Before our graduation ceremony on 2 July we were delighted to host prize a number of School of SSESW undergraduates and their families in a short event to award the prizes and acknowledge the students’ exceptional academic achievement. The prizes were awarded across our Social Work degree and our social sciences degrees in Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy.

The Brian Rankin Medal and Prize, established in his memory in 1978 by his friends and colleagues, is awarded annually to the best performing student on the Bachelor of Social Work degree. This year’s event included the 2020 and 2021 winners who missed out on their prize due to the pandemic. The winners were: Brenda Brady (2020), Paulina Rachanska (2021) and Suzanne Hamilton (2022).

The Lockheed Employees' Prizes are financed from a benefaction to Queen’s University by the employees of the Lockheed Overseas Corporation, USA, who worked in Northern Ireland during the Second World War. They are awarded annually to the highest achieving students across our social sciences degrees and, this year, went to Melissa Beggs and Anna Prenter.

The McLaughlin Prize for Social Policy was founded in memory of Eithne McLaughlin, Professor of Social Policy at Queen’s from 1995-2007. The prize was established by her family and friends, and colleagues in the social policy community, to promote understanding of disability. The prize is awarded annually to the undergraduate student who has produced the best piece of work on disability. This year’s recipient was Katie Wadsworth.

The Athena SWAN prizes are awarded for the two best pieces of undergraduate work on gender. The Athena Swan Charter is a framework set up in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine (STEMM) employment. It is now used widely in various fields to advance gender equality more broadly through representation, progression and success for all. This year’s SWAN prize winners were Liam Warden and Melissa Beggs.