The medal is awarded on a competitive basis each year to one or more postgraduate post-fieldwork students in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. Applicants are asked to submit an article-length piece of work strictly between the limits of 8,000 to 10,000 words (including bibliography) based on a chapter from their thesis. This should be an original piece of work relating to the analysis of fieldwork, archival or other research material gathered during the period of doctoral research conducted by the applicant while registered as a student in the department. It should aim to be of publishable quality.
The essay should be accompanied by a 1-2 page outline of the thesis. This outline should contextualise the essay in relation to the overall thesis and the theoretical body of work it addresses.
Students eligible to apply are those who are registered for a Ph.D. in the St Andrews Social Anthropology Department and who have yet to sit their viva voce doctoral examination. Students jointly supervised by other Schools or Departments are eligible to apply, as long as the work is anthropologically focused. After their viva examination they will be ineligible to apply.
Those students who wish to apply for the medal in any particular year, but whose viva voce examination will take place before the completion deadline, should email their application to the School’s Research Administration Office (pgpafs(at)st(hyphen)andrews(dot)ac(dot)uk)) prior to their viva. Such applications will be held over until the deadline, to be considered alongside any other applications submitted for the same round of the competition.
In any one year, students may submit only one piece of work each for consideration by the committee. Students will be allowed to enter in consecutive years, if they are unsuccessful in their first application. A successful candidate may not apply for the award again in the following year or subsequent years.
A student whose work has received external reviews – such as for publication in a scholarly journal – should submit to the Trust the version of their essay that does not include any changes made on the basis of comments and suggestions from external reviewers.
Failure to adhere to either this guidance or that covering Ph.D. viva voce examinations – see above – will disqualify the candidate and their essay will be withdrawn from the competition. Applicants need to declare that their essay has not been subject to external review in their application email to the Trust.
The deadline for submissions to the School’s Research Administration Office (pgpafs(at)st(hyphen)andrews(dot)ac(dot)uk)) will be 4pm Thursday, mid August (date to be announced by separate flyer).
The medal takes the form of a prize to the value of £1100, and is supported by the Ladislav Holy Memorial Trust, with an additional contribution from the Riches family.
The award of the medal will be decided by an external academic assessor. The External Assessor’s assessment is made in consultation with the Trustees. The Awards Committee will meet at a date around one month after the deadline, and a decision will be announced by mid-September.
Please address any enquiries to Prof. Roy Dilley (rmd(at)st(hyphen)andrews(dot)ac(dot)uk).
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