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Affiliate Dissertation Prizes

Dissertation grants and prizes of the affiliated societies.

The AHA's Affiliated Societies offer dissertation and graduate student prizes in a wide range of temporal and thematic historic fields. To better serve the graduate students who may benefit from these prizes, we have decided to consolidate many of those prizes onto one easy-to-find page. Each prize has its own application process, deadline, and award timeline so follow the links to learn more about the awards that interest you. Be sure to check out what other awards an affiliate offers as these may include study and travel grants!

Please note that the AHA does not have specific details about or control over these prizes and all questions and applications should be sent directly to the affiliated society. For a list of the AHA's various prizes, visit our Awards and Grants page .

Anne J. Bailey Dissertation Prize

The Society of Civil War Historians on behalf of the McWhiney Group offers a $2,000 stipend in even-numbered years to the best dissertation that takes the US Civil War era as its main point of focus.

Medieval Academy Dissertation Grants

The Medieval Academy of America offers nine dissertation grants to help students with research costs.

Rachel Fuchs Award

Presented by the CCWH, a $500 award that recognizes extraordinary mentorship and service to women and the LGBTQI community in the historical profession.

Allan Nevins Prize

Presented by the Society of American Historians, the prize is awarded annually for the best-written doctoral dissertation on a significant subject in American history. 

Margaret A. Blanchard Dissertation Prize

Presented by the American Journalism Historians Association, the prize is awarded annually for the best doctoral dissertation dealing with mass communication history.

Herman E. Krooss Prize for Best Dissertation in Business History

Presented by the Business History Conference: any dissertation in business history completed in the three calendar years immediately prior to the annual meeting is eligible once for consideration.

Cromwell Dissertation Prize

Presented by the American Society for Legal History, the prize is awarded annually to the best dissertation in any topic of American legal history completed in the past year.

Carol Gold Article Prize

A $500 prize awarded by the CCWH to a scholar of any rank for a superlative article published in any field of history.

Nupur Chaudhuri First Article Prize

Presented by the CCWH, a $1000 award that recognizes a superlative first article published in any field of history.

NACBS Dissertation Fellowships

The North American Conference on British Studies awards 3 dissertation fellowships to support dissertation research in the British Isles on any topic of British (including Scottish, Irish and Imperial) history or British Studies.

IEHS Awards

The Immigration and Ethnic History Society presents two awards. The Pozzetta award to any Ph.D. candidate completing qualifying exams that year and whose thesis focuses on American immigration, emigration, or ethnic history. And an Outstanding Dissertation Award in the same field.

Herbert G. Gutman Prize for Outstanding Dissertation

Awarded by the Labor and Working Class History Association to the best dissertation in U.S. labor and working class history defended during the previous academic year.

GHI/Friends of the GHI Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize

Granted to the best doctoral dissertation in German history at a North American university; includes an invitation and travel reimbursement to present at the annual symposium in Washington, DC.

Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Fellowship

A $1000 award to a graduate student completing a historical dissertation, not necessarily in a history department, that interrogates race and gender. Awarded by the CCWH.

Walter Rundell Graduate Student Award

Presented by the Western History Association to a doctoral candidate who has completed comprehensive examinations for their dissertation subject on the North American West.

WHA-Huntington Library Martin Ridge Fellowship

The Western History Association and the Huntington Library select a doctoral student at the dissertation stage or Ph.D (or equivalent degree) holder for a one-month fellowship.

Adele Dalsimer Prize for Distinguished Dissertation

Presented by the American Conference for Irish Studies to the best dissertation in Irish Studies.

WHA Graduate Student Prize

The Western History Association awards up to ten students with a funding package to attend the WHA conference.

CCWH/Berks Graduate Student Fellowship

A $1000 award to a graduate student completing a dissertation in history.

The Gwin J. and Ruth Kolb Research Travel Fellowship

The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies grants the fellowship to support doctoral candidates with demonstrable need to consult a specific collection to complete a dissertation on an aspect of eighteenth-century studies.

The Catherine Prelinger Memorial Award

Presented by the CCWH. A $20,000 award given to a scholar who has not followed a traditional academic path of uninterrupted study.  The award is open to applicants with a PhD and graduate students advanced to candidacy.

The Ellis Dissertation Award

Awarded to a doctoral student in the field of Catholic Studies with a promising, but not-yet-completed dissertation.

SAHS Dissertation Prize

The Society for Austrian and Habsburg Studies awards the prize every other year to a dissertation in the humanities, social sciences, or the arts and deal with Central Europe, including the successor states of the Habsburg Empire.

Nathan Reingold Prize

The History of Science Society awards a prize for the best unpublished essay on the history of science by a graduate student.

SHAFR Graduate Dissertation Research Grants

The Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations offers four dissertation grants to help students with research costs.

NASSH Dissertation Research Award

The North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) awards up to $3,000 for one award, or for fractional awards for several applicants, at the discretion of the Committee.

NASSH Dissertation Prize Award

The North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) awards $1,000 on a biannual basis recognizing outstanding doctoral dissertations in the field of sport history.

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GAPS – Association for Anglophone Postcolonial Studies

dissertation award

The GAPS Dissertation Award recognizes outstanding dissertations on new Anglophone literatures and cultures as well as varieties of English. It is awarded once every two years. More details about the award, including our latest call for nominations can be accessed  here .

Recipient of the 2022 GAPS Dissertation Award is Magdalena Pfalzgraf. She received the prize for her outstanding thesis “Crossing Borders, Transcending Boundaries: Dynamics of Mobility in post-2000 Zimbabwean Literature”, which was submitted at the University of Frankfurt and published by Routledge in 2021. Her study explores mobility in Zimbabwean works of fiction published between 2000, the year of Zimbabwe’s controversial Land Reform, and 2017, the end of Mugabe’s rule, demonstrating how the texts critically engage with the spatial orders imposed by the Mugabe regime. Four dynamics of mobility frame the analyses: intra-urban movement and rural-urban movement in Zimbabwe, transnational migration within Africa and transcontinental migration. The concept of mobility, rather than migration, allows her to conceptualize movement in a broader and more inclusive sense, including social and economic mobility. Magdalena Pfalzgraf’s study not only offers an in-depth survey and an innovative reading of contemporary Zimbabwean fiction that moves beyond the received discourse on Zimbabwean migration in terms of exodus and escape. It also shows how the texts discussed critically respond to authority and the boundaries of Afrocentric nationalism by self-reflexively placing themselves within both a specific national literary tradition (“writing back to self”) and tapping into transnational literary traditions.

Joint recipients of the fourth GAPS Dissertation Award are Mirka Honkanen and Johanna Pundt. Mirka Honkanen’s PhD excellent PhD thesis “‘Like my homeboy will say, THIS NA REALLY NAIJA’: African-American and Nigerian resources in U.S.Nigerians’ digital communication”, which was submitted at the University of Freiburg, works in the field of variation linguistics, and is located at the intersections of sociolinguistics of globalization and diaspora studies. Mirka Honkanen investigates the behavior of American Nigerians in social media and in so doing, she connects to current debates of linguistic globalisation and how mobility, both physically and medially, enables linguistic transformations. The thesis works with a rich and well-founded empirical data set. In particular, it is exceptional how substantially and perceptively Honkanen processes the data material  Nairaland 2  – which is based on a previous corpus created at the University of Freiburg – and which was extended to an overall scope of 800 million words and annotated widely by her. Moreover, Honkanen discusses the (overt and covert) linguistic prestige of Nigerian pidgin, AAVE and other varieties (e.g. Jamaican Patois), stressing their importance for enabling people to connect and belong to the U.S. black community. Her 350-page thesis is well-written, innovative, and exceptional in its academic quality.  Undoubtedly, it will be internationally recognized upon publication.  Johanna Pundt’s outstanding PhD thesis “Speculative India: Genre and Aesthetics in Contemporary Indian Anglophone Literature and Popular Culture”, submitted at the University of Augsburg, investigates a broad range of speculative works across anglophone Indian literature and popular culture. The thesis is conceptionally innovative and establishes its own impressive corpus of Indian texts which have largely been neglected in previous analyses of speculative fiction. One of its key achievements is the extension of speculative fiction as a concept: Johanna Pundt questions the binary, and often highly simplified distinction between mimetic and non-mimetic/antirealist forms of representation and develops her own concept, which she terms  para-realism . Pundt describes para-realism as a mode that is inherent to those texts “that centre previously marginalized worldviews, sometimes expressing perceptions that surpass the knowable and scientifically verifiable,” working toward a “representational practice of plurality” in terms of varying epistemologies and ways of experiencing realities. What is more, Johanna Pundt connects her findings to Pheng Cheah’s concept of “worlding literature”: Indian speculative fiction, she argues, “is worlded through its rootedness in extratextual epistemological and ontological systems and is at the same time worlding in the sense of musing about different forms of existence.”

Recipient of the third GAPS Dissertation Award is Geoffrey Rodoreda. He received the prize for his outstanding dissertation entitled “The Mabo Turn in Contemporary Australian Fiction”, which was submitted at the University of Stuttgart.

Based on an in-depth study of Australian fiction writing from the last quarter of a century, Geoffrey Rodoreda’s thesis proposes a re-assessment of Australian literary historiography to account for what he describes as the ‘Mabo turn’ in contemporary Australian fiction. Central to this assessment is the observation that in the quarter of a century since the Australian High Court’s historic Mabo decision of 1992, novels examining Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations have attained unprecedented prominence in Australian literary discourse.

Recipient of the second GAPS Dissertation Award is James Ogone. He received the prize for his outstanding dissertation entitled “Domesticating Modernity in Africa: Local Epistemologies, Foreign Technologies and Dynamics of Mediation”, which was submitted at the University of Potsdam.

James Ogone’s work examines the impact of new media technologies – from the radio to the mobile phone – on African cultures. It explores the ways in which local African epistemologies and knowledge cultures disrupt, challenge and re-configure global media technologies that have borne the stamp of Western modernity. The dissertation analyzes the intricate relationship between media technologies and African (particularly Kenyan) oral traditions as well as the histories of film, video and audio recordings in African societies. Ogone’s considerations render his dissertation a truly innovative contribution to current scholarship in the field of Postcolonial Studies that grapples with the push and pull of global and local modernities.

Recipient of the first GAPS Dissertation Award is Doreen Strauhs. She received the prize for her outstanding dissertation entitled “African Literary NGOs: Power, Politics, and Participation”, which was submitted at Goethe University (Frankfurt) in 2012 and published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2013.

Doreen Strauhs’ work is marked by an innovative approach to literary NGOs in Africa and their involvement in the Anglophone literary production on the continent. Her historiographic analyses offer fresh insights into how influential institutionally organized and sponsored socio-political literary activities have been since the late 1950s. Her concept of LINGO, designating the literary NGO, provides a theoretical framework with which she scrutinizes the social, political and literary networks in which these organizations are embedded. The writers are placed in the contexts of local politics, academic goals and curricula, as well as development aid. Thus, Doreen Strauhs conclusively shows what LINGOs can and cannot achieve, how they function as support network, as interlocutor and control mechanism for writers and readers in Africa and beyond. She provides an innovative literary historiography that sheds new light on African literary production, distribution and reception in a postcolonial and globalized Anglophone world.

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Dissertation Award

Our annual dissertation award is open for 2023-2024.

The UK Data Service Dissertation Award recognises students who use data from the UK Data Service in their undergraduate dissertations. Awards will be given to the three best dissertations from this academic year. Each winning entry will receive a £300 award and publicity via our website, blog and newsletter.

Eligibility

Entries to the award are open to undergraduate students at UK universities writing dissertations:

• On social science topics.
• Using data available via the UK Data Service data catalogue (either for all or part of the analysis).
• Submitted in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Family members of staff working for the UK Data Service at any institution are not eligible to enter.

How to enter

To enter, students complete the  Dissertation Award entry form (Word).

Using their institutional email address, email the completed form and a copy of your dissertation to  [email protected] .

The deadline for submissions is 12:00 midday on 20 June 2024. Submissions received after this date will not be accepted.

The judging process

A shortlisting panel will shortlist the completed entry forms. We will then request full dissertations from the shortlisted entries. The full dissertations will then be reviewed by the judging panel, which will comprise data experts from the UK Data Service and senior academic staff from a range of disciplines and with mixed expertise.

Judges will be looking for the best dissertations on social science topics that include thorough secondary data analysis.

We will contact and announce winners at the end of July.

Previous awards

Read more about the Dissertation Award winners from previous years.

Dissertation Award Winners 2023 Dissertation Award Winners 2022 Dissertation Award Winners 2021 Dissertation Award winners 2020

Dissertation resources

See the students section in our Learning Hub for information and resources for dissertation students.

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Robert C. Tucker/Stephen F. Cohen Dissertation Prize

The Robert C. Tucker/Stephen F. Cohen Dissertation Prize, established in 2006 and sponsored by the KAT Charitable Foundation, is awarded annually (if there is a distinguished submission) for an outstanding English-language doctoral dissertation in Soviet or Post-Soviet politics and history in the tradition practiced by Robert C. Tucker and Stephen F. Cohen . The dissertation must be defended at an American or Canadian university, and must be completed during the calendar year prior to the award. The prize carries a $6,000 award intended to help the author turn the dissertation into a publishable manuscript. The prize is awarded at the ASEEES Annual Convention .

