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SPIRe Masters Awards

SPIRe Masters Award

We offer two prestigious awards for SPIRe Master's students, recognising outstanding achievement in dissertation work. These medals honour two remarkable individuals who made significant contributions to their fields: Professor Attracta Ingram and the late graduate researcher, Sinéad McGrath.

The Attracta Ingram Medal

The Attracta Ingram Medal celebrates excellence in political and social theory. Professor Attracta Ingram, Professor Emeritus of SPIRe, is renowned for her extensive publications on the philosophy of rights, social justice, pluralism, and cosmopolitanism, among other critical topics.

This medal will be awarded for the best dissertation by a student studying for a Masters in Politics on one of the School’s MA/MSc programmes. 

Should there be several students with the same best thesis grade, the award will be given to the student with the highest overall GPA amongst them. Should there be several students with the same best thesis grade and highest overall GPA, a committee including the school’s Graduate Director and the Programme Director for the Masters in Politics programme will convene and decide which of the relevant theses makes the best contribution to the literature on politics.

The Sinead McGrath Medal

Dr Sinead McGrath was a graduate research student in SPIRe from September 2015 to her untimely death in January 2022. She was an excellent researcher and inspiring teacher – working as a lecturer both in UCD and Maynooth. Her doctoral thesis brought a much-needed gender perspective to issues on displacement and transitional justice by exploring the roles of international migration organisations in providing remedies for internally displaced women in Colombia. 

This medal will be for the best dissertation by a student studying for a Masters in Peace and Conflict or a Masters in Gender, Politics and International Relations.

Those students with the highest thesis grade across both Masters programmes will be considered. Should there be several students with the same best thesis grade, the award will be given to the student with the highest overall GPA amongst them. Should there be several students with the same best thesis grade and highest overall GPA, a committee consisting of the programme directors for the Masters in Peace and Conflict and the Masters in Gender, Politics and International Relations as well as the Graduate Director will convene and decide which of the relevant theses makes the best contribution to the literature on conflict and gender.

UCD School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe)

School Office: G301, Newman Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.