BFWG Academic Awards
Applications for the 2026 round of Academic Awards are now closed.
The 2027 awards process will be open in early January 2027.
Guidance for applicants
Applications close at 9am on Monday 2nd March 2026.
1. BFWG academic awards are awarded in competition on overall academic excellence. They are not intended to meet financial need. If you are looking primarily for financial support, please consider Funds for Women Graduates which is independent of the BFWG academic awards programme. You are entitled to apply both for BFWG academic awards and for FfWG grants but the application processes and websites are different (see www.ffwg.org.uk for the Funds for Women Graduates eligibility and application process).
2. The British Federation of Women Graduates Academic Awards are for women who are likely to be in their second year of doctoral research, or part time equivalent, at the time of application, and the payment of the Academic Awards are made in the autumn of the same year.
Academic Awards are given on the basis of evidence of academic excellence as shown on the application form, referee reports and, for those shortlisted, brief presentations of their research to a panel of academics.
The Awards range upwards from £1,000 with the average being around £3,000 and the maximum being £6,000. The number of Awards made each year depends on the funds available and the quality of the applications, but five to eight Awards are usually given.
The final selection is made in June/July of each year and Awards are given out in October/November, with a further payment in the following spring.
3. Eligibility for a BFWG award in 2026. Are you...
- Working towards a research or professional doctorate? Students studying for Master's degree are not eligible.
- Registered at a university in England, Wales or Scotland? (not Northern Ireland, as those in the province come under the all Ireland association: the Irish Federation of University Women - www.irfuw.org/.)
- Resident (at least temporarily) in England, Wales or Scotland? We appreciated that students may be off campus for extended periods of time on field trips, an the like, but are unable to accept applications from distance learners, permanently based overseas.
- A full time student with an expectation of submission between March 2027 and February 2028 or a part time student with an expectation of submission between March 2027 and February 2029? Please do not apply if you expect to submit your thesis before the end of February 2027.
- Confident of registration for academic year 2026/27? The payment of the awards is not made until we receive evidence that the fees for the year commencing October 2026 have been paid, or waived by the university.
- Applying for a BFWG Academic Award for the first time? You can only make an application for a BFWG academic award once.
4. How do I apply?
To make an application for a BFWG academic award, download and complete the Application form.
Make a payment via PayPal (see directions in Checklist).
Email Application Form back to awards@bfwg.org.uk giving the subject heading of your email ‘AWARD APPLICATION’.
To complete the process of application, refer to the Checklist in the Guidance document below.
5. We do acknowledge all applications received but this can take some days. Please do not write asking if we have received your application unless it is over two weeks after the closing date, and you have not had an acknowledgement. The same applies to the referee reports – we acknowledge all we receive but the process may take time.
6. Shortlisted candidates will be informed, by early July (ideally earlier). It is expected that candidates will give a short presentation in person, probably in London, in July 2026 (likely to be 8th July). In exceptional circumstances, alternative online arrangements can be arranged.
At the interview those candidates will be asked to speak for 8 minutes on their research, which will be followed by questions from the interviewing panel of academics. Throughout the application assessment, the criteria for making Academic Awards are a student’s overall academic excellence, quality of research and the ability to communicate this.
If you have queries, please get in touch with us on: awardsqueries@bfwg.org.uk
Guidance for Referees
Deadline for references is Monday 9th March 2026.
Data Protection Law requires that a student is entitled to see the reference, although this request is rarely made.
Thank you very much indeed for supporting your student’s application for a BFWG Academic Award, which are granted on the basis of overall academic excellence.
If your student is looking primarily for funds to meet a financial need, it may be more appropriate for them to apply to Funds for Women Graduates www.ffwg.org.uk. Students are welcome to apply for both a BFWG Academic Award and an FfWG Grant, but the processes run independently and the addresses to which applications/references etc should be sent are NOT the same.
BFWG Academic Awards reward outstanding academic excellence as shown by past achievements, progress of doctoral research, outreach activities, referees’ comments and, if shortlisted for interview, the ability to communicate their research to an academic, but not necessarily subject specialist, panel.
HISTORY
In 2025 we held an in-person interview day in July and 4 Awards totalling £20,000 were made. Individual awards were either £6,000 or £4,000. The number and value of awards varies from year to year but awards are never lower than £1,000.
It is now 113 years since BFWG first made an academic award - £120 to Caroline Spurgeon in 1912 to enable her to complete her work on Geoffrey Chaucer. Spurgeon went on to become one of the first female professors in the UK and we are honoured to have such a long record of supporting the higher education of women through academic awards.
THE REFERENCE.
We are hoping for your views on the student’s:
- academic progress,
- capacity for independent judgment and innovative research,
- the progress of the thesis, and
- your comments on overall personality and any other notable activity in the university and outreach, as you feel relevant.
Please could you indicate how long and in what capacity you have known the student.
Our awards are given to doctoral students who are or will be going into, their third year of doctoral studies (or equivalent in the case of part time students) in the autumn of 2026, with the expectation of submitting between March 2027 and February 2028 for full time students and between March 2027 and February 2029 for part time students.
Where possible, please can you assure us of the student’s likely registration with their university for the year from October 2026.
THE PROCESS.
Deadline for your reference is 9th March 2026.
(Closing date for student applications is 9am, 2nd March 2026)
Please send your reference, by email, to references@bfwg.org.uk.
- We appreciate references with your department/institution’s header, the name of the candidate clearly at the top of the reference and your own affiliation on the reference.
- If you are not responding from a university email address, please explain why, e.g., that you are employed in industry.
- Please put: REFERENCE and the student’s full name as the ‘subject’ of the email.
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP
If you have any further queries, please email us at awardsqueries@bfwg.org.uk.
Please make sure to pay the £25.00 application fee
(Please note this fee is non-refundable)
Downloadable Forms and Guidelines
2026 BWFG Academic Awards
Congratulations to the winners
Each year at the end of the BFWG Academic Awards process we produce a brief analysis report showing the wide variety of subjects, nationalities and universities applying for our Awards.
Click on the links to view the 2026 or 2025 Analysis reports.
Research Presentation Day 2026
The Research Presentation Day award for 2026 was won by Kira Lund who is studying at the University of Bath for her PhD in Astrophysics. Her talk entitled
'Twinkle, twinkle massive star, how I wonder where you are’
was entertaining and informative and her performance was complemented by an excellent slide show.
Am I eligible to apply for a BFWG Academic award?
Please answer the questions below to check your eligibility.