IGU-YECG provides awards for outstanding contributions by young scholars in the field of geography.
Past Awards
2024 Best Paper Award
During the 35th International Geographical Union Congress in Dublin, Ireland, the International Geographical Union Young and Early Career Geographers Taskforce (IGU-YECG) and Young Geographer Working Group of Asian Geographical Association (AGA-YGWG) organised paper sessions to present an opportunity for young scholars across the world and across cross-cutting disciplines to present their work in any relevant geography-related issues that can connect to and help enhance our understandings and conceptualisations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Session Organisers were Dr Komali Yenneti, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, Dr. Gaurav Sikka, Patliputra University, Patna, India, Dr Li He, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China.
On-the-spot presentations were done in front of the jury comprising of Prof Michael Meadows, President, of the International Geographical Union, Prof Elena Dell’agenese, Vice President, IGU and Prof. Punyatoya Patra, University of Delhi.
Vishavjeet Dhanda from Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi., Delhi, India and Olga Chumicheva from the University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom were selected jointly for the best paper award.
Vishvajeet Dhanda made a presentation on “Navigating Urban Informality: Sustainable Development Goals in the Context of Informal Occupation of Footpaths”
Olga Chumicheva made a presentation on “Circulating narratives of justice: what can we learn from cultural policies of Eurasian cities?”
2023 Best Paper Award
There was an Emerging Researcher Best Paper Award on 07 November 2023 hosted by the SSAG-Students and New Professional’s group and the International Geographical Union-Young and Early Career Geographers Taskforce, with ESRI South Africa also recently joining in the initiative. Students and young emerging geographers were encouraged to submit their projects and research in the form of a manuscript. After peer review, the best of the submitted manuscripts received a certificate and monetary award, with encouragement to submit to the South African Geographical Journal. Two people won:
First Prize-Dr Sarah Roffe, paper titled “Tailoring adaption strategies according to local-scale climate risks for selected smallholder farming regions, Limpopo Province, South Africa”, Agriculture Research Council.
Second Prize- Dr Tinashe Kanosvamhira, paper titled ‘Greener urban neighbourhoods are linked to better mental health but with age and income divide: the case of Gauteng Province, South Africa’, University of Western Cape.
Dr. Sine Memela( Member, Steering Committee, IGU-YECG) Coordinated the event.
2022 Best Paper Award
IGU Task Force for Young and Early Career Geographers (IGU-YECG) organized an oral session for IGU-YECG Late Dr. Manju Singh Memorial Young Scientist Best Paper Award 2022 on 25th November 2022 during the IGU Thematic Conference on Sustainability, Future Earth and Humanities: Opportunities and Challenges hosted by Central University of Haryana, Mahendragarh.
Papers were invited on the theme and sub-themes of the conference. After the initial scrutiny by the Member of IGU-YECG Steering Committee and Local Organising Committee, ten oral presentations were made in this competition. The jury for the award competition comprised of:
- Professor Dr Barbaros Gönençgil, Secretary-General, IGU
- Professor Nathalie Lemarchand, First Vice-President, IGU
- Prof. Brij Maharaj, Senior Professor and Chair, IGU National Committee of South Africa
- Prof. Haseena Hashia (Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi)
The awardee was selected on the site by the jury and the award recipient was announced during the valedictory session of the conference. The award included a certificate of merit and monetary award of Rs 5100/-.
The best paper prize was awarded to Mr Masoom Reza, Research Scholar at Department of Geography, DSB Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India for his paper presentation entitled “Glacier’s Response Over Gradual Increase of Supra-Debris in Valley Glacier, Central Himalaya”
Dr. Gaurav Sikka (Secretary and Treasurer, IGU-YECG) coordinated the event.
2021 Best Paper Award
Young and Early Career Geographers Paper Sessions and IGUYECG-IAYG Best Paper Award Competition was jointly sponsored and organized by IGU-YECG and International Association of Young Geographers (IAYG). Virtual presentations were made by all the participants and jury evaluated all the papers.
Ms. Patricia Sayuri Silvestre Matsumoto from Adolfo Lutz Institute – Central, São Paulo – São Paulo, Brazil was selected by the jury for the IGUYECG-IAYG Best Paper Award. She received a cash award of USD 200 and a certificate of merit. Her recorded presentation is available here.
2020 Best Paper Award
IGU Task Force for Young and Early Career Geographers (IGU-YECG) organized a paper session for IGU-YECG Late Dr. Manju Singh Memorial Young Scientist Best Paper Award on 8th March 2020. Seven oral presentations were made in this competition. The jury for the award competition comprised of: Prof. J.K. Routray (Professor Emeritus, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok), Prof. Anuradha Banerjee (CSRD, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) and Prof. L.N. Satpati (University of Calcutta). Awardees were selected on the site by jury and award recipient were announced during the valedictory session of the conference. The award included a certificate of merit and monetary award of Rs 5100/-.
The award was bagged by Soumen Ghosh, Department of Geography, University of Burdwan, West Bengal for his paper entitled “Future Implication on Estuarine Environment in Gosaba Island, Sunarban, India”.
Komali Yenneti (Chair, IGU-YECG) and Gaurav Sikka (Secretary and Treasurer, IGU-YECG) coordinated the event.
