The Global Undergraduate Awards Summit 2023

The Global Undergraduate Awards aim to champion undergraduate research from around the world. Undergraduate students are able to submit their research across a range of 25 academic disciplines, and a winner from each category is selected by a panel of international academics and industry leaders.

Every year the winners and highly commended students are invited to attend a summit in Dublin, Ireland, with the chance to network with fellow winners and hear keynote speeches from academics, activists and business leaders.

This year’s event unfolded on Sunday 5 November as participants from various corners of the world arrived in Dublin. 

The summit was opened by Yemi Adenuga, Ireland’s first black female elected public representative. She delivered an inspiring keynote speech about how students have the opportunity to write their own stories and should always try to “take your disadvantage and turn it into an advantage”.

For the first two days of the summit, students had the chance to listen to keynote speakers and presentations by their fellow 2023 Global Winners. Each student had to prepare a three-minute outline of their research and present it to the rest of the delegates. The winners covered many topics, ranging from literature, maths, education, nursing and more. 

“The Undergraduate Awards are just a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate students to have their research recognised. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for undergraduates to share the work that they do; most research is really geared towards master’s and PhD programmes. So to have this opportunity to just get your research out is wonderful,” explained James Kenneth, from Western University, global winner of the classical studies and archaeology category.

In between these presentations students were able to network through challenges, games, Q&A sessions, breakout discussions and social events.

“The networking has been really incredible, getting to meet so many fantastically intelligent people from a whole range of disciplines. It’s something you don’t get at a lot of academic events or conferences in general, so it’s really been such a blessing to meet people from all walks of life, a variety of nationalities, different backgrounds and disciplines,” said Faith Caswell a student from the University of St Andrews, who was highly commended across several categories. 

In the evenings, the delegates explored Dublin, learning about the city’s history and visiting well-known locations such as the Church pub, The George and Temple Bar. 

On the second evening, the Highly Commended and Regional Winners were awarded certificates while on a group tour of the Teeling’s Whiskey Distillery.

The main event of the summit was the black-tie celebration where the winners were awarded their medals and certificates. 

Keynote speakers across the three-day summit included Professor Bipasha Baruah, Canada Research Chair in Global Women’s Issues at Western University.  Professor Baruah specialises in interdisciplinary research encompassing gender, economy, environment and development. She told the delegates to “accept work that scares you, or that you feel ‘unqualified’ for, particularly women”. 

Another speaker was Robyn Parr, university registrar at Toronto Metropolitan University. Parr spoke about decision-making without regret, stating that “there never seems to be a time when we aren’t busy figuring out the next steps in our journey. Incorporating self-reflection is how I guide my decision-making.”

The event was closed by comedian and actor PJ Gallagher, who injected some humour into the topic of mental health and discussed the importance of support and self-care in all industries.

Enter the Global Undergraduate Awards 2024 

Students are now able to register their interest for submission for the Global Undergraduate Awards 2024. 

If you’re an undergraduate student or you’ve recently graduated, you are eligible to enter. 

You can register from today and you will be contacted once the submission portal opens. You will then have until Friday 7 June 2024 to prepare and submit your essay. 

Your work will be made anonymous and sent to the judges. Successful candidates will be considered and then the chosen few will be organised into Highly Commended, Regional Winners and Global Winners.

If you are successful, the winners will be given the chance to attend the summit in Dublin next year.