Awards

Trinity Civic Engagement Awards

Each year, the Provost presents the four winners of the Civic Engagement Awards. The winners have proposed four projects for 2026 that will draw together different communities to tackle wiser societal challenges. The awardees for 2026 projects come from the School of History/ Virtual Treasury of Ireland, Unit18 in Trinity East, School of Nursing and Midwifery and the ENGAGED project.

Civic engagement is about the active involvement of people across Trinity in their communities, addressing societal issues, promoting democratic values, and fostering positive social change. Our Trinity Strategy THRIVE acknowledges the ever-expanding civic engagement roles of the university at a local, national and international level. Indeed, it is a 'distinguishing mark' of Trinity, according to the strategy, and something of which we can be proud.

The maximum funding per award is €2,000, covering costs such as: refreshments and catering, design and print, creating accessible information, venue hire, covering vouched expenses for stakeholders’ travel and accommodation, equipment hire, facilitator hire, interpreter hire, software or equipment costs.

All current Trinity staff members, full-time or part-time, are eligible to apply for this award, along with anyone who is strongly connected to a project such as a PPI Contributor. The applications process for the Trinity Civic Engagement Awards takes place in the autumn each year and the winning projects are announced at the annual end-of-year Civic Engagement celebration in December. It will reopen again for applications in Autumn 2026.

Trinity Civic Engagement Celebration

The Civic Engagement Celebrations took place on Friday 5th December 2025, where this year's Civic Engagement winners received their certificates from the Provost and spoke about the purpose and motivation behind each project. The event also saw the awarding of the Dean of Students Award for 2025 to Stefan Simonovic and Louis Grelet, two Zoology students who, during a fieldtrip to Glendalough earlