The Graduate and Researcher College (GRC) is delighted to announce the winners of the GRC Prizes 2026, recognising the exceptional contributions of our postgraduate research community and those who support it.
The GRC Prizes celebrate individuals who go above and beyond, whether through outstanding research, creating positive research cultures, engaging with wider communities, or providing exceptional doctoral supervision. The prizes recognise excellence across a range of areas, highlighting the dedication, innovation and impact that make our research community thrive.
Following a competitive nomination process and careful consideration by the judging panel, we are pleased to congratulate this year’s winners:
Postgraduate Researcher Prize
🏆 Winner: Nuwanthika Dharmaratne
🥈 Runner-up: Maxim Potepkin
🥈 Runner-up: Zsofia Baruwa
Research Degree Supervisor Prize
🏆 Winner: Prof Karen Douglas
🥈 Runner-up: Dr Abdullah Iqbal
The winners and runners-up were presented with their certificates during the Annual PGR Conference, where colleagues and fellow researchers came together to celebrate the achievements of our postgraduate research community.
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit nominations. Reading about the achievements of our researchers and supervisors was both inspiring and a reminder of the many ways our community contributes to research excellence at the University of Kent.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and runners-up on this well-deserved recognition, and thank you to everyone who was nominated. Your commitment to research, collaboration, innovation and supporting others continues to strengthen our vibrant postgraduate research community.
We also extend our thanks to the judging panel for their time and thoughtful consideration throughout the selection process.
We look forward to celebrating more of our researchers’ achievements in the years to come.