About

Seeking answers outside the box

Who can enter?

All those 18 years of age and over are welcome to enter but responses and the resulting book must be in English. We are looking for innovative thinking, whether this comes from new voices or from experienced authors. The Prize’s heartland is in the analysis of contemporary society and societal challenges, and we welcome responses that draw on all disciplines and cross-discipline thinking. Joint entries will be considered, although proposals that put forward a number of authors all contributing single sections (such as an edited collection) will not be accepted.

The judging process

The Prize is judged anonymously. The Board awards the Prize to the entry that in their view best responds to the set question. Responses can critique, agree or disagree with, or reject the premise of the question, but they must engage with it fully and insightfully.

The Board looks for originality of the ideas and arguments put forward, the ways in which the ideas are communicated and the conclusions or recommendations that the author(s) reach. Responses may draw on research and evidence from a wide variety of sources and disciplines not restricted solely to the social sciences.

About the Prize team

The Prize is sponsored by the Kadas Prize Foundation with support from CRASSH at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Press. We have a Board made up of 12 distinguished experts. Day to day, the Prize is run by the Senior Prize Manager.

Jane Tinkler – Senior Prize Manager, Kadas Prize Foundation

Jane has been a social science researcher for nearly fifteen years, working on applied projects with government, civil society and academic partners. She is also undertaking a PhD at Stirling University on policymakers’ views on the impact agenda and the use of academic research in government. Before the Nine Dots Prize, Jane spent a year seconded to the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) as Senior Adviser in social science. Before that, she was based in the Public Policy Group at the London School of Economics. There she worked on the Impact of the Social Sciences project that led to two books: (with Patrick Dunleavy) (2020) Maximising the Impacts of Academic Research; and (with Simon Bastow and Patrick Dunleavy) (2014) The Impact of the Social Sciences: How academics and their work makes a difference and a set of award-winning academic blogs, including the LSE Impact blog, LSE Review of Books and British Politics and Policy.

The Kadas Prize Foundation

The Kadas Prize Foundation was established to fund research into significant but neglected questions relevant to today’s world. Its main charitable activity is as a prize-awarding body, enabling Prize winners to further their work in the arts, humanities, sciences, and the social sciences to the benefit of the public.

The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) was established at the University of Cambridge in 2001 and is now one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary research institutions. CRASSH has grown into a vibrant research community of approximately 50 researchers working on 14 major projects alongside a programme of research development of over 300 events a year. The regular work-in-progress seminar for research fellows contributes to the lively atmosphere of intellectual exchange.

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise over 50,000 titles covering academic research, professional development, over 350 research journals, school-level education, English language teaching, and bible publishing. Playing a leading role in today’s international market place, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.

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