The BSHM Undergraduate Essay Prize is awarded annually  for an essay by an undergraduate student on any topic in the  history of mathematics. The winner receives £100 and free BSHM membership for one year, and is invited to give a talk at the BSHM Research in Progress meeting.

The essay should be no more than 2500 words (excluding references). The competition is open to any person who is enrolled as an undergraduate in a UK or Irish university.

Details of the 2016-17 prize will be announced on this site later in the year.

The winners of the 2015/16 BSHM undergraduate essay prize are Michael Seal (London School of Economics) for an essay entitled Was there a Revolution in Analysis in the Early 19th Century? and Brigitte Stenhouse (University of Oxford) for  How Financial Instability Influenced the Mathematical Publications of Mary Somerville.

Previous winners

2014/15: Edwin Reynolds, (University of Oxford) ‘To What Extent Were the Contributions of Cauchy to the Development of Rigour in Analysis Influenced by Those of Lagrange?'

2013/14: Remus Stana (University of Glasgow), 'Mathematics in Nazi Germany' .

2012/13: Ryan Stanley (University of Exeter), 'Dedekind, Cantor and the rigour of calculus' .

2011/12: Stephanie Crampin (University of Oxford), 'The contribution of Évariste Galois to the founding of group theory' and Nicole Johannesen (University of St Andrews), 'The application of mathematical understanding in the ancient Olympic Games'.