2023 WINNER

James Allen Nealy, Jr. , Duke University, “Making Socialism Work!: The Shchekino Method and the Drive to Modernize Soviet Industry”

Read the award citation .

Rules of eligibility

Rules of eligibility for the ASEEES Robert C. Tucker/Stephen F. Cohen Dissertation Prize are as follows:

• The dissertation must be written in English and defended at a university in the United States or Canada;
• The dissertation must be completed and defended during the calendar year prior to the award (for example, the dissertation must have been defended in 2022 to be eligible for the 2023 competition);
• The dissertation's primary subject and analytical purpose must be in the realm of the history of domestic politics, as broadly understood in academic or public life, though it may also include social, cultural, economic, international or other dimensions. The dissertation must focus primarily on Russia (though the topic may also involve other former Soviet republics) during one or more periods between January 1918 and the present.

Nominating Instructions

A nomination will consist of a detailed letter from the dissertation's main faculty supervisor explaining the ways in which the work is outstanding in both its empirical and interpretive contributions, along with an abstract of 700-1000 words, written by the candidate, specifying the sources and general findings of the research. A faculty supervisor may nominate no more than one dissertation a year.

Faculty supervisors should send each committee member listed below their letter and the 700-1000-word abstract. (Candidates may also initiate the nomination, but it must come from their advisers.) The committee will read this material and then request copies of the dissertations that best meet the criteria, as defined in the statement above. Nominations must be received no later than May 15 .

2023 Tucker/Cohen Dissertation Prize Committee

The winner of the Tucker/Cohen Dissertation Prize will be chosen by the following scholars:

Alexis Peri , Boston U, 2022-2024, Chair [email protected]

Melissa Chakars , St. Joseph's U, 2023-2025 [email protected]

Kathleen Smith , Georgetown U, 2022-2024 [email protected]

 2020 Cohen/Tucker Dissertation Prize Winner

     Kelsey Norris , “The Ties that Bind,” University of Pennsylvania

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• Dissertation

Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples

Published on September 9, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

It can be difficult to know where to start when writing your thesis or dissertation . One way to come up with some ideas or maybe even combat writer’s block is to check out previous work done by other students on a similar thesis or dissertation topic to yours.

This article collects a list of undergraduate, master’s, and PhD theses and dissertations that have won prizes for their high-quality research.

Table of contents

Award-winning undergraduate theses, award-winning master’s theses, award-winning ph.d. dissertations, other interesting articles.

University : University of Pennsylvania Faculty : History Author : Suchait Kahlon Award : 2021 Hilary Conroy Prize for Best Honors Thesis in World History Title : “Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the “Noble Savage” on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807”

University : Columbia University Faculty : History Author : Julien Saint Reiman Award : 2018 Charles A. Beard Senior Thesis Prize Title : “A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man”: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947

University: University College London Faculty: Geography Author: Anna Knowles-Smith Award:  2017 Royal Geographical Society Undergraduate Dissertation Prize Title:  Refugees and theatre: an exploration of the basis of self-representation

University: University of Washington Faculty:  Computer Science & Engineering Author: Nick J. Martindell Award: 2014 Best Senior Thesis Award Title:  DCDN: Distributed content delivery for the modern web

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University:  University of Edinburgh Faculty:  Informatics Author:  Christopher Sipola Award:  2018 Social Responsibility & Sustainability Dissertation Prize Title:  Summarizing electricity usage with a neural network

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Education Author:  Matthew Brillinger Award:  2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Humanities Prize Title:  Educational Park Planning in Berkeley, California, 1965-1968

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty: Social Sciences Author:  Heather Martin Award:  2015 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  An Analysis of Sexual Assault Support Services for Women who have a Developmental Disability

University : University of Ottawa Faculty : Physics Author : Guillaume Thekkadath Award : 2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Sciences Prize Title : Joint measurements of complementary properties of quantum systems

University:  London School of Economics Faculty: International Development Author: Lajos Kossuth Award:  2016 Winner of the Prize for Best Overall Performance Title:  Shiny Happy People: A study of the effects income relative to a reference group exerts on life satisfaction

University : Stanford University Faculty : English Author : Nathan Wainstein Award : 2021 Alden Prize Title : “Unformed Art: Bad Writing in the Modernist Novel”

University : University of Massachusetts at Amherst Faculty : Molecular and Cellular Biology Author : Nils Pilotte Award : 2021 Byron Prize for Best Ph.D. Dissertation Title : “Improved Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Helminths”

University:  Utrecht University Faculty:  Linguistics Author:  Hans Rutger Bosker Award: 2014 AVT/Anéla Dissertation Prize Title:  The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and non-native speech

University: California Institute of Technology Faculty: Physics Author: Michael P. Mendenhall Award: 2015 Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics Title: Measurement of the neutron beta decay asymmetry using ultracold neutrons

University:  Stanford University Faculty: Management Science and Engineering Author:  Shayan O. Gharan Award:  Doctoral Dissertation Award 2013 Title:   New Rounding Techniques for the Design and Analysis of Approximation Algorithms

University: University of Minnesota Faculty: Chemical Engineering Author: Eric A. Vandre Award:  2014 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics Title: Onset of Dynamics Wetting Failure: The Mechanics of High-speed Fluid Displacement

University: Erasmus University Rotterdam Faculty: Marketing Author: Ezgi Akpinar Award: McKinsey Marketing Dissertation Award 2014 Title: Consumer Information Sharing: Understanding Psychological Drivers of Social Transmission

University: University of Washington Faculty: Computer Science & Engineering Author: Keith N. Snavely Award:  2009 Doctoral Dissertation Award Title: Scene Reconstruction and Visualization from Internet Photo Collections

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Social Work Author:  Susannah Taylor Award: 2018 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  Effacing and Obscuring Autonomy: the Effects of Structural Violence on the Transition to Adulthood of Street Involved Youth

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Research Group dissertation prizes

The annual dissertation prizes awarded by our Research Groups recognise outstanding work from undergraduate and postgraduate students at higher education institutions both in the UK and overseas. 

See the full list with submission details below. 

Undergraduate Dissertation Prizes

All Research Group undergraduate dissertation prizes have a submission date of  14 July this year unless otherwise stated.

The British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) - Marjorie Sweeting Dissertation Prize

This prize is awarded to the best undergraduate dissertation that focuses on ‘Geomorphology’ undertaken at a UK university. Entries are invited for this annual competition. The award (£200 plus funded attendance at the BSG Annual Conference) is presented to the successful nominee at the Annual General Meeting, the details of which are available from the BSG website .

