The Global Undergraduate Awards (often referred to as the Junior Nobel Prize) is an academic awards program recognising outstanding undergraduate coursework and research. Established to highlight the world's most innovative student projects and foster interdisciplinary collaboration, it is widely recognized as the world's largest academic awards program of its kind, evaluating thousands of submissions from hundreds of universities internationally. Prizes are awarded across 25 diverse academic disciplines by a non-profit organisation operating under the patronage of the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. The program culminates each year at the three-day Global Undergraduate Summit in Dublin, Ireland. During this event, top-performing students are invited to present their research, participate in academic workshops, and network with peers, while the highest-performing entrants in each category are named Global Winners and receive the Thomas Clarkson Gold Medal.
History The Global Undergraduate Awards (UA) was founded in 2008 in Dublin as The Undergraduate Awards. The programme was originally open to students from Ireland's universities.
In 2012, UA expanded to accept submissions from every Third Level Institution on the Island of Ireland as well as the top twenty universities in Britain, USA and Canada.
In 2016, the UA Programme was split into seven regions: Africa & Middle East, Asia, Europe, Island of Ireland, Latin America, Oceania, US & Canada.
Process Entrants submit their work to one of 25 categories, which represent a wide range of academic disciplines: Architecture & Design, Art History & Theory, Business, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Classical Studies & Archaeology, Computer Sciences, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Economics, Education, Engineering, History, Linguistics, Law, Life Sciences, Literature, Mathematics & Physics, Medical Sciences, Music, Film & Theatre, Nursing, Midwifery & Allied Healthcare, Philosophy, Politics & International Relations, Psychology, Anthropology & Cultural Studies, Sociology & Social Policy and Visual Arts.
The submissions are evaluated anonymously by a group of international academics. The top 10% of entries from each region in each category are named Highly Commended. The highest performing Highly Commended entrant from each region is named a Regional Winner of their category, while the best Highly Commended Entrant is named the Global Winner.
Global Winners Entrants whose submission is selected as the best in their category are named Global Winners. These winners are invited to present their work in Dublin at the Global Undergraduate Awards Summit. Each winner is awarded with a gold medal.
Category Global Winner 2025 Global Winner 2024 Global Winner 2023Global Winner 2022Global Winner 2021Global Winner 2020 Global Winner 2019 Global Winner 2018Global Winner 2017 Architecture & Design Ridwan Noor Sara Al Mahmoud & Maryam Al Qassim Sadrila AbbasiZareen Tasneem Sharif Riad Tabbara Aishwarya Sriram Prathyush Pradeep Karen El AsmarMartha Andrews Art History & Theory Bryen Isaac Chen Tze-Yang Amelia Ong Tsi Ying Jessie LimSahil Tiku Piper ProlagoZoe Voice Claudia Haines Jun Yan ChuaEden Gelgoot Business Cameron Schmidt Beverley Cheah Tulip Yu Lay OngKatie McGrath Jill HumbyShawn Liu Xi Ning Seet Brian HeffernanRobert Sarich Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences Clarissa Joanna Lim Christy Yu-Qing Xie Thuy Linh