches from early interventions for incoming undergraduates and postgraduates to supporting systemic change in how education is led — especially in digital transformation and AI-enhanced learning.

Recent Keynote and Invited Talks

• "Higher Education Crisis – Will Technology Save Us or Finally Finish Us Off?", Venue: Italian Symposium on Digital Education, University of Pavia, 2024

•  "Changing Times: From Individual Scholarship to Cross Institutional Approaches to Educational Change", Venue: Horizons STEM Conference, University of Bristol, 2024

• "Changing Times: From Individual Scholarship to Cross Institutional Approaches to Educational Change" Venue: ESLTIS Conference, St Andrews, 2024

•  "Leading Change at the Programme Level", Venue: University of British Columbia (Online), 2023

•   "Leading Change at the Programme Level", Venue: University of Exeter (Online), 2023, Contribution 100%

• "Getting Published in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning", Venue Herriot-Watt University, Scotland, 2022

Citations

Google Scholar Profile

• Astroparticle Physics
• Gamma-Ray Astronomy
• Neural Net Development
• Physics Higher Education Research

• 2018: Principal Fellowship of HEA:
• 2017: National Teaching Fellowship Awarded:
• 2016: Member of Editorial Board Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in HE:
• 2014: Winner of Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award:
• 2014: Project Leader, Transitions into HE Project:
• 2013: Member of Editorial Board New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences: Membership of the editorial board of the HEA Journal New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Science
• 2013: Elected Member of Institute of Physics Higher Education Committee: With responsibilities for dissemination of innovative teaching techniques and technologies in physics higher education