Dissertation Award

Our annual Dissertation Award is open for 2026–2027

The UK Data Service Dissertation Award recognises students who use data from the UK Data Service in their undergraduate dissertations. Awards will be given to the three best dissertations submitted during the 2026-2027 academic year.

Each winner will receive a £300 award and publicity via our website, blog and newsletter.

Eligibility

Entries are open to undergraduate students at UK universities whose dissertations:

  • focus on social science topics
  • use data accessed via the UK Data Service data catalogue (either for all or part of the analysis)
  • are submitted in the 2026-2027 academic year

Family members of staff working for the UK Data Service at any institution are not eligible to enter.

How to enter

To enter, students must complete the Dissertation Award entry form.

Students should use their institutional email address to email the completed form and a copy of their dissertation to ukdstraining@manchester.ac.uk.

The deadline for submissions is 12.00 (midday) on Thursday 1 July 2027. Submissions received after this date will not be accepted.

The judging process

A shortlisting panel will review the completed entry forms and select the dissertations to progress to the next stage. The full dissertations will then be reviewed by the judging panel, which will comprise data experts from the UK Data Service and senior academic staff from a range of disciplines and with mixed expertise.

Judges will be looking for the best dissertations on social science topics that include thorough secondary data analysis. We will contact and announce the winners in late July or early August.

Previous awards

Read more about the Dissertation Award winners from previous years.

Dissertation resources

See the students section in our Learning Hub for information and resources for dissertation students.