Category: Competitions and prizes

BGRS Poster Competition 2024

Thursday 16 May 2024

Birkbeck Graduate Research School (BGRS) invites you to enter a Postgraduate Research Student Poster Competition, which will be held on campus alongside the 3 Minute Thesis Competition on Thursday 16 May from 6pm.

This Poster Competition is open to all doctoral researchers at Birkbeck and provides an excellent opportunity for you to present your research, practice your communication skills, to network with other doctoral researchers and to celebrate your work.

Prizes

  • The winner of the first prize will receive £150 and a certificate
  • Two runners up will be awarded certificates and £75 each

Poster requirements

  • You should create a research poster that explains complex research to a mixed audience of non-subject specialists.
  • Your poster should be formatted for printing as A0 in size and in portrait orientation.

What is involved?

  • Your poster will be displayed on a poster board, with an in-person judging session during a reception after the 3 Minute Thesis Competition.
  • You will be invited to attend your poster during the judging session and so that attendees can speak with you about your research.

How to enter

Training available

For all those taking part in the competition we have organised a workshop to help you produce your poster.

Thursday 18 April, 11am-12.30pm

Regardless of whether you are planning to enter the 3 Minute Thesis Competition or enter this BGRS Poster Competition please do mark 6pm Thursday 16 May in your diaries for these exciting events.

Three Minute Thesis Training sessions 2024

Birkbeck 3MT: Thursday 16 May 2024

Join a selection of Birkbeck PhD students as they compete to communicate their compelling thesis topics in just three minutes. This event is a fantastic opportunity to share and celebrate the interests and successes of PhD researchers from across the College and we invite all current Birkbeck PhD students to take part. The winner of the Birkbeck competition will be chosen by an expert panel of judges who will award:

  • £500 to the overall winner
  • £250 to the runner up
  • The audience will also have their say by picking a People’s Choice winner who’ll win a special prize.

Training Sessions

As part of our support for the competition, a free programme of training sessions has been arranged. All potential 3MT competitors should attend these sessions. However, any or all of them are open to any doctoral researcher at Birkbeck who would like to gain skills in these areas:

2023 Competition

Please see this blog from last year in which competitors share how they chose to use their research to enter the competition. You can also watch a selection of Birkbeck 3MT videos here.

What is it like to take part in 3MT?

Some previous contenders have kindly shared what they gained from taking part.

Marie Houghton said that it ‘helped me to clarify exactly what I think the main message of my PhD is’ and that she ‘would definitely recommend taking part in the 3MT to any other PhD students.’

Hannah Reeves also said that the competition allowed her to ‘think about what matters most about my research – what do I care about, what do the community I’m working with care about, and what will this audience care about.’ She also described herself as nervous about the experience of being on stage but ‘the training helped to develop a mutually supportive atmosphere.’

Doyin Olorunfemi described how ‘the exercise of delivering a concise speech gives you clarity of mind as a researcher and clarifies your contribution.’ She would ‘highly recommend the competition.’

2024 Birkbeck 3-minute Thesis competition: Join the audience on Thursday 16 May

  • The BGRS is pleased to announce the 2024 Birkbeck 3 Minute Thesis Competition, which will take place on Thursday 16 May from 6pm. Please mark this date in your diaries!
  • £500 to the overall winner
  • £250 to the runner-up

Find out more about entering the competition

If you would like to participate in this year’s competition please see this post for more information.

This is the headline BGRS event of the year

This is an event for all doctoral researchers and also for anyone interested in studying for a PhD. The event will be followed by a drinks reception.

During the reception prizes will be awarded to the 3 Minute Thesis Competition winners.

Register to join the audience

You can be part of the audience for this year’s Three Minute Thesis Competition.

Registration is now open for this event

As part of the audience you will have a vote to decide who is the People’s Choice. You can also join the Birkbeck postgraduate community in celebrating the diversity of research interests undertaken here, and raise a glass to that with a drinks reception after the winners have been announced.

