Sustainabiliy Prize for Theses
Sustainability Award 2024
The University of Bayreuth's Governing Board and GreenCampus, in cooperation with the Universitätsverein Bayreuth are once again awarding a Sustainability Award for final thesis projects. A total of three prizes will be awarded: 400 € for first place, 300 € for second place, and 200 € for third place. The closing date for applications is April, 19th, 2024. The award is presented annually.
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Background
Global changes that lead to a sustainable way of life are the central challenge of our time. In order to be able to meet the most pressing questions of our society with sustainable solutions, research and teaching relating to sustainable development are crucial. Final thesis projects play a key role in identifying such solutions and analysing them from an ecological, economic, and sociocultural standpoint.
The Sustainability Award
The Sustainability Award honours an outstanding and forward-looking final thesis (bachelor's or master's thesis or an equivalent academic achievement such as written homework according to LPO I ("admissions thesis"), etc.), on a research topic that is oriented toward the United Nations' goals of sustainable development and which deals theoretically or practically with securing sustainable ecological development.
The call for applications is explicitly directed at students of all faculties. The Sustainability Award for graduate work creates incentives for scientific debate on sustainable development issues. It increases the visibility of good teaching and research at the University of Bayreuth and its relevance for society.
Application Criteria
Applications are open to students and alumni of the University of Bayreuth who completed their degree in the previous two academic years (18 April 2022 to 19 April 2024).
The decisive factor in selecting the award winners is how the thesis provides a theoretically or practically relevant and outstanding research contribution to sustainable development. Even if the focus lies on the students' own applications, all thesis supervisors are called upon to encourage their graduates to apply.
The application must include the following completed form* with a maximum of 3 pages:
- the underlying problem of the thesis
- the research question
- the approach of the thesis
- central findings
classification of the thesis to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The explanations of the individual aspects are to be written in a generally understandable way. In addition, a copy of the degree certificate, the thesis, and a letter of recommendation from the primary thesis advisor must be submitted.
The letter of recommendation should be a professional assessment of the work visible to the jury. A structured form* should be filled in on a maximum of one page, and an assessment of the thesis should be made with regard to the criteria:
- the scientific level of the thesis
- originality / relevance
relevance (practical and theoretical)
In addition, each criterion should be weighted with points on a scale of 1-10 (1: criterion not fulfilled, 10: criterion fully fulfilled), and a justification for the allocation of points should be given. Furthermore, the letter of recommendation should indicate the grade of the thesis.
All application documents (the completed form, the thesis, degree certificate, letter of recommendation) must be sent as a PDF file to the following e-mail address by 19.04.2024:
nachhaltigkeitspreis@uni-bayreuth.de
The applications will be evaluated by a jury consisting of members of the University Governing Board, the Student Parliament, the Universitätsverein, and GreenCampus.
*Further information on the required forms:
There are no templates for the forms. The letter of recommendation can be written on the chair's own letterhead. For example, a table referring to the individual criteria can be used to assess the criteria. See the example below:
| Criteria | Evaluation (1-10) |
|---|---|
| Scientific level of the thesis: ABC (justification for evaluation) | |
| Originality / relevance: ABC (justification for evaluation) | |
| Relevance (practical and theoretical): ABC (justification for evaluation) |
The form that the students have to prepare does not follow a predetermined structure. Reference should only be made to the individual criteria. This can be done, for example, by writing a paragraph for each criterion.
However, please pay attention to the maximum number of pages specified above for both forms.