The agreed guidelines for assessment are as follows:

Subject area: the field of geomorphology: earth surface processes, and the erosion, deposition and formation of landforms and sediments. Foci can include the physical geography of river, valley, glacier, mountain, hillslope, coast, desert and estuary environments; alongside responses to Holocene, Quaternary and other long term environmental changes.

Originality: The project should be an independent study, originated by the student. In particular, it should not be linked to a funded research programme, nor exhibit undue influence of or similarity to the supervisor’s known and published work.

Submissions to: Dr Hywel Griffiths ( [email protected] )

Deadline: 30 September 2023

Carceral Geography Working Group (CGWG)

The CGWG is offering a £50 prize for the best undergraduate dissertation. The prize-winner will also be invited to feature their writing on the Carceral Geography website.

Nominated dissertations should: be an outstanding theoretical and/or empirical piece of work; usually 8,000 words or more in length; have been submitted for formal assessment no earlier than 12 months before the prize deadline for a BA/BSc level degree programme; include a full set of references and images (as relevant); in PDF format. Students need not necessarily be aligned to a geography(-related) discipline but their work should engage with issues of carcerality and/or themes emergent in carceral geographies. We welcome entries from students outside of the UK but the dissertation should be submitted in (or professionally translated to) English.

Dissertations should be nominated by either a research supervisor, Head of Department, or Head of Discipline. Please note that a department may not submit more than one entry and nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes.

For any further details or questions please contact Dr Lauren Martin using the details below. 

Submissions to: Dr Lauren Martin ( [email protected] )

Deadline: 14 July 2023

Climate Change Research Group (CCRG) 

The Climate Change Research Group is pleased to launch its annual prize for the best undergraduate dissertation based on original research in any area of climate change research. The first prize winner will receive £100 worth of Routledge books of their choice, and the second place winner will receive £50 worth of Routledge books of their choice.

The prize is open to undergraduate students studying at a UK university. The dissertation should be submitted to the CCRG committee for consideration by the applicant’s Department Head (or nominated representative) with the student’s agreement. Only dissertations submitted to a UK university for formal assessment during the current academic year will be considered.

Please note that we only accept one entry per department and that the dissertation should not be submitted for simultaneous consideration to any other RGS-IBG prize.

Please send the following via email writing “CCRG dissertation prize” in the subject bar to the CCRG Secretary, Dr Laurie Parsons at [email protected]

• PDF file of the dissertation

Supporting statement (1 page max). Please note that this year a mark will not be required due to the Marking and Assessment Boycott. Please therefore ensure that the supporting statement provides a good indication of the quality of the work in the lieu of this.

• Copy of dissertation regulations

Email address for the student which will be valid after the end of the academic year (in the case of institutional addresses which expire)

Development Geographies Research Group (DevGRG)

The DevGRG  offers an annual prize for the most promising dissertation concerning ‘Development Geographies’. The author of the winning dissertation receives a £100 book voucher.

The prize is open to any student taking a first degree in geography. Students taking joint degrees are eligible to enter for the prize, provided that at least half their course is in geography. It is suggested that no Department of Geography submits more than one dissertation for this prize. Dissertations will be evaluated by three members of the DevGRG Committee.

The prize is not running for 2022-23. Instead, two prizes will be offered next year, one for 2022-23 and one for 2023-24. Further details will be published in due course.

Find out more

Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG) 

The Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG) is pleased to offer a prize to the best undergraduate dissertation in any area of digital geography* which is based upon original research and demonstrates a high degree of critical analysis and/or innovate and sophisticated methodology.

The successful prize winner, as selected by the DGRG Committee will awarded a prize of £100 and will also have the opportunity to showcase their work through the DGRG website.

Dissertations should normally be of first-class standard and nominated by Heads of Department / dissertation supervisors as appropriate. Departments should not submit more than one dissertation for consideration. Only dissertations submitted during this academic year by students enrolled on an undergraduate degree programme at a university in Europe**, and written in English, will be considered (this is not limited to a being a part of a geography department, but the dissertation should meet the prize’s definition of digital geography research*).

Submissions should follow the below guidelines:

A PDF file of the dissertation

Supporting statement (including final mark, feedback, and reasons for nomination)

An email address for the student that will be live beyond the end of their studies (e.g. a personal email address where institutional addresses expire following graduation)

Submissions and any enquiry should be sent to: jack.lowe.[email protected] (Jack Lowe, Royal Holloway University of London)

Deadline: 14  July 2023

*While the concept of Digital Geography can take a more expansive definition, for the purposes of this prize Digital Geography dissertations are expected to engage with geographies produced through, produced by, and of the digital (Ash et. al., 2016). 

We especially welcome works that seek to apply geographical ideas and methodologies to make sense of the digital, or that focus on how digital technologies and infrastructures are transforming the geographies of everyday life and the production of space. 

**Europe: European countries are defined as EU/EEA countries, with the addition of Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 

Economic Geography Research Group (EGRG)

A prize of £50 is offered each year for the best undergraduate dissertation in economic geography. Nominated dissertations should be: an outstanding theoretical and/or empirical piece of work; usually 8,000 words or more in length; submitted for formal assessment in the current academic year to a UK Higher Education Institution for a BA/BSc level geography degree programme; include a full set of references and images (as relevant); in PDF format; written in English. Please note that a department may not submit more than one entry and nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes.

Submissions to: [email protected]  (Dr. Alexandra Dales)

Energy Geographies Research Group (EnGRG)

An annual prize of up to £150 and the opportunity to showcase research is offered to the three best undergraduate dissertations that explore the spatial dimensions of energy matters.

We welcome contributions from both BA and BSc programmes, as well as from social science disciplines other than geography. Submissions must, however, engage with the significance of space/place for understanding energy issues, and/or explore the significance of energy or energy systems for understanding the formation of space/place.

Entries will be assessed based on the following criteria: the quality of written presentation (structure, strength of argument, academic rigour); methodological innovativeness; quality of empirical data and/or findings; and theoretical/conceptual originality.

Entries should be nominated by a dissertation supervisor or member of staff from a UK Higher Education Institution. Dissertations should be submitted as a PDF and should be accompanied by a brief cover letter (max 300 words) from the nominator, describing why they are recommending the study for consideration. Unfortunately, we can only accept submissions written in English at this time. We especially encourage submissions from non-Russell group universities.

Please send your entries to  [email protected] and  [email protected]

Deadline: 14 July 2023

Food Geographies Research Group (FGRG)

The FGRG is pleased to offer a first place undergraduate dissertation prize of £75 and two ‘highly commended’ prizes of £35. The prize is open to any currently registered undergraduate student at a UK university and will be awarded to the dissertations that exhibit the best overall contributions to the wide range of issues relating to food geographies.

The dissertations should be of first class standard and be submitted by the student’s Department (Head or nominated representative) and with the student’s knowledge, in electronic format only. Please include a contact email address for the student (post-graduation if necessary). Please note that we can only accept one entry from any department and nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes. For more information on the work of this new RGS-IBG group visit their website . 

Submissions to [email protected] (Pippa Simmonds, Postgraduate Representative, FGRG)

Open deadline

Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group (GFGRG)

The competition is now open and accepting entries for the best undergraduate dissertation on any issue relating to geographies, feminisms and gender. First prize is £100 and £50 is awarded to two further highly commended  dissertations

The dissertations should usually be 10,000 words or more and should be submitted as a PDF file, along with a copy of the appropriate departmental dissertation regulations and a (post-September) contact address for the student. Please note that departments may not submit more than one entry.

For any further details or questions please contact Dr Rachel Colls using the details below.

Submissions to: [email protected] (Rachel Colls, Durham University, UK)

Deadline: 31 October 2023

Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG)

Two prizes, part-sponsored by Taylor & Francis are available for innovative and high quality undergraduate dissertations on any issue related to the geographies of children, youth and families. The first prize is £100 and a one-year subscription to  Children's Geographies ; the second prize is £50 and a one-year subscription to  Children's Geographies.

The dissertations should be approximately 8,000-10,000 words in length and should be accompanied by moderated institutional marks, illustrative feedback, and reasons for nomination.  

Please send the following via email or link (i.e. Dropbox) to: sa[email protected]   and  [email protected] :

a PDF file of the dissertation

supporting statement (including final mark, feedback, and reasons for nomination)

an email address for the student that will be live after September 2023 (e.g. a personal email address where institutional addresses expire following graduation)

The competition is open to any dissertations produced during the 2022/23 academic year by students enrolled on an undergraduate degree programme at a UK university. Submissions are open to all UK geography departments as well as interdisciplinary degree programmes where the student has engaged with the geographies of children, youth and families literature. Please note a department may not submit more than one entry.  

The research group are willing to consider dissertations produced in other formats in cases of reasonable adjustments.  If you have a potential submission in a non-standard format please do get in touch with us.  

Deadline: 3 November 2023

Geographies of Health and Wellbeing Research Group

In solidarity with colleagues supporting the marking and assessment boycott, GHWRG will not be accepting nominations for the 2022-23 dissertation prize until further notice.

The GHWRG offers a dissertation prize, sponsored by the journal Health and Place . The prize is open to any currently registered undergraduate student in a UK university and will be awarded to the dissertation that exhibits the best innovative contribution to issues relating to geographies of health and wellbeing. The winner will receive £150 and showcased on the GHWRG website , and the dissertation in second place will receive £50 plus an honourable mention. The dissertations should usually be of first-class standard and be submitted by the student’s Department (Head or nominated representative) and with the student’s knowledge. Note that we can only accept one entry from any department. 

Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group (GLTRG)

The Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group offers 2 awards. The first is an annual prize of £100 for the best undergraduate dissertation in leisure/tourism/sports geography, submitted as part of a BA, BSc or BEd degree. The dissertation may be multidisciplinary but needs to be informed through the geographical concepts of place and space. We also identify two Highly Commended dissertations, with the students receiving a certificate to reflect this achievement.  Entries should be accompanied by a copy of the instructions given to students, and a note of the dissertation credit rating and mark awarded. Please also include a (post-studies) contact email address for the student, so that they can be notified of the result of the competition and if any hard copies of the dissertation need to be returned. A department should not normally submit more than one entry each for UG and for PG. 

Submissions to:  gltr[email protected]  (Dr Anna de Jong, Awards and Prize Coordinator)

Historical Geography Research Group (HGRG)

The Historical Geography Research Group, in association with the Routledge Research in Historical Geography Series, is pleased to offer a prize to the best undergraduate dissertation in any area of historical geography which is based upon original research and which demonstrates conceptual and/or methodological sophistication.

The successful prize winner will receive £200 of Routledge-published books, and will be invited to submit an article based upon their dissertation for publication in the Journal of Historical Geography (subject to the standard refereeing procedures of that periodical). The winner will also be invited to present their work at the annual HGRG Practising Historical Geography Conference in November and will receive a year's free membership of the HGRG.

Dissertations should normally be of first-class standard and nominated by Heads of Department / Examination Boards / dissertation supervisors as appropriate. Departments should not submit more than one dissertation for consideration. Only dissertations submitted during the 2022-23 academic year by students enrolled in a geography degree programme at a university in the UK or the Republic of Ireland will be considered. We will need an email address for the student that will remain valid after the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Dr Peter Martin)

22 December 2023

History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group (HPGRG)

The History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group in conjunction with SAGE Geography is pleased to offer an undergraduate dissertation prize for the best dissertation in the histories and/or philosophies of geography. The winner will receive a prize of £50 and a year’s free subscription to their choice of Progress in Human Geography or Progress in Physical Geography , and have their dissertation published on the HPGRG website. 

We welcome nominations addressing the history of the discipline, philosophy of the discipline, and/or geographical knowledge, discourses and practices across academic, public and/or private spheres. The dissertation should have been completed within the past two years and be written in English. We welcome nominations not only from the UK but also from other countries. Depending on the number and quality of submissions, the prize may not be awarded every year.

Please direct all questions and submit an electronic copy of the dissertation (PDF format) with your letter of recommendation and the candidate’s contact details to Dr Peter Martin, details below. As far as possible, please provide a non-university email account for the candidate as contact will likely happen after their graduation.

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Dr Emily Hayes)

Deadline: TBC

Latin American Geographies Working Group (LAGWG) 

The Latin American Geographies Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society welcomes the submission of nominations to the prize of best undergraduate dissertation. The prize is open to any undergraduate student enrolled at a UK institution in a degree programme in geography or closely related disciplines. The winner will receive £50 in book vouchers kindly offered by Routledge .

The dissertation should be an excellent piece of original work and submitted in the most recent academic year. Latin America needs to be central to the theoretical and/or empirical focus. The awarded dissertation’s author will feature in our website.

Submissions should be sent by the student’s department (one entry per department) in either Word or PDF files alongside the student’s contact details post-September. Please include 'LAG UG dissertation submission' as the subject header.

Submissions to: [email protected]

Participatory Geographies Research Group (PyGyRG) 

In solidarity with colleagues supporting the marking and assessment boycott, PyGyRG will not be accepting nominations for the 2022-23 dissertation prize until further notice.