Three minute thesis videos 2023


On Thursday 25 May, Birkbeck doctoral students took part in the 2023 Three Minute Thesis Competition. Conor Kelly was the overall winner and received a £500 prize.
Thesis title: Northern Ireland’s Political Parties Shifting Stances on European Integration 
Thesis title: Percy Grainger and Trans Identity in Edwardian England
Thesis title: The role of vFLIP in Kaposi Sarcoma-associated Herpes Virus (KSHV) Oncogenesis
Thesis title: Admitting Demons: Brexit and Psychoanalysis
Thesis title: Law and Evolutionary Agency in Outer Space
Thesis Title: An Era of Violence: Confronting Colonialism in the U.S. Violence Against Women Act (1994-Present) 
Thesis title: Choice of Court Agreement in Private International Law of Insurance Contracts: An analysis of harmonisation efforts in the field of jurisdictional party autonomy in insurance

BGRS Poster Competition 2023

Thursday 25 May 2023

Birkbeck Graduate Research School (BGRS) invites you to enter a Postgraduate Research Student Poster Competition, which will be held on campus alongside the 3 Minute Thesis Competition on Thursday 25 May from 6pm.

This Poster Competition is open to all doctoral researchers at Birkbeck and provides an excellent opportunity for you to present your research, practice your communication skills, to network with other doctoral researchers and to celebrate your work.

Prizes

  • The winner of the first prize will receive £150 and a certificate
  • Two runners up will be awarded certificates and £75 each

Poster requirements

  • You should create a research poster that explains complex research to a mixed audience of non-subject specialists.
  • Your poster should be formatted for printing as A0 in size and in portrait orientation.

What is involved?

  • Your poster will be displayed on a poster board, with an in-person judging session during a reception after the 3 Minute Thesis Competition.
  • You will be invited to attend your poster during the judging session and so that attendees can speak with you about your research.

How to enter

Training available

For all those taking part in the competition we are organising a workshop to help you produce your poster.

Regardless of whether you are planning to enter the 3 Minute Thesis Competition or enter this BGRS Poster Competition please do mark 6pm Thursday 25 May in your diaries for these exciting events.

Three Minute Thesis Training sessions

The BGRS is pleased to announce the 2023 Birkbeck 3 Minute Thesis Competition, which will take place on Thursday 25 May from 6pm. Please mark this date in your diaries!

Birkbeck 3MT: Thursday 25 May 2023

Join a selection of Birkbeck PhD students as they compete to communicate their compelling thesis topics in just three minutes. This event is a fantastic opportunity to share and celebrate the interests and successes of PhD researchers from across the College and we invite all current Birkbeck PhD students to take part. The winner of the Birkbeck competition will be chosen by an expert panel of judges who will award:

  • £500 to the overall winner
  • £250 to the runner up
  • The audience will also have their say by picking a people’s choice winner who’ll win a special prize.

Training Sessions

As part of our support for the competition, a free programme of training sessions has been arranged. All potential 3MT competitors should attend these sessions. However, any or all of them are open to any doctoral researcher at Birkbeck who would like to gain skills in these areas:

What is it like to take part in 3MT?

Some of last year’s contenders have kindly shared what they gained from partaking.

Marie Houghton said that it ‘helped me to clarify exactly what I think the main message of my PhD is’ and that she ‘would definitely recommend taking part in the 3MT to any other PhD students.’

Hannah Reeves also said that the competition allowed her to ‘think about what matters most about my research – what do I care about, what do the community I’m working with care about, and what will this audience care about.’ She also described herself as nervous about the experience of being on stage but ‘the training helped to develop a mutually supportive atmosphere.’

Doyin Olorunfemi described how ‘the exercise of delivering a concise speech gives you clarity of mind as a researcher and clarifies your contribution.’ She would ‘highly recommend the competition.’

British Federation of Women Graduates Awards for doctoral students 2023

Applications for British Federation of Women Graduates Academic
Awards are now being sought. The Awards are made to women doctoral students who will be in, or going into, their third year (or part time equivalent) of work for a doctorate in the autumn of 2023.


Awards are, in effect, one off prizes varying in value from £1,000 to £6,000 and are given for outstanding academic excellence coupled with the ability to communicate to an educated but non-specialist audience.
50% of the award will be paid in the autumn of 2023, near the start of the academic year, with 50% on receipt of a progress report in spring 2024.
For further details please go to:
www.bfwg.org.uk

and look up under ‘Awards/Scholarships’ where more information,
including criteria for eligibility, can be found.
Closing date for applications is:
5pm on Friday 3rd March 2023

BRITISH FEDERATION OF WOMEN GRADUATES
RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS DAY
Saturday 13th May 2023
10.30am – 4.00pm


Venue: Institute of Archaeology, UCL, Gordon Square, London WC1 0PY
The Research Presentations Day is when BFWG invites doctoral students to present their research to a general, i.e. not subject specialist, audience.


• Are you a woman doctoral student?
• Do you have research you would like to present to a discerning audience
– and have the chance of winning a small prize of £120 for the best presentation?
• Or would you like to join with us, just to meet and listen to other postgraduate women students presenting their research?


Our Research Presentations Day (RPD) offers these opportunities. Past attendees, both presenters and audience, have found the Day thoroughly enjoyable and helpful in developing presentation skills.
The day will also involve an introduction to the 2022 BFWG Scholarship Fund Academic Award winners.
If you think you would like to submit an abstract please look at BFWG webpages
www.bfwg.org.uk or contact rpd@bfwg.org.uk for further details. Closing date for applications is: March 31st 2023.
All -students, academics, anyone else interested (male or female) – are welcome to attend as audience. Lunch is included and there is a door charge of £10 but no charge for bona fide students whether attending as presenters or as audience.

2022 Gwynne-Vaughan Medal

Deadline for entries extended to midday 14 October

The Birkbeck Graduate Research School (BGRS) aims to highlight the activities and successes of our research student community. We are pleased to announce the 2022 Gwynne-Vaughan Medal which is awarded to Birkbeck Doctoral students able to demonstrate the most notable contribution to their field while undertaking their research degree. The winners will be awarded a £250 prize, a formal certificate and a distinctive medal.

Eligibility

There are two categories for entry:

Current doctoral students

  • This category is open to all current part time and full time doctoral students enrolled at Birkbeck in academic year 2021/22
  • Any achievements you include must have taken place while you were registered as a Birkbeck Doctoral student up to 31 July 2022

Doctoral awardees

  • This category is open to any student who was enrolled in academic year 2019/20, 2020/21 and who has already been awarded their doctorate.
  • Any achievements you include must have taken place before your doctorate was awarded.

How to enter

Applicants must complete the following Gwynne-Vaughan Prize form which includes a statement from the student and a supporting statement from the supervisor.

Gwynne-Vaughan-prize-entry-form-and-guidanceDownload

Your completed form should be sent by email to graduateresearchschool@bbk.ac.uk

Deadline for entries

Friday 14 October, midday

Consideration of entries

All entries will be considered by the Research Student Sub-Committee (RSSC). The winners will be announced at the end of the Autumn term at a BGRS event that will be open to all research students at Birkbeck.

Two opportunities from The Gardens Trust

ENTRIES ARE INVITED FOR THE
17th ANNUAL MAVIS BATEY ESSAY PRIZE
Closing date for submissions 2nd Oct 2022

Our annual essay competition is intended to encourage vibrant, scholarly writing and new research, especially by those who have not yet had their work published. It is open to any student, worldwide, registered in a bona-fide university or institute of higher education, or who has recently graduated from such an institution. Submissions must be 5,000 to 6,000 words and the only
restriction on subject matter is that it must be of relevance to some aspect of garden history which could include explorations of little known gardens, or an aspect of botany, ecology, horticulture, archaeology, social history, architecture, design, art history or sculpture.


The prize includes an award of £500, free membership of The Gardens Trust for a year and consideration for publication in our peer-reviewed, scholarly journal Garden History. All previous winners have been accepted for publication, and often the best of the non-winning entries are invited to submit to the journal as well.


Submissions or any further enquiries should be sent to essayprize@thegardenstrust.org by 6pm
Sunday 2nd October 2022
For further details and entry forms see :http://thegardenstrust.org/research/prize/

12th New Research Symposium
Saturday 26th November 2022 – Call for papers

The New Research Symposium is an important feature of the Gardens Trust’s programme. It is open to all researchers and scholars, regardless of whether or not they are attached to an academic institution. Launched in 2011, the eleven previous symposia have hosted papers from fifty researchers. Many of these are members of County Gardens Trusts and a third are scholars from
overseas, all of whom we warmly welcome.

Researchers in all fields of activity are encouraged to submit a 200-word proposal for a paper whose subject is as yet unpublished. Any topic relating to Garden History will be considered, for example: explorations of little known gardens, or aspects of botany, ecology, horticulture, archaeology, social history, architecture, design, art history and sculpture.
The paper will be no longer than 20 minutes (approximately 2,000 to 2,500 words) and illustrated with a PowerPoint (or similar) slide presentation. The symposium will be held on-line via zoom.
We’d be happy to answer any questions and even happier to receive proposals via
newresearchsymposium@thegardenstrust.org
closing date 6 pm, Sunday, 2nd October 2022