Sidney prize has been established to reward the students who have exhibited a high standard of academic achievement in their major. It is awarded to the best overall student in a major, who has completed the first year of their bachelor degree at the University of Sydney.
The prize is administered by the Department of Philosophy in consultation with the department coordinator and is awarded annually on a recommendation from the department chair or their nominated delegate. The prize is a cash award and the winning student may choose to use it for any purpose.
For this reason, the prize has an important and special value in the Department of Philosophy. It is a unique opportunity for students to make an impact on their field and to have their work published in a top journal.
It is also a way to encourage and celebrate the best in student writing. The prize is open to all undergraduate students and can be awarded for an outstanding piece of written work in a specific area of philosophy.
The award was founded in 2012 by Alan W. Mills with the object of encouraging philosophical discussion of the concept of time. It is open to any undergraduate or postgraduate student who has conducted original research that relates to the idea of time. The prize is to be awarded on the basis of a ‘quality-given-opportunity’ basis and will be subject to review by the Chair of Philosophy and the Department’s Undergraduate and Postgraduate Coordinators.
During his years as Dean of Yale College, Professor Sidney Nagel was responsible for ensuring that every student at the college had access to the highest standards of academic and cultural experiences, both in the classroom and through extracurricular activities. He was especially concerned about ensuring that science majors came to college with a strong appreciation of the humanities and social sciences, and that nonscience majors absorbed enough of the natural sciences to be well-equipped for life at the college.
He was especially proud of his students’ achievements in the arts and music, and he was always ready to give his students support and guidance. In addition to this, he was always willing to speak at public events about his work and the college.
In his career at the college, he has helped students to become better writers and researchers by providing them with a supportive environment, encouraging them to pursue their own interests and to write in a range of styles, and offering them encouragement and assistance as they pursue independent careers. Many of his junior faculty members owe him a great debt of gratitude for this assistance.
A number of awards, prizes and fellowships are available at the College in recognition of the excellent achievements of our Fellows and students. Among these are the Sidney Cox Prize for Irish-Australian History, the European Studies Konrad Adenauer Prize, the Society for Physics Prize, and the Jane Dempsey Douglass Prize in the history of Christianity.