Prizes and Honors

prizes@berkeley.edu

Please note: The Prizes Office will be closed from May 22 through September 3, 2013. We will reopen on September 4, 2013.

The Prizes Program at UC Berkeley is an important forum for rewarding creative expression and scholarly achievement by Cal's finest students. Winners receive both recognition and a cash prize, which is coordinated with the winner's financial aid package, if any. Prize competitions are open to students of any major. Successful, even prominent, artists and poets in our society found that winning an award at Berkeley was a pivotal experience in their artistic careers. Prizes are administered under the direction of the Academic Senate Committee on Prizes. Copies of the essays and poetry submissions chosen to receive prizes are archived at the Bancroft Library at the end of each year.

Honors at UC Berkeley are conferred upon qualified students for academic achievement or outstanding service. The Kraft Award for Freshmen, the University Medal, and Departmental Citations carry this distinction.

For the 2013-14 academic year, the general deadline for all contests (except the Eisner Film/Video, Eisner Photo-Imaging, Greek/Latin Translation contests, and the Lipson Essay Prize) is Monday, December 2, 2013 at 4 p.m. Please check the web pages below for specific details about each prize.

Category

Estimated Amount Requirements
Film / Video    
Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prizes in Film and Video $2,000 minimum Create a film or video
Folklore    

Jeanne P. Steager Memorial Prize in Folklore

$100 - $50 Demonstrate originality, excellence and importance to the field of folklore
Greek / Latin Translation    
George Morey Richardson Latin Translation Prize $1,500 - $500 Translate a classical English passage into Ciceronian Latin
Thomas G. Rosenmeyer Greek Translation Prize $500 Translate an English passage into classical Greek style
Integrity    
Prize in Personal Integrity $5,000 - $1,000 Write an essay
Jewish Studies    
Anne and Benjamin Goor Prize in Jewish Studies $1,000 Write an essay
Music    
Nicola De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition $1,000 Create a musical composition
Leslie Lipson Program   The Leslie Lipson Program at UC Berkeley is intended to encourage undergraduate students to study humanistic values and their practical application for individuals, societies, and states. The program consists of the Lipson Essay Prize, the Lipson Scholarship, and the Lipson Research Grant.
Lipson Essay Prize $2,000 Write an essay
Lipson Scholarship $10,000 maximum for two years Must have won the Lipson Essay Prize
Lipson Research Grant up to $3,500 Must be a Lipson Scholar
Philosophy    
Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller Essay Prize in Philosophy $200 Write an essay
Photo-Imaging    
Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prizes in Photo-Imaging $2,000 minimum Submit a photograph
Poetry  
Academy of American Poets Prize $100 Write a poem
Emily Chamberlain Cook Prizes in Poetry $500 - $300 Write a poem
Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize $250- $100 Write a poem
Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prizes in Literary Composition

$600 - $250

Write a story or play
Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prizes in Poetry and Prose

$2.000

Create a collection of poetry
Samuel C. Irving Prize for American Wit and Humor $750 Write an anecdote, story, poem, drawing, or play illustrative of American wit and humor
Dorothy Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Lyric Poetry $2,000 - $1,000 Create a lyric poem
Joan Lee Yang Memorial Poetry Prizes $500 - $250 Write a poem
Political Science    
Philo Sherman Bennett Prize in Political Science $1,000 Write an essay
Florence Mason Palmer Memorial Prize $1,500- $1,000 Write an essay

Owen D. Young Prize in International Relations

$1,200 maximum

Write an essay

Prose    
Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prizes in Literary Composition $600 - $250 Write a story or play
Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prizes in Poetry and Prose $2,000 Create a prose submission consisting of a substantial volume of work
Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize $1,000 - $750 Write an essay
Samuel C. Irving Prize for American Wit and Humor $750 Write an anecdote, story, poem, drawing, or play illustrative of American wit and humor
Julia Keith Shrout Short Story Prize $400 in prizes Write a short story