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Award

BERA Masters Dissertation Award

Every year BERA recognises academic excellence and rigour in research by a Master of Education student. This underscores BERA’s commitment to developing capacity, advancing quality and methodological originality within the field of educational research. 

Eligibility Criteria

  • The applicant should be a fully paid up members of BERA at the time of nominations.
  • The institution at which the student submitted their dissertation should have confirmed the degree awarded by 31st December 2022; i.e this award is awarded to education students who have completed their masters in the previous year (2022).

Prizes

  • £500
  • Complimentary registration at BERA Conference 2023.
  • Your research presented as a BERA Blog

Application Details

Application for the award should consist of a submitted nomination via the ‘apply now’ button (above left)

Supporting documents that must be uploaded are:

    1. A 1000 word extended abstract
    2. The dissertation
    3. A supporting statement from your supervisor, second supervisor, examiner or other expert in the field outlining why they believe this dissertation meets the judging criteria below (600 words)
    4. a link to your dissertation hosted on a website duch as google drive, dropbox, apple documents etc.

Please note:

When submitting a document through the upload function on the application page, pleasure ensure the following:

  • The file name of the document is in this format: APPLICANT LAST NAME, APPLICANT FIRST NAME, DOCUMENT TYPE.
  • documents not recieved in this format will be ineligible for consideration.

Judging

Nominations will be scored by a BERA selection panel. The panel’s judgement will be framed by the following criteria:

  • Research quality (including rigour, transparency and validity)
  • Novelty of research area
  • Methodological originality
  • Significant conceptual or theoretical contribution
  • Potential impact of research (for practitioners, policy-makers and other research users such as children and young people)

2022 Co-winners

Ellie Campbell for her dissertation “An investigation into Teacher Leadership: A case study of secondary school teachers’ professional experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in England”

Hanan Fadallah, for her dissertation “History Education and Language of Instruction in Divided Societies: The Case of Lebanon”

Profile picture of Ellie Campbell
Ellie Campbell, Ms

Head of Product Development at UK Coaching Solutions Ltd

Ellie Campbell is the co-winner of the 2022 BERA Master’s Dissertation Award for her dissertation “An investigation into Teacher Leadership: A case study of secondary school teachers’ professional experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in...

Profile picture of Hanan Fadlallah
Hanan Fadlallah, Miss

English Teacher at Al-Khoei Foundation

Hanan Fadlallah is the co-winner of the 2022 BERA Master’s Dissertation Award for her dissertation "History Education and Language of Instruction in Divided Societies: The Case of Lebanon" You can read her abstract here: A major concern in...

2021 Winner

Dissertation: Reimagining the Post-Coronial University through Podcasting: Hopes and Fears for the Future of Higher Education after Covid-19

Profile picture of Simone Eringfeld
Simone Eringfeld, Ms

University of Cambridge

Simone Eringfeld is the winner of the 2021 BERA Master’s Dissertation Award for her dissertation “Reimagining the Post-Coronial University through Podcasting: Hopes and Fears for the Future of Higher Education after Covid-19” You can read...

2020 Winner

Dissertation: Exploring Governance and Governmentality in Myanmar’s Education Reforms 

Profile picture of Thu Thu
Thu Thu, Miss

Doctoral Student at University College London

Thu Thu was awarded the 2020 BERA Masters Dissertation Award for her dissertation Exploring Governance and Governmentality in Myanmar’s Education Reforms. The abstract for her dissertation is below: This thesis is a study of the work of...

2019 Winner

Profile picture of Joyce Kim
Joyce Kim, Ms

Postgraduate Student at University of Cambridge

Joyce Kim was awarded the 2019 BERA Masters Dissertation Award for her thesis Contested Cosmopolitanisms: A Comparative Case Study of Student Experiences and Identities Within Internationalizing South Korean Universities. The abstract for her...

2018 Winner

Profile picture of Helen Manley
Helen Manley, Miss

Teacher at Oxford Brookes University

Helen Manley won the the 2018 BERA Masters Dissertation Award for her dissertation: School-based counselling interventions for the reduction of anxiety in primary school children: a systematic review The abstract for her dissertation is...

2017 Winner

Profile picture of Jonathan S James
Jonathan S James, Mr

PhD Candidate at U C L Insitute of Education

Jonathan S James was awarded 2017 BERA Masters Dissertation Award for his dissertation: Civil disorder, domestic terrorism, and education policy The abstract for his dissertation is below: “This dissertation seeks to identify the ways in which...

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