Berkerly for Design Excellence Essay Competition  Undergraduate ($35,000 Prize)

Application for Bekerly for Design Excellence Essay Competition 2023 is ongoing!

An essay contest in their stages is open to all current full-time registered students in an undergraduate architecture degree program, undergraduates majoring in architecture or diploma students in accredited architecture schools worldwide 25,000USD purse.

To apply successfully, kindly read through this piece to learn the full details about this award- the eligibility criteria, requirements, application deadline, and more. The table below will give you an overview of what you should expect.

About Design Excellence Essay Competition

The Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Design Excellence endowment was established in the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design, to promote the investigation of architecture as a social art. Each year the Prize Committee selects a topic important to understanding the interaction of people and the built world that becomes the focus of the Essay Competition. 

The Committee poses a Question on this website related to the topic. Students enrolled in an accredited undergraduate architecture program or diploma in architecture program worldwide are invited to submit a 500-word essay proposal in English responding to the Question.  Qualified students may collaborate with undergraduates from allied arts and social sciences programs and submit proposals in two teams. (For specific yearly requirements, see the To Enter page). 

From the pool of essay, proposals received, approximately 25-28 are selected by the Prize Committee as particularly promising. The selected student teams become Semifinalists. These Semifinalists are invited to submit a 2,500-word essay, again in English, expanding on their proposals. A group of readers, composed of the Prize Committee members, selects five to eight of the best essays and sends these Finalist essays to a jury of international academics and architects to select the winners.

At the conclusion of the Essay Competition submittals, all Semifinalists are invited to submit a proposal for a BERKELEY PRIZE Summer Fellowship. This year, the opportunity is a Community Service Fellowship. Details for this Fellowship, now in its second year, will be announced in early 2023. 

Design Excellence Essay Competition Requirements

To be eligible to apply for the competition, check below;

  • Open to all current full-time registered students in an undergraduate architecture degree program or undergraduates majoring in architecture in accredited architecture schools worldwide. Diploma in Architecture students who have not yet completed their Diploma are also eligible.
  • This year’s special team opportunity urges and recommends that you team with a full-time undergraduate social sciences student at your college or university or an equally-accredited college or university in the local community in which you reside. Two students maximum may collaborate. Both of their names must appear on their Proposal and potential Essay.  If awarded a prize, the prize is to be equally shared. 
  • Suppose you are an undergraduate architecture student who wishes to submit a Proposal and potential Essay without the equal work of a social science team member. In that case, you can do so and submit as an individual. This year, however, you are not permitted to team up with another architecture student.
  • Essays must be submitted in English.
  • Finalists must provide proof of current registration through copies of actual school transcripts. You are still eligible to compete if you were an undergraduate student on September 15, 2023, but graduate before the awards are scheduled to be given.

Click on the BUTTON below to apply.

Application Link

Application Deadline for Design Excellence Essay Competition

The deadline for this award submission entry is not announced yet.

Email [email protected]

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