How to Win a Postgrad Award

The Postgrad Awards are back for their third year and after what has been an especially tough time for many, we can’t wait to celebrate the hard work and contributions of postgraduate academic communities around the world.

This year there are six awards to be won:

• Masters Student of the Year – someone displaying exceptional competence in their studies, active within the postgrad community and is a positive influence on their peers.
• Masters Teacher of the Year – someone who creates a positive and encouraging learning environment, with a passion for their subject and putting students first.
• PhD Student of the Year –an excellent and inquisitive researcher, integral to their research group, who has made a big impact on their peers and research community.
• PhD Supervisor of the Year – someone who inspires students, and goes out of their way to give the best PhD experience.
• Best PG Marketing & Recruitment Campaign – for faculties, Grad Schools, institutions, or departments that have created a great recruitment campaign encouraging postgrad study.
• Best PG Wellbeing Initiative – for faculties, Grad Schools, institutions, or departments that have provided notable support to their postgrad students’ wellbeing.

Why should you enter the Postgrad Awards?

The Postgrad Awards recognise excellence in postgraduate higher education. They are judged by highly experienced faces in the higher education sector. Not only will the winners' hard work be recognised by receiving a trophy, but we’ll also share their success across our website and social media channels where they’ll be seen globally. On top of that, student winners will also receive £500 in cash for their accomplishments!

“A fantastic way to give people visibility and recognition.” – 2020 Award Winner

Who can get a Postgrad Award?

You can’t self-nominate, so why not nominate a fellow student, supervisor, or member of university support staff instead! For them to be in with a chance of winning, you’ll have to complete the application form and tell us all about them! They could’ve gone above and beyond to help your university, colleagues or students. Maybe they set up extra-curricular activities for fellow students, developed an exciting initiative during the Covid pandemic, or are excelling in their studies. Whatever it is that makes them special, we’d love to hear about it.

How to convince the judges

Award winners will be outstanding individuals with well-rounded experiences in postgrad education. We want to know about their academic achievements but also their contribution to postgraduate life. The 2020 Masters Student of the Year, for example, dedicated his free time towards helping others at his university, taking on several roles in addition to his studies including Peer Representative, Student Ambassador and running a Mental Health Support Network. Above all else, we want to see evidence. You can tell us how great your nominee is . . . but we want to see it! You could show us any awards or feedback they’ve received, a presentation they gave or the impact of the work they’ve done and what effect it has had on you and your peers.

The X-Factor

If you really want your nominee to win a Postgrad Award, we’d like to know what makes them stand out head and shoulders above the rest. What challenges have they overcome? What unique situation have they been part of? Remember, the judges value any supplementary information you can provide as it strengthens your nomination! This could include testimonials, grade transcripts, photos of events and initiatives and more!

Get prepping those nominations!

The Postgrad Awards are a great way to give back to those outstanding tutors, support staff, or fellow students that have inspired you. 2020’s PhD Student of The Year, Rose Waugh, was nominated by fellow students as an inspiration for their own research and a great advocate for women in physics. Rose told us “if you know someone who you think deserves some recognition, then I’d really encourage you to nominate them – I can guarantee that nomination would mean a lot to them.”

All you have to do is take on board the advice above and tell us why your nominee stands out, giving us as much evidence of their accomplishments as you can!

The Postgrad Awards are opening this month so get thinking about your nomination now and make sure you’re signed up to our Newsletter so you’re the first to know when you can enter.