The RGS-IBG Participatory Geographies Research Group is pleased to offer an annual prize of £100 for an undergraduate dissertation that examines a social justice theme and/or involves a participatory methodology.

Reflective of the scale and type of research carried out at undergraduate level, we are eager to encourage and reward both excellent scholarship and innovation which includes any of the following:

Employs a participatory methodology

Engages with participatory research literature

Works with people, communities, or non-profit groups

Explores social justice, community activist, social enterprises, or NGOs/CSOs

Addresses issues of exclusion and marginalisation

Involves minority or vulnerable groups

Incorporates tangible outcomes for community groups/NGOs

Nominated dissertations should: be a strong theoretical and/or empirical piece of work; be submitted for formal assessment in the current academic year to a UK Higher Education Institution for a BA/BSc level geography degree programme; include a full set of references and images (as relevant); be written in English.

To nominate a student:

Submit their dissertation as a single pdf file with a post-university email and contact address for the student

Provide a statement (minimum a short paragraph – maximum 1-page A4) that summarises in which respects the dissertation engages with a social justice theme and/or involves a participatory methodology

We are keen to contact students directly so that we can follow up winners and ask them to provide us with blog entries and short summaries for our website, hence asking for a post-September email address for the student. Please let nominees know that they have been nominated

Political Geography Research Group (PolGRG)

A prize of £100 is offered for the best undergraduate dissertation in political geography submitted to a UK university during the 2022-23 academic year.

We welcome nominations that are conceptually, methodologically, and empirically innovative from across the broad spectrum of political geography and its sub-disciplines. Nominations are limited to one per department.

Nominated dissertations should be submitted as a single PDF file of less than 25MB in size, along with a copy of the appropriate departmental dissertation regulations. Nominations will be shortlisted by a panel of political geographers who will decide on the winner(s) and any highly commended entries.

The panel especially welcomes submissions from universities that are not traditionally considered to be ‘elite’, and those written by students with non-traditional or minority backgrounds.

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Jonathan Harris). Submissions should include a post-September contact email address for the student.

Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG) (Joanna Stillwell Prize)

This prize is named in memory of the daughter of Professor John Stillwell of the University of Leeds, Joanna, who was a geography graduate from the University of Sheffield, and died in 2004. The Population Geography Research Group has set up a prize (£100) to be awarded for the best undergraduate dissertations in the broad field of population geography. 

Please note that for practical purposes we can only accept one dissertation from any institution and to be eligible that institution has to be in the UK. Please send a copy of the dissertations (with the mark awarded included) to Dr Suzanne Beech, details below. 

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Dr Suzanne Beech)

Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG)

The QMRG offers a prize for the best undergraduate dissertation that engages with quantitative methods and methodologies. Students need not necessarily be aligned to a geography(-related) discipline, but their work should engage with geographical problems and phenomena from a quantitative perspective. Innovative geographic data science analyses, effective deployments of existing geographical science methods, or fundamental research in spatial models will all be considered.

There is a cash award for the winner(s). Entries are judged by members of the QMRG committee who may, depending on the number and types of entries received, decide to award a single overall prize or multiple separate prizes for different fields of the discipline.

Please note that entries are limited to undergraduate dissertations from UK higher education institutions. They should be submitted with the student’s agreement and by an appropriate member of staff (normally the Head of Department or appointed representative). Each institution is limited to a single entry.

To submit an entry, please email a copy of the dissertation without any indication of the awarded mark to: Dr Yijing Li ( [email protected] ).

Please provide an email address for the student that will be live after September 2023.

Deadline: 25 October 2023 

Race, Culture and Equality Working Group (RACE)

The Race, Culture and Equality Working Group would like to recognise research conducted by undergraduate students on any issue related to the geographies of race, racism and equality. The winner will receive a cash prize.

Nominations are requested from Dissertation Supervisors or Heads of Department at any UK geography department. There is no limit of submissions per institution, but nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes. Students taking joint degrees are eligible to enter for the prize, provided that at least half their course is in geography. The dissertations should be circa 10,000 words in length and submitted for formal assessment in the current academic year. 

Please send the following via email or link (e.g. Dropbox) to Dr Amer Kanngieser; 1) a single PDF file of the dissertation ( fully anonymised ); 2) contact details for the student (post-September). Nominations should include “RACE UG dissertation submission” as the email subject.

The RACE Working Group has decided to suspend the UG Dissertation Prize until the Academic Year 2023–2024. Dissertations of the Academic Year 2022–2023 will be eligible for the Prize in the next round. Thank you for your understanding.

Rural Geography Research Group (RGRG)

The prize is open to any currently registered undergraduate student at a UK university and will be awarded to the dissertations that exhibit the best overall contributions to the wide range of issues relating to rural geography. Winners awarded Highly Commended and Commended will receive a cash prize.  

The dissertations should be of first-class standard and be submitted by the student's Department (Head or nominated representative) and with the student's knowledge, in electronic format only. Please include a contact email address for the student (post-graduation if necessary). Please note that we can only accept one entry from any department and nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prizes. Please ensure that the topic of the dissertation clearly focuses upon or aligns with rural geography.

Electronic submissions to: [email protected] (Dr Fidel Buddy, University of Aberystwyth). For more information on the work of the RGRG please visit their website  

Social and Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG)

The SCGRG offers an annual prize of £100 for the best undergraduate dissertation in social and cultural geography. We also announce a runner-up prize. Both prize-winners receive a year’s personal subscription to the journal Social & Cultural Geography published by Taylor & Francis.

Nominated dissertations should be: an outstanding theoretical and/or empirical piece of work; usually approx.10,000 words in length; submitted for formal assessment in the preceding academic year to a UK Higher Education Institution for a BA/BSc level degree programme in geography; written in English. We are looking to reward both excellent scholarship and innovation in the study of social and cultural geography (please see the SCGRG mission statement for our definition of what is considered social and cultural geography). Please note that a department may not submit more than one entry to the prize. Nominated dissertations may however be submitted for consideration for other RGS-IBG prizes. Nominations are requested from the Head of Department or Dissertation Convenor. 

All dissertations should be submitted as a single PDF file with a post-September email and contact address for the student. Submissions should be emailed with 'SCGRG Dissertation prize submission' as the subject header. For any further queries, please contact the SCGRG dissertation convenor, Sinéad O'Connor (details below).

Submissions to: Dr Sinéad O'Connor, SCGRG Dissertation Prize Coordinator ( [email protected] ).

Find out more  

Space, Sexualities and Queer Research Group (SSQRG)

The  Space, Sexualities and Queer Research Group (SSQRG)  is pleased to offer a prize of £50 to the best undergraduate dissertation on a theme related to sexualities and/or queer research in human geography.