LeOliver Hervir Ali AbdelfadilJingfei Ren Kang Rui Garrick Lim Li Ling TanPhillip Karpati Classical Studies & Archaeology Jadyn Faith Zajac James Kenneth James KennethMaggie Tighe Emily KerrisonEdward Foster Juhi Patel Amelia HallsMelanie Hechenberger Computer Science Yong Jian Ng Bruno Rafael Florentino Pye Sone KyawGuruprerana Shabadi Chen SihaoKayo Yin Harry She Cristian BodnarDinh Luan Nguyen Earth & Environmental Sciences Maria Cooper Joshua Hurdiss Yong Xu LeongKenna White Yilin ZhangAlice Walker Amy Campbell Lyndsay WalshBridget Murphy Economics Cameron Schmidt Beverley Cheah Alexander Gilsaa HansenVictor Sosanya Beatriz SasseIshita Kumar Stefan Pricopie Shamus LeeDaniel Cueva Education Shaikha Yousef Mohammed Rahmah Alshamsi Alethea Yeo Yen Ning Hong Liang LeeMatthew Gover Roxanne LauPearlwe Chau Laura DeSousa Sylvia LeeFarhana Choudhury Engineering Balvinder Kaur Dhillon Balvinder Kaur Dhillon Thompho NetshivheraBailey Thompson, Bruce Gillespie, Adam Kidd & Parth Vachharajani Lim Si XianFebby Krisnadi Aayush Chadha Michaela Taylor-WilliamsAmber Tan History Waron Maneenetr Koh Horn Ray Olivia SkipseyCalvin Heng Hannah Kern-ChengKeith Ó Riain Lauren Goodall Matthew Barton Law Leana Shin Anne White O'Brien Katherine Kingsley-JonesJulia Best Amrita DeshmukhGenevieve Ding Andrew Ray Melany ToombsKathy Liu Life Sciences Raegan Cordelia Sim Sean Phang Kia Ann Chun-Pei WuAlex Qin Jenny GehlenMigara Jayasinghe Emma Darbinian Pascale WehrJamie Sugrue Linguistics Rachel Wee Hui Ying Judit Casas i Riu Emily UdleElaine Wai Man Mok Oisín NolanChau Yi Cheung Xin Qi Jessica Ramos-SanchezAlexandra Brito Literature Bryen Isaac Chen Tze-Yang Nurul Syahirah Nadirah Binte Noorrisham Liam WatermanDylan Chng Dylan ChngLiam Whelan Marta Meazza Patrick LillieNoah Fields Mass Communications Michael Chow Hongshu Wang Mathematics & Physics Nikolai Argatoff Mikko Seppälä Netta KarjalainenVincent Sietses Hongjia ChenXi Jie Yeo Wen Yu Kon Alexander ZagajewskiJeremy Lim Zhen Jie Medical Sciences Emilia Herdes Muriel Heitsch Julie CheungLeighton Schreyer Delia-Denisa DuncaHailey Dall-Proud Tara Diviney Tiffany NiClara Nwe Nwe Linn Oo Music, Film & Theatre Madison Torkoff Rosina Lui Bethany Schaufler-BibackAllison Kinahan Sher YaoAdam Weitzer Jay Millard Rosalind Moran Nursing, Midwifery & Allied Healthcare Tung Kin Chong Colin Richard Croft Tan Hui QingSeow Ting Low Hilary Y.M. PangEmily Dingley Susan Williams Emily MorrisonAmy Lewis Philosophy Rían Coady Rachael Louise Li Nathalie DiBerardinoFranciszek Bryk Young-il KimHarriet Yates Woojin Lim James MonaghanTadgh Healy Politics & International Relations Bavan Pushpalingam Kai Ingot Damai Siallagan Justin KhouwIdentity/Context Ng Yi MingJasper Friedrich Nonyeleze Irukwu Laura Trad Psychology Angel Yee Fong Au Diana Urian Meryl YuAlexis Wong Stephanie YuCatherine Li Win Ee Chun Natalya Jia Yu WickramisuriyaJordan Tilda Skrynka Social Sciences: Anthropology & Cultural Studies Bavan Pushpalingam Avery Huang Terina Kaire-GatauluAlexander Avila Beth HayesNathaniel Dylan Lim Yume Tamiya Istifaa AhmedAlex Longson Social Sciences: Sociology & Social Policy Claire Lee Si Hui Ng Si Jie, Elizabeth Christie SooLynda Li Arizona HaddonMaya Bian Madelaine Coelho Isobel HowlettSarah McKenna Visual Arts Brigette Teo & Nicky Josephine Tjandra Evie Rose Thornton Arian SaghafifarDana Leslie Afnan AlbladiBenjamin Crocker Ying Li Toh Yi Xian Issa SngVivienne Molloy
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