The International Association for Quality Assurance in Pre-Tertiary and Higher Education (QAHE) and Kennedy University (KU) have awarded Dr Tamás Kovács the honorary title of Honorary Professor of Practice in Science Education. The distinction recognises a record that runs from physical-chemistry research into school and higher-education teaching.
Dr Kovács holds an MSc in Chemistry (2004) and a PhD in Physical Chemistry (2007, summa cum laude) from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, and a PGCE in Secondary Physics from Leeds Beckett University (2017). He is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and is working toward Principal Fellowship. His doctoral and postdoctoral work covered combustion, plasma chemistry, nucleation and atmospheric chemistry. From 2007 to 2016 he was a research fellow in the School of Chemistry and the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds, with collaborations that included the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the British Antarctic Survey, NASA, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. His curriculum vitae records 45 publications, including five books and a book chapter, and an h-index of 17.
He moved into teaching through posts at Heckmondwike Grammar School and Benton Park School, then into higher education at University Centre Leeds, first as a lecturer in biomedical science and then as HE Engineering Programme Manager. He has also assessed degree apprentices at Leeds Beckett University. Since October 2024 he has been Head of Maths and Science at A&J School, teaching from primary level through GCSE, A-level and the International Baccalaureate, and mentoring candidates for universities in the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Recent papers listed in his record concern STEM education, practical sessions in higher-education STEM, and work in quantum foundations and crystallisation.
The award is an honorary distinction conferred jointly by QAHE and Kennedy University. It is not a statutory professorship, not an appointment to a UK university chair, and not authority to award academic degrees. Dr Kovács may use the title as Honorary Professor of Practice in Science Education, QAHE and KU.
