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 2021 (that is, their degree was awarded between 1 January and 31 December 2021).

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.