I was confirmed as Judge at The Global Undergraduate Awards (UA) 2024 in the Politics and International Relations panel as representative of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage (DFCH) of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

This is the second year I serve in this position. In 2023 I debuted as one of the UA 488 judges representing 192 institutions from 40 countries.

The UA is the world’s largest global undergraduate academic awards programme. As a not-for-profit organisation based in Ireland, the UA celebrates undergraduate excellence by inviting the world’s best students to submit coursework. There are 25 award categories, and he UA seeks the assistance of experts such as myself to assess students’ work in each category.

Undergraduate students from all over the globe submit outstanding pieces of coursework for UA’s judging panelists to consider. Volunteer judges assess this coursework on the online judging platform, AwardForce. Judging takes place from mid-June to early September, with panelists assessing coursework in short, distinct stages. Judges are guided at each stage by category-specific criteria, along with the support from the category Chair Judge and the UA’s Judging Process Executive.

Judging for the UA allows academics to virtually meet colleagues from all over the globe, and exposes judges to the best undergraduate student coursework in their field. Judging is advantageous for those working in academia or intending to work in academia. The UA primarily accepts judges who are professors, lecturers, tutorial assistants, PhD candidates, and professional experts outside of academia.