2019 Best Paper Award
– October –
A paper session for IGU-YECG Late Dr. Manju Singh Memorial Young Scientist Best Paper Award took place on 20th October 2019. Gaurav Sikka (Secretary and Treasurer, IGUYECG) coordinated the session. Papers were invited from young scholars on the theme and sub themes of this conference. The award is instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Manju Singh, daughter of Prof. RB Singh (Secretary-General and Treasurer, International Geographical Union). Prof. Singh has been generous enough to provide financial support for this award.
Four oral presentations were made in this competition. Best Paper Award winner was judged by a judging committee formed at the conference. The committee included Prof. Yukio Himiyama (President, IGU), Dr. Esther Edwards (Senior lecturer, Bath Spa University) and Prof. Brij Maharaj (Chair, IGU National Committee, South Africa). Awardees were selected on the site by jury and award recipients were announced during the valedictory session of the conference. The award included a certificate of merit and monetary award of Rs 5100/-.
The award was bagged by Dr. Rani Singh, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. The title of her paper was “Geospatial Assessment of the Ground Water Quality on Diseases through Health GIS in Phagi Tehsil, Rajasthan” IGU-YECG Best Paper Awardee receiving prize.
– February –
A paper session for the IGU-YECG Late Dr. Manju Singh Memorial Young Scientist Best Paper Award was hosted on 23rd February 2019.
During the XII IGU-India International Conference 2019, IGU-YECG aimed to present a special paper award, to foster the excitement of young scholars in presenting their work at IGU forums. Therefore, papers were invited from young scholars on the theme and sub themes of this conference. The award is instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Manju Singh, daughter of Prof. RB Singh (Secretary-General and Treasurer, International Geographical Union). Dr. Manju Singh, a young and dynamic academic did her M.Sc. from USA and PhD in nanotechnology from Italy. She left for her heavenly abode after a prolong illness on 9th December 2014. Prof. RB Singh has been generous enough to provide financial support for this award. Five oral presentations were made in this competition. The jury for the award competition comprised of: Prof. Yukio Himiyama (President, IGU), Prof. Brij Maharaj (Chair, IGU National Committee, South Africa) and Prof. Nandini Singh (Rajiv Gandhi Central University, Arunachal Pradesh). Awardees were selected on the site by jury and award recipients were announced during the valedictory session of the conference. The award included a certificate of merit and monetary award of Rs 5100/-.
The award was bagged by Sujayita Bhattacharjee, PhD Research Scholar, Department of Geography, University of Mumbai for her paper entitled “Housing Revolution and Resurgence of Suburbia: A Case Study of Mulund, Mumbai”.
Komali Yenneti (Chair, IGU-YECG) and Gaurav Sikka (Secretary and Treasurer, IGU-YECG) coordinated the event.
2018 Best Paper Award, IGU Conference
The IGU-YECG gave away three student fee registration waiver awards and one Late Dr. Manju Singh Best Paper Award for paper presenters at the IGU-YECG sponsored sessions. The Best Paper award of CAD 200 was instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Manju Singh, daughter of Prof. RB Singh (Secretary-General and Treasurer, International Geographical Union). Prof. RB Singh has been generous enough to provide financial support for this award.
The three student fee registration waiver award winners were selected prior to the conference by the IGU-YECG Steering committee, whereas the Best Paper Award winner was judged by a judging committee formed at the conference.
2017 Best Paper Award
The IGU Task Force for Young and Early Career Geographers (IGU-YECG) and the Organizing Committee of Xth IGU International Thematic Conference had organised a poster competition for IGU-YECG Late Dr. Manju Singh Memorial Young Scientist (Poster) Award on 17th March 2017 at Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Gaurav Sikka (Secretary and Treasurer, IGU-YECG) coordinated the event. During the Xth IGU International Conference on “Urbanization, Health & Well Being and Sustainable Development Goals” from March 17th -19th, 2017 at Osmania University, Hyderabad, IGU-YECG aimed to present a special poster award, to foster the excitement of younger colleagues in presenting their work in the form of a poster. Posters were invited from young scholars on the theme and sub themes of this conference. The award is instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Manju Singh, daughter of Prof. RB Singh (Vice President, International Geographical Union). Dr. Manju Singh, a young and dynamic academic did her M.Sc. from USA and PhD in nanotechnology from Italy. She left for her heavenly abode after a prolong illness on 9th December 2014. Prof. RB Singh has been generous enough to provide financial support for this award.
Eleven poster presentations from India and abroad were made in this competition. The jury for the award competition comprised of: Prof. Yukio Himiyama (President, IGU), Prof. Celine Rozenblat (Chair, IGU Urban Commission) and Prof. Aravind Mulimani (Karnatak University, Dharwad). Awardees were selected on the site by jury and award recipients were announced during the valedictory session of the conference. The award included a certificate of merit and monetary award of Rs 5100/-. Two consolation certificates were also given.
The award is bagged by S. Abdul Rahaman from Department of Geography, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu for his poster on “Assessment Of Human-Induced Land Degradation and Its Impact Through Geospatial Based MCE Approach In Kallar Watershed Of Tamil Nadu”. The consolation certificates 2nd & 3rd position was won by Gaurav Kant Nigam from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh and Tejpal Sharma from Kurukshetra University, Haryana respectively.
The event was hailed by entire geographers’ community and appreciated by the young scholars.