BA Ilpo Hirvonen from the University of Helsinki has been granted the Global Winner award for the best Bachelor’s thesis in philosophy in the international Undergraduate Awards competition.
Also known as the “Junior Nobel Prize", the Undergraduate Awards granted Hirvonen the first prize in his category for his thesis entitled On the Interrelation between Phenomenology and Externalism.
The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s biggest academic competition and recognises excellent and innovative Bachelor’s level work in 25 different categories, including several fields in the humanities, economics, education, mathematics, social sciences as well as visual arts and design.
BA Maija Absetz received an honorary mention and was deemed a Highly Commended Entrant in history for her thesis Statistics as a Rhetorical Mode: The Meaning and Use of Statistics in the English 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act.
According to Louise Hodgson, Executive Director for the Undergraduate Awards, the competition entries were of an extremely high level:
“The jury was surprised at the extremely high quality of the submitted theses. We offer our warmest congratulations to all winners and Highly Commended Entrants. This is an enormous achievement for the University of Helsinki and its students.”
A record-breaking 5,514 submissions were considered in the competition, with participants from 121 different countries. Extensive essays, theses or projects which have received the highest grade can be submitted to the competition. A panel of experts assesses the submissions anonymously. The best submissions will be granted the Global Winner award, and all submissions in the top ten percent will be deemed Highly Commended Entrants.
Further information: Global Winners 2016, The Undergraduate Awards