Dissertation Award

Our annual Dissertation Award is open for 2024-2025

The UK Data Service Dissertation Award recognises students who use data from the UK Data Service in their undergraduate dissertations. Each winning entry will receive a £300 award and publicity via our website, blog and newsletter.

Eligibility

Entries to the award are open to undergraduate students at UK universities writing dissertations:

  • on social science topics
  • using data available via the UK Data Service data catalogue (either for all or part of the analysis)
  • and submitted in the 2024-2025 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 complete the Dissertation Award entry form (Word).

Using their institutional email address, email the completed form and a copy of your dissertation to ukdstraining@manchester.ac.uk.

The deadline for submissions is 12:00 (midday) on Wednesday 18 June 2025. Submissions received after this date will not be accepted.

The judging process

A shortlisting panel will shortlist the completed entry forms. 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 winners at the end of July.

Previous awards

Read more about the Dissertation Award winners from previous years.

Dissertation Award winners 2024
Dissertation Award winners 2023
Dissertation Award winners 2022
Dissertation Award winners 2021
Dissertation Award winners 2020

Dissertation resources

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