Dissertation prizes

The RGS-IBG GIScience Research Group offers a prize for the best dissertation in any area of geographic information science, which includes the application of existing techniques or the development of new ones in physical, human or environmental studies.

Entries are limited to postgraduate students completing GIScience-related MSc in higher education institutions in the UK and Ireland, and must be nominated by a member of staff within those institutions. Each institution is limited to a single entry.

Prizes are usually £100 plus Annual RGS-IBG Postgraduate Fellowship with £50 plus an Annual RGS-IBG Postgraduate Fellowship for the runner up.

The winners in previous editions are listed below. We would also like to thank our prize referees: Chris Brunsdon, Gary Higgs, Seraphim Alvanides, and Anita Graser.

2023 Winners

  • Adhib Hussain Syed (University of Leicester), “Modelling Urban Visual Walkability of Leicester with Street View Images Using Deep Learning and Unsupervised Learning Techniques” [see pdf | code | dashboard]
  • Michael Hathorn (University College London, CASA), “Evaluating and Enhancing the Performance and Utility of Deep Learning Models for Building Footprint Identification in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa” [see pdf]

2022 Winner

  • Clinton Nkolokosa (Sheffield Hallam University), “Monitoring and simulating landscape changes: How do long-term changes in land use and climate affect regional biophysical conditions in Malawi?”

2021 Winners

There are three winners for 2021:

  • 1st: Matthew Law (University of Liverpool), “Using Urban Morphology to Improve Housing Submarket Spatial Segmentation” [see pdf | bookdown]
  • =2nd: Alicja Kotarba (University College London, CASA) “Reclaiming space for people: a street network analysis for the reorganisation of London’s streets and the implementation of the superblock model”
  • =2nd: Isabelle Lanzrein (Durham University), “Using UAV collected hyperspectral imagery and LiDAR to identify and analyse spatial impacts of 2018/19 drought events on European beech (Fagus sylvatica) in the Rhön Biosphere, Germany, at the forest stand scale”

2020 Winners

There are three winners for 2020 (see announcement):

  • Hussein Mahfouz (University College London, CASA), “Prioritizing Road Segments for Investment in Segregated Cycling Infrastructure: A Methodological Framework” [github] [see pdf]
  • Leo McCarthy (University of Liverpool), “Spatio-temporal analysis and machine learning for traffic speed forecasting” [see pdf]
  • Harriet Renton (University of Leicester), “Using a Centrality Based Road Network and Other Explanatory Variables to Predict Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) for Major and Minor Roads in City of Leicester” [see pdf]

2019 Winners

There are two winner for 2019:

  • Kathryn Adams “A GIS decision-support analysis of exposure to air pollution during active travel in Leicester” MSc Geographical Information Science, Department of Geography, University of Leicester [see pdf]
  • Thomas J. Keel “Can we predict why people travel within a city? A study analysing the spatial and temporal characteristics of travel intention within Montréal, Canada”  MSc Spatial Data Science & Visualisation, CASA, UCL [see pdf]

2018 Winners

The winners in 2018 were as follows:

  • 1st prize Thomas Adam Statham “Forecasting Network faults with Bayesian Spatio-temporal Statistical Models” MSc in Geographic Data Science, University of Liverpool, Department of Geography and Planning. [see pdf]
  • 2nd prize Andrew Eirik Ainer Sharp “Evaluating the Exposure of Heliskiing Ski Guides to Avalanche Terrain Using a Fuzzy Logic Avalanche Susceptibility Model” MSc Geographic Information Systems, University of Leeds, School of Geography. [see pdf]

2017 Winners

In 2017 1st and 2nd prize went to:

  • 1st prize: Gabriele Filomena, MRes Spatial Data Science & Visualisation, CASA, UCL. “A Computational Approach to ‘The Image of the City’”. PDF: Gabriele Filomena 2017 CASA dissertation. This work has now been published in Cities journal here
  • 2nd prize: Joseph Lewis, MSc Geographical Information Science, University of Leicester. “The Suitability of Using Least Cost Path Analysis in the Prediction of Roman Roads in the Highland and Lowland Zones of Roman Britain” [see PDF]. The GIScRG would also like to congratulate Joseph for, independently, winning the  CASA prize for the best spatial analysis paper at GISRUK 2018

2016 Winners

In 2016 we had two joint winners. They were:

2015 Winners

In 2015 we had two joint winners. They were:

  • Duncan A. Kinnear , University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences (MSc Geographical Information Science). Automated detection and tracking of crevasses on a calving glacier from TerraSAR-X imagery. Available here.
  • Jennifer Rozier, Kingston University,chool of Geography, Geology and the Environment (MSc Geographical Information Systems & Science). Vegetation Response and Recovery in the 20 years following the 1980 eruption of El Chichón volcano: A Remote Sensing Approach. Available here.

2014 Winners

  • 1st prize: Alena Lindsay Moison from the University of Leeds (nominated by Paul Norman): “Species Distribution Modelling for Australian Fungi: Exploring the potential for GIS applications to assist with the accurate identification of species”
  • 2nd prize: Owain Rowlands from Kingston University (nominated by Nigel Walford): “Evaluating two GIS based methods for assessing viticultural potential in south-east England”

2013 Winners

  • =1st prize: Michael Allchin from the University of Southampton (nominated by Eloise Biggs): “Application of growing self-organising maps to the data-driven classification of hydrological catchments”
  • =1st prize: John Holliday from the University of Leeds (nominated by Paul Norman and Helen Durham): “GIS Analysis of Linguistic Data”
  • 2nd prize: Elodie Rod from Birkbeck, University of London (nominated by Shino Shiode): “Broad Street Cholera Outbreak: Population, Space-time evolution and Cluster detection”