The dissertation should be an excellent piece of original work (normally marked as first class or the equivalent) submitted in the most recent academic year to fulfil the requirements of an undergraduate degree programme at a UK geography department. The dissertation should be circa 10,000 words in length, although this will vary depending on departmental criteria for undergraduate dissertations. Entries must be written in English.

The nomination pack should contain three files:

(1) A letter of recommendation as PDF file (<10 MB) from the Head of Department or nominated designee. This letter should include the nominating department’s email contact and nominee’s University email contact  and  post-graduation email contact for dissertation prize correspondence. Naming convention: First & last name of nominee_LoR_SSQRG_UDP.pdf

(2) The dissertation as PDF file (<10 MB) with text unaltered from how it was originally submitted for assessment. Naming convention: First & last name of nominee_Dissertation title_SSQRG_UDP.pdf

(3) Dissertation guidance/handbook as PDF file (<10MB). Naming convention: First & last name of nominee_Guidance_SSQRG_UDP.pdf

The nomination pack should be submitted to SSQRG Chair Dr Martin Zebracki via this  OneDrive file request link  and *not* be emailed. Each file needs to be uploaded separately and each upload should be confirmed by providing the first and last name of the nominee.

Conditions: 

A department may not submit more than one entry to the SSQRG Undergraduate Dissertation Prize competition 

The same entry should not have been submitted to another Research Group Undergraduate Dissertation Prize competition 

Submissions with a time stamp later than the deadline will not be considered 

In light of the industrial action of the University and College Union, the SSQRG has decided to suspend the UG Dissertation Prize until the Academic Year 2023–2024. Dissertations of the Academic Year 2022–2023 will be eligible for the Prize in the next round. Thank you for your understanding.

Transport Geography Research Group (TGRG)

Entries are invited for this annual competition, which is awarded to the best undergraduate dissertation that focuses on any aspect of the geography of mobility and transport, undertaken at a UK university, and which demonstrates conceptual and/or methodological sophistication. The successful prize winner will receive Edward Elgar books of their choice to the value of £150 kindly sponsored by Edward Elgar and will be invited to submit an article based upon their dissertation for publication in the Journal of Transport Geography (subject to the standard refereeing procedures of that journal).

The prize is open to any undergraduate student in a UK Department of Geography, Social Sciences, Planning, Transport Studies, Earth Sciences or Environmental Sciences, as long as the work undertaken has a geographical element, and is submitting their dissertation in the current academic year.

The dissertation must substantially focus on a transport topic (e.g. transport policy, economic impact of transport, transport and land use, travel behaviour, social inclusion, the journey experience, identity and mobility). The submitting department may contact Dr Juliet Jain for advice about whether the topic is within scope. Only dissertations awarded a first class mark will be considered and departments can submit no more than two dissertations for this prize. Nominated dissertations should not be submitted for consideration for any other RGS-IBG prize. Dissertations will be evaluated by two members of the TGRG Committee.

Nominated dissertations should be sent electronically in PDF format (of less than 25MB in size), along with a letter of recommendation and a copy of the appropriate departmental dissertation regulations, by the student’s department (Head or nominated representative) and with the student’s knowledge. We also require personal contact details for the student so that the successful student can be contacted, which will be after they have graduated. For file sizes above 25 MB please transfer electronically but not using e-mail.

Submissions to: [email protected]  (Tara Tanoz-Sargeant, TGRG Dissertation Prize Coordinator)

Urban Geography Research Group (UGRG) 

The Urban Geography Research Group is pleased to announce its annual prize for the best undergraduate dissertation based on original research in any area of urban geography.

The prize is open to undergraduate students studying at a UK university who submitted their dissertations in the 2022-2023 academic year. Dissertations should be of an outstanding (e.g. first class undergraduate) standard and could cover conceptual, empirical or methodological aspects of urban research. Work should not exceed 12,000 words.

The winner will receive £100. Two further candidates judged to be highly commended will receive £50 each. All three award recipients will have their dissertations featured on the UGRG website.

Please note: the entries should be nominated to the Urban Geography Research Group by the author’s head of department or supervisor.

Please send the following via email with the subject “UGRG Dissertation Submission” to Dr. Daniel Gutierrez at [email protected] no later than 31 December 2023.

• Email address for the student, which will be valid after the end of the academic year (in the case of institutional addresses which expire)

Deadline: 31 December 2023

Postgraduate Dissertation Prizes

The british society for geomorphology (bsg) – dick chorley medal and prize for postgraduate research .

One of Dick Chorley’s lasting contributions to geomorphology lies in the postgraduate students whom he inspired and guided at the start of their academic careers. Many have gone on to academic careers themselves, and include several of the leading figures in British geomorphology.

In recognition of Dick’s commitment to serving the future of the discipline, the BSG has honoured his memory by creating the Dick Chorley Medal and Prize (£500) for Postgraduate Research. The award is made for 'the most significant original published contribution to geomorphology by a current or recently graduated post-graduate student'.

Anyone is allowed to nominate candidates (e.g. supervisors, external examiners, Heads of School, supervisory team members). One paper, published in an English language research journal, will be considered. Nominated candidates must be within three years of obtaining their PhD (i.e. graduation) and should usually be the first author of the paper under consideration. The nomination should include the paper and outline the significance of the work, including reference to: 1) originality of the contribution to the study of geomorphology; 2) significance of the contribution to the development of geomorphological theory and principles; 3) clarity of explanation and presentation. Nominations will be carried over for a maximum of one year at the discretion of the BSG Research Sub-committee. 

Further details and nominations for the award should be made online from the BSG website .

Deadline: Nominations can be made at any time and are drawn together at the end of January each year for consideration. 

The CGWG is offering a £50 prize for postgraduate research. The prize-winner will also be offered one-day registration for the Annual International Conference of the RGS-IBG and invited to feature their writing on the Carceral Geography website.

The prize will be awarded for the best research ‘paper’, which could be derived from a Masters thesis, PhD chapter, or a conference paper script. No more than 5,000 words should be submitted. Where students submit a script for a conference paper, a copy of any accompanying slides should also be submitted. Papers should include a full set of references and images (as relevant).

The prize is open to both current and former postgraduate students at both Masters and PhD level. In order to be eligible for the prize, former postgraduate students must have submitted a Masters or doctoral dissertation no earlier than 12 months before the prize deadline. Where any applicant wishes to submit a conference script for consideration, the conference paper should have been delivered no earlier than 12 months before the prize deadline.

Applications from outside the UK are welcomed but the paper should be written in (or translated professionally to) English. Students need not necessarily be aligned to a geography(-related) discipline but their work should engage with issues of carcerality and/or themes emergent in carceral geographies.

Papers should be submitted by the student in pdf format with an appropriate research supervisor copied into the email.

Deadline: 1 November 2023

Economic Geography Research Group (EGRG) 

A prize of Global Shift , The Sage Handbook of Economic Geography , and a further £150 worth of Sage books is offered each year to the best PhD thesis in economic geography. Any economic geography thesis that has been passed at a UK institution in the past 12 months is eligible.

A PDF copy of the thesis should be forwarded to Dr Alexandra Dales.

Submissions to: Dr Alexandra Dales ( [email protected] )

Deadline: 29 January 2023

The Energy Geographies Research Group (EnGRG) hosts an annual competition for outstanding papers written by postgraduate students.

​Submissions may take multiple forms (e.g. conceptual papers, original empirical research, methods pieces, research/policy briefings, a portfolio of impact evidence), and we welcome submissions in any field of energy geographies.

Three £50 prizes will be awarded across the following areas of excellence:

1) Research Design & Methods

2) Conceptual Contribution

3) Impact, Co-creation and Engagement.

Eligibility requirements:

All currently enrolled postgraduate students at any institution across the world are eligible to submit a paper (applicants do not need to be members of the RGS-IBG)

Submissions must be in English and 5,000 words or less (references, tables and figures are not included in the word count)

For the Research Design & Methods and Conceptual Contribution awards submissions should comprise one piece of writing of up to 5,000 words

For the Impact, Co-creation and Engagement award submissions can comprise one or more outputs which form a portfolio of impact, co-creation and engagement. If you are submitting a portfolio, please include a short statement of how the portfolio ties together and demonstrates excellence in the category but the total submission should be 5,000 words or less

Examples of eligible submissions include, but are not limited to, journal articles in development or already published, chapters, policy papers, conference submissions, blogs/social media outputs and public outreach documents. Other outputs that may form part of an impact portfolio include, but are not limited to, co-produced reports, creative pieces, and statements of impact from collaborative partners. If your overall piece is longer than the word limit, please select sections (up to 5,000 words total) that you would like to have considered

Multi-authored papers will be accepted, but if writing with senior colleagues the student must have led a significant proportion of the writing. If the PGR is not the lead author please make clear in the justification statement which sections the student led. Co-authored submissions from multiple students are admissible but, if awarded, the winners would need to share the cash prize equally

Applicants can only be considered for one award category per year

​ Submission process

Please submit your paper via email to the EnGRG Awards Officers, Helena Hastie ( [email protected] ) and Jess Britton ( [email protected] ). In your email please include:

A copy of the documents(s) you are submitting, ideally as a Word (.doc) document.

A completed application form - available here:  https://www.energygeographies.org/pgr-paper-competition 

If your submission is over 5,000 words the application form should clearly state which sections, up to 5,000 words, you would like the judges to consider.

Deadline for submission: 5.00pm on Friday 26 May 2023

Geographical Information Science Research Group (GIScRG) 

The Geographical Information Science Research Group of the RGS-IBG awards two annual prizes for the two best postgraduate dissertations on any issue relating to GIS/Sc, spatial analysis, spatial modelling or geocomputation. The prize for the best dissertation is £100 plus an annual RGS-IBG Associate Fellowship and the runner up will receive £50 plus an annual RGS-IBG Associate Fellowship.

We are looking for a Masters level dissertation of approximately 10,000 words in length, which covers significant research in one or more of these areas. Dissertations should be of 'Distinction' standard and be submitted by the student's institution (Director of Postgraduate Programme or nominated representative) and with the student’s knowledge.

Please submit the work in electronic form, along with a copy of the dissertation regulations to Dr Seraphim Alvanides. We will only accept one entry per department of higher education institutions in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Dr Seraphim Alvanides, Northumbria University). 

Deadline: 30 November 2023

The Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group offers 2 awards. The second award is an annual prize of £100 for the best taught Masters dissertation in leisure/tourism/sports geography, submitted as part of a MSc degree. The dissertation may be multidisciplinary but needs to be informed through the geographical concepts of place and space. We also identify two Highly Commended dissertations, with the students receiving a certificate to reflect this achievement. Entries should be accompanied by a copy of the instructions given to students, and a note of the dissertation credit rating and mark awarded. Please also include a (post-studies) contact email address for the student, so that they can be notified of the result of the competition and if any hard copies of the dissertation need to be returned. A department should not normally submit more than one entry each for UG and for PG. 

Deadline: 15 December 2023

Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG) 

The Population Geography Research Group is offering the Bob Woods Postgraduate Dissertation Prize for the best taught Masters dissertation. The winner of the award will receive £100.

The prize is named in honour of Professor Bob Woods, who passed away in 2011. Bob was an esteemed population geographer, with interests across the sub-discipline, which he made an invaluable contribution to for many decades.

Please note that for practical purposes we can only accept one dissertation from any institution and to be eligible that institution has to be in the UK.

Please send a copy of the dissertation (with the mark awarded included) to Dr Suzanne Beech, details below. 

Submissions to:  [email protected]  (Dr Suzanne Beech) 

Rural Geography Research Group (RGRG) 

The RGRG is offering a £50 prize for the best taught Masters dissertation. The prize is available to students who have completed a taught Masters degree and produced a dissertation in a subject area related to rural geography.

Please note that for practical purposes, dissertations should be submitted with the student's knowledge and a (post-studies) contact address for the student included in the nomination. Electronic submissions only please.

Submissions to: [email protected] (Dr Fiona Williams, University of Chester). For more information on the work of the RGRG please visit their website 

Deadline: 31 October 2023

Transport Geography Research Group (TGRG) 

Emerald Group Publishing are sponsoring this year’s Postgraduate Paper Prize which will be awarded to the best presentation in a TGRG-sponsored session at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference. There is a first prize of £100 and a book chosen from the Emerald transport titles, and a runner-up prize of a book chosen from the Emerald transport titles.

The competition is open to postgraduate students who presents at TGRG-sponsored session at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference. Those wishing to be considered for the postgraduate prize should indicate their intention to enter by emailing postgraduate reps Zhengyue Wan and Suzanne Mass by Wednesday 23 August.

They should then ensure that an abstract of the presented research (up to 500 words), along with a copy of any powerpoint slides to be used in the presentation, is submitted to the TGRG Secretary, John Austin, and to Zhengyue or Suzanne by 5.00pm on Thursday 31 August. The papers and presentations will be judged by a panel drawn from TGRG committee members.

Submissions to:

[email protected] (John Austin, TGRG Secretary)

[email protected] (Zhengyue Wan, TGRG Postgraduate Rep)

[email protected] (Suzanne Mass, Postgraduate Rep)

Deadline: 5.00pm on Thursday 31 August 2023

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