Robins Prize

Once every two years PhilSoc holds a competition for the R. H. Robins student Prize for an article on a linguistic topic that falls within the area of the Society's interests. It is named after the former PhilSoc President Professor R. H. (“Bobby”) Robins.

The Prize is awarded in open competition to anyone who is both:

1. a registered student (within the last 12 months; they should submit a letter from their supervisor, or from a person of similar standing, attesting to their status and that the submission is their own work); and,
2. a Member or Student Associate Member of PhilSoc.

Submissions can be singly or jointly authored, and can (but need not) have been based on some part of a projected doctoral or masters dissertation, and, in the case of jointly-authored submissions, both authors should satisfy the above criteria. In the event of uncertainty about eligibility, potential candidates should contact the Honorary Secretary of the Philological Society directly here. The submission should not have been published before, nor should it have been submitted for publication elsewhere.

The submission should be 7–8,000 words in length and follow the guidance given here. The deadline is 30 November 2024, and submissions should be made via email to robinsprize@philsoc.org.uk.

The author(s) of the winning submission will receive a cash prize of £500 (shared equally between the authors of a jointly authored submission) together with a year’s free membership of the Society (to begin when the Student Associate membership expires); the author(s) of the runner-up essay will receive a cash prize of £250 (again, shared equally as appropriate).  Additionally, the prize-winning and runner-up submissions will be considered for publication in Transactions of the Philological Society, subject to the usual peer-review process. In making a submission, authors must undertake to give the Transactions first refusal to publish the article.

The prize will be awarded by PhilSoc Council on the recommendation of a prize committee formed from members of Council and selected peer-reviewers, with the President in the Chair. In awarding the prize the Council will take into consideration the originality of the submission and the theoretical and/or empirical contribution it makes to the discipline. Council reserves the right not to award the prize if there are no submissions of sufficient merit.

The winner and runner-up will be announced at the Society's Annual General Meeting in June 2025.

Past Winners: