The Rural Geography Research Group is pleased to offer prizes that recognise the best undergraduate and postgraduate taught research contributions to rural geography. A first prize of £75 is available for UG and PG submissions. Two runner-up cash prizes are also available in the UG category. Dissertations completed as part of Scottish 4-year MA undergraduate programmes are considered eligible for consideration for undergraduate prizes.
Dissertation nominations must be based upon original research, demonstrate conceptual and/or methodological sophistication, and align with or focus upon the wide range of issues relevant to rural geography. Dissertations should be of first-class standard and be submitted by the student’s department (Head or nominated representative). For practical purposes we can only accept one dissertation per department per academic year and the nominating institution has to be in the UK. Dissertations should be submitted with the student’s knowledge and a (post-studies) contact address for the student included in the nomination. Detailed information for each prize can be found here
Undergraduate dissertation nominations should be submitted to the RGS using the submission form. If you have any queries in relation to eligibility or require further information please contact Dr Emanuele Amo in the first instance. Email: ema21@aber.ac.uk
Deadline: 15th July each year for Undergraduate submissions and 31st October each year for taught Masters prizes.
Past prize winners:
2023/24
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Liam Alderton, The Open University. How ‘open’ are open prisons? An exploratory analysis of the spatial and temporal factors affecting accessibility and family relationships in Category D prisons.
COMMENDED
Georgia Newton, University of Durham. Mobilising or Paralysing? Exploring the relationship between local place-based climate activism and an individual’s participation in the global climate social movement, focusing on the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley in County Durham.
2022/23
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Tatum Richards, University of Liverpool. ‘I felt like the only vegan in the village’: Investigating the everyday experiences of vegans in rural west Wales.
COMMENDED
Emily Bolton, University of Southampton. Developing a framework to measure progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6.1, using Kenya as a case study.
2021/22
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Adam Simmers, University of Manchester. Deer, Duthchas and Decommodification: Community identity, land, and the potential for change in Uist, Outer Hebrides.
COMMENDED
Mia Oxer, University of Oxford ‘ The greatest threat to UK moorlands: the drivers and impacts of wildfire events across the Peak District National Park, since 1976’
2020/21
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Establishing firewise communities: a foresight into public response and participation in South Wales (Madeleine Goodson, Birmingham)
COMMENDED
Rewilding and farming: opportunity or threat? An exploration of views from the landowning community in East Anglia (Poppy Airy, St Andrews)
Public transport, austerity, and community responses: a case study of Northamptonshire (Anna Souter, Durham)
2019/20: Winning dissertation: Jack Swain, Newcastle University
Exploring the paradox of living sustainably and communally: ethnographies of two ecological intentional communities
2018-19 Winning dissertation: Barnaby Morrissey, University of Exeter
To what extent is the performance of community in rural spaces gendered?
2017-18: Winning dissertation: Simon Bettley, The University of Liverpool
Walking into life: a more-than-representational approach to group walking in Snowdonia