Department of the Year Prize

The BPA invites applications for its prize for Philosophy Department of the Year to recognise and celebrate the outstanding collective achievements of a philosophy department in a UK university. ‘Philosophy Department’ is understood broadly to include departments of philosophy, academic units of philosophy within a larger department or school ,such as “subject areas”, or university schools with no named philosophy sub-unit but whose achievements (as specified in the application) clearly relate to philosophical research, teaching, etc.

In no more than 1,000 words, applications should describe:

• the department and the features that qualify it for the prize, citing evidence from the last five years;
• the major achievements of the department, in the last five years.

Achievements may be in areas including excellence in teaching, research, impact, and outreach; maintaining or achieving exceptional standards; mentoring and training; establishing and maintaining outstanding departmental academic culture; tenacity and resilience in the face of adversity; contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion. Applications can, but need not, refer to external indicators of performance, such as NSS, QAA, REF, and other scoring systems. They may include testimonies to, and narrative accounts of, the department’s achievements, trajectory, and circumstances. Applications are welcomed from departments (or equivalent units) of any size and age or from a nominator (with the consent of the department).