Breeze and Dobson Award 2023

The Hadrian’s Wall Partnership Board invites nominations and self-nominations for the 2023 Breeze & Dobson Award. The Breeze & Dobson Award was established in 2018, with the aim of acknowledging the excellent research conducted in reference to Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman frontier and to encourage its publication and dissemination to a wider audience. From 2023, the Award will alternate yearly between recognizing work completed by undergraduate and postgraduate students, and work completed by other individuals and groups.

The competition for 2023 is open to projects and research completed between 1^st Jan 2022 and 30^th June 2023; eligibility criteria and the nomination process are detailed below.

The winning individual/group will receive:

• Invitation to present the project at Hadrian’s Wall Archaeological Forum, the main annual conference for presenting new research on the Wall.
• Guidance and mentorship, if desired, from the Archaeological Research Delivery Group for preparing a manuscript for submission to a suitable publication, e.g. Archaeologia Aeliana or Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society.
• Digital certificate of the award.
• Recognition of the research on the Partnership Board’s Hadrian’s Wall Country website.

Eligible Projects:

The project must:

• Be focused upon Hadrian’s Wall, including the Wall as it fits within the Roman Northern Frontier (broadly defined as the region between the Humber estuary and the Firth of Forth).
• Consist of original research.
• Have been completed between 1 Jan 2022 and 30 June 2023.

Examples of original research might include (but are not limited to!) archaeological fieldwork, reinterpretations of older data/scholarship, projects relating to cultural resource management, new research focused on archival data, etc. Projects from all disciplines are welcome, e.g. Archaeology, History, Landscape Studies, Palaeoecology, Placename Studies, etc. However, the research/project must pertain to the Wall and/or frontier zone.

Who can apply:

For 2023, nominations, including self-nominations, are welcome for research completed by any non-student individuals or groups, including:

• Individuals or groups working in institutional contexts, e.g. commercial archaeology units, public heritage organizations, government bodies, universities, etc
• Independent researchers working outside of institutional contexts, for example individuals researching history and archaeology, or local history societies and community archaeology groups.
• Any non-student individuals or groups not included above, who are engaged in research on the Wall

Work conducted by members of the Hadrian’s Wall Archaeological Research Delivery Group is not eligible for consideration. ARDG members also may not submit nominations, but are permitted to encourage self-nominations.

How to apply:

The following materials (as either Word documents or PDFs) should be sent to [email protected] by 30 June 2023:

• Nomination form, which you can download at the end of this page.
  • Nominators should declare their professional relationship, if any, to the nominees.
  • Self-nominations by individuals or groups are welcome and enthusiastically encouraged.
• Summary (max. 500 words) of the project/research, including project title; project aims; project methods; project results; implications of the project/research.
• Written output of the research, if any (e.g. unpublished society report, grey literature report, publication, etc). If the research has not been written up, (self)-nominators may submit an extended summary of up to 1000 words.

Who Judges and How:

The Archaeological Research Delivery Group will act as the judging panel for all submissions. Only projects that meet the eligibility requirements will be reviewed by the panel. The winning project will be distinguished by the originality of the project/research and the strength of its contribution to the study of Hadrian’s Wall and the Roman frontier zone.

A decision will be made by 31 Aug 2023 and the winner notified of the result by early September.

The 2024 award will be for research conducted by an undergraduate or postgraduate student.