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The Undergraduate Awards
Deadline closed
What are The Global Undergraduate Awards?
The Undergraduate Awards acknowledge excellence in undergraduate academia across all disciplines through an international call for top scholarly submissions. Students submit high-quality coursework to compete against top undergraduate scholars from around the world.
Why should I submit my coursework?
This is a unique opportunity to have your work recognized by an international panel of expert judges working in some of the world’s top academic institutions. Global Gold Medal recipients of The Undergraduate Awards are invited to Dublin to receive their medal and attend a three-day Global Summit (including complimentary travel and summit ticket). Highly Commended (top 10%) are invited to attend the Global Summit.
Students selected to receive The Undergraduate Awards also have access to support, the UA alumni network and other opportunities to raise their profiles and further their career paths.
Who is eligible to apply?
- Students from the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 (includes second-entry undergraduate degree programs such as law, medicine, dentistry, business, social work, etc...)
- Western encourages submissions from both main campus and Affiliate University Colleges
- Part-time students who are studying an undergraduate degree may also take part in UA, on the basis that they have completed at least two-thirds of their program.
- There are 25 categories ranging from the sciences, to social science, to arts and humanities, to professional programs.
What can I submit?
- Any piece of individual undergraduate coursework that received an "A" grade or higher.
- Students may submit up to three entries in the same or different categories.
- Group projects are eligible for the categories of:
- Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Computer Science
- Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Engineering
- Life Sciences
- Mathematics & Physics
- Medical Sciences
Selection Criteria
Students are chosen for their innovative approach to their subject area – "creating world-class research to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges." The Undergraduate Awards gather a panel of academics in each field to anonymously assess the work. They select the top 10% in each category, and from that, the winner.
How To Submit
Step 1:
Register online at undergraduateawards.com. Interested students should do this step immediately to hold your space and ensure you will be able to submit final papers by the deadline.
Step 2:
Once your paper is polished, submit it independently to The Global Undergraduate Awards by June 16, 2023. Submit your coursework online, making sure your name and
It is FREE to register or enter your work. Students may enter up to three individual submissions.
View Previous Highly Commended Papers
The Undergraduate Awards highly commended papers from previous years are available through the Scholarship @ Western website.
More Information
The Undergraduate Awards website
Past Undergraduate Awards Results, Photos and Videos for Western
2022: Western student researchers selected for Global Undergraduate Awards
Seven honoured for work from diverse disciplines; 15 scholars receive prestigious highly commended rank
Tackling a wide range of research subjects, including cancer research, sports performance, efficient battery charging for high-speed transportation and epigenetics in neuromuscular disease, seven Western undergraduate student researchers were named among the best in the world in the 2022 Global Undergraduate Awards. Joining Western scholars who have been globally recognized for their outstanding research papers are:
- Bailey Thompson, BESc’22; Bruce Gillespie, BESc’22; Adam Kidd, BESc’22, and Parth Vachharajani, BESc’22, for their group project which was named the global winner in the engineering category;
- Leighton Schreyer, BSc’22, global winner in the medical sciences category;
- Rory Gilliland, BSc’22, regional winner in the medical sciences category and
- Riley Cousins, fourth-year science student, regional winner in the nursing, midwifery and allied care category.
2021
Western scholars' research earn top spots in global competition
Tackling subjects like sustainability, contagious viruses and oppression, Western undergraduate researchers were named among the best in the world in four categories of this year’s Global Undergraduate Awards.
Regional Winners Akshi Chadha, Kaitlyn Charnetski and Stephanos Horvers (in categories Literature, Life Sciences and Engineering, respectively) and Global Winner in history, Hannah Kern-Change, joined the ranks of Western scholars who have been globally recognized for their outstanding research papers.
2020
In 2020, Western had four Global Winners, four Regional Winners and 35 highly commended submissions. Hailey Dall-Proud (Medical Sciences), Ishita Kumar (Economics), Catherine Li (Psychology) and Shawn Liu (Business) were the Global Gold Medal recipients. Read more about their award-winning work
2019
In 2019, Western had two Global Winners, Cynthia Qi (Linguistics) and Madelaine Coelho (Sociology & Social Policy), and two Regional Winners. In total, 15 submissions were recognized as highly commended or top 10% in their fields. Read more about their award-winning work
2018
In 2018, The Undergraduate Awards (UA) recognized 23 Western students as Highly Commended Entrants - or the top 10 per cent in their fields. Tiffany Ni won the Global Gold Medal in Medical Sciences. In addition, four students had papers selected as regional winners - best papers in US & Canada: Katherine Braun (Earth & Environmental Science), John Chmiel (Life Science), Wyatt Merkley (Literature) and Domonic MacDonald (Politicis & International Relations)
Watch this video from The Undergraduate Awards Global Summit 2018, featuring some Western students.
2017
In 2017, The Undergraduate Awards (UA) recognized 43 papers by 38 Western students as Highly Commended Entrants - or the top 10 per cent in their fields. Amy Lewis won the Global Gold Medal in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Healthcare, and Bridget Murphy won the Global Gold Medal in Earth & Environmental Sciences. In addition, three students had papers selected as regional winners - best papers in US &
Watch this video from The Undergraduate Awards Global Summit 2017, featuring some Western students.
2016
In 2016, The Undergraduate Awards (UA) recognized 33 papers by 29 Western students as Highly Commended Entrants - or the top 10 per cent in their fields. This is the second highest number of highly-commended papers in the world, out of 244 institutions and more than 5,500 submissions worldwide. Mary Wang was selected as a gold medal recipient in the category of Language and Linguistics. In addition, five others received regional awards for the top papers in all of the United States and Canada: Mallory Jackman, Rebecca Meharchand, Naciza Masikini, Jethro Kwong, and Michelle Bunton.
Watch this video from The Undergraduate Awards Global Summit 2016, featuring some Western students.
2015
In 2015, 27 Western students were selected among the Highly Commended. Jane Hutchison and Michelle Harder were the only Canadian students to win top honours, receiving the winning medals in the categories of Education, and Literature (Pre 1710).
Watch this video from The Undergraduate Awards 2015, featuring Professor Joel
2014
In 2014, 11 Western students were invited to attend the Global Summit in Dublin as their papers were selected among the "highly commended." Milani Sivapragasam, a graduate of the Bachelor of Medical Sciences program, received the winning medal in the category of Medical Sciences.
Watch this video from The Undergraduate Awards 2014, featuring three Western students
