This award is for recent graduates who have completed their undergraduate degree in a field related to educational research.

Eligibility Criteria

• This award is open to individuals who completed an undergraduate degree in education or a related subject during the previous year (2025)

Prizes

• £250
• BERA Membership (If you are already a BERA member, you will be given a second year of membership)

Judging

Nominations will be scored by the BERA Early Career Researcher Network judging panel. The panel’s judgement will be framed by the following criteria:

Rationale

• This criterion relates to how coherently and explicitly the dissertation articulates its rationale and presents a justification for the research. High-quality entries should justify their rationale effectively by drawing upon existing literature.

Methodological rigour

• This criterion relates to how robustly the research within the dissertation has been conducted taking into account, for example, research design, data collection methods, data analysis and research ethics. High-quality entries should demonstrate a sound and critical understanding of the selected design(s) and method(s).

Conceptual or theoretical underpinning

• This criterion relates to how well the dissertation draws upon conceptual and/or theoretical frameworks to support the analysis and/or interpretation of the data generated. High-quality entries are expected to demonstrate a sound understanding and justify the selection of said conceptual and/or theoretical frameworks.

Presentation of findings

• This criterion relates to how clearly the findings of the research – and their significance – are presented, including how effectively these are related to existing literature. High-quality entries are able to showcase the interconnectedness between the reported findings and the research questions.

Potential implications for research and practice

• The criterion relates to how thoughtfully the utility of the findings is conveyed in respect to potential recommendations arising from the research and/or implications for research and practice moving forwards. High-quality entries will include implications that are specific and make explicit references to the reported findings.

To apply, please click apply now at the top of the page.

You will be asked to upload a 800 word extended abstract of your dissertation (not including references, which should be attached at the end)

Please ensure your dissertation file is named FIRST NAME.LAST NAME. UNDERGRADUATE

You will also be asked to upload a link to your dissertation hosted on an external website such as dropbox, google drive or onedrive.