This annual award is made by SERA to an early-career educational researcher for excellence and promise in their work.
In 2007, in recognition of Estelle Brisard’s significant and outstanding contribution to educational research in Scotland, SERA created an annual award in her memory. Further information about Estelle and her work can be found here. Submissions are now invited for the 2025 award.
The prize is awarded for the best research paper written by an early career researcher based in Scotland and is presented annually at the SERA conference. For the 2025 award, submissions should be made by Friday 29th August, 5pm.
The award consists of:
- A cash prize of £250 and certificate
- Free conference attendance at the next in-person SERA conference, including conference dinner for the winner and a partner
The winner will also be encouraged to submit their paper for consideration by the Scottish Educational Review (SER) and to work on their paper in order to present it at the next in-person SERA conference.
Eligibility
The competition is open to all of those who are at an early stage in their educational research careers. This is likely to include Masters and doctoral students (including those who have obtained their M-level/PhD within the last three years), educational practitioners working in schools or in adult and community settings, and lecturers/tutors who are early career researchers in further or higher education.
In addition to the research paper, submissions should include a statement of up to 100 words outlining the candidate’s research experience, current activity and aspirations.
The judging panel will consist of members of the SERA Executive Committee.
Details for submissions
- Submissions should be 3000 words maximum (not including references or appendices)
- The paper submitted should not already be published
- Papers must be single-author only
- Papers must have a strong educational focus
- Papers may be submitted that are based on collaborative research work but must be an individual written account.
Research papers will be judged against the following criteria:
- Significance/relevance of contribution to educational research and/or professional practice
- Being based on original work
- Methodological/theoretical rigour
- Methodological/theoretical originality
- Clarity of written presentation
The winner will be notified at the beginning of November.
If you wish to enter this competition, please submit your research paper (as a Word document, labelled ‘yournameBrisardEntry2025.doc’) and a brief statement (as a Word document, labelled ‘yournameStatementBrisard2025’) as attachments, together with full contact details, by e-mail to: charlaine.simpson@abdn.ac.uk
Closing date: Friday 29th August, 5pm