Challenger Society for Marine Science Student Award
The Marine Science Student Award has replaced the former Tripartite Award and was first awarded in 2019. The purpose of the Award is to raise the status of Marine Science education in the UK, as well as to encourage research among undergraduates in any marine science discipline. The Society offers an annual award for undergraduate students who have demonstrated excellence in Marine Science research through final year undergraduate dissertations or projects. University departments in the UK are invited to submit suitable dissertations from final year undergraduate students, with deadlines set usually for the end of July.
Students can only be entered by the Convenor of the final year dissertation module from universities located within the UK. Only one submission will be accepted from each department and it should be of outstanding quality. Prizes are awarded after consideration by a panel drawn from the Challenger Society's Council.
Judging Criteria
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
i) Overall excellence in the project.
ii) Originality or uniqueness of the project.
iii) Relevance to marine science.
iv) Standard of presentation.
The winning student will receive a cheque for £500. In exceptional circumstances, the Award may be shared. All winning students will receive one year's complimentary membership of the Society.
The deadline for submissions for this year is 31st July 2024. The submission should be in the form of an email submission of a nominating letter from the Convenor accompanied by a digital copy of the student's dissertation report.
Documents should be submitted to kathen@bas.ac.uk using "Challenger Society Student Award" in the email subject line.
Latest News
Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset
The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and OceanWise are delighted to invite you to attend our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 19th – 23rd of May 2025.
Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33
12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May
REGISTER HERE
Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)
The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.
The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.
Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.
To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.
The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.
Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy
The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.
The role involves:
- Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
- Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
- Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
- Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
- Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
- Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS
The usual term for Council members is three years.
For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council
For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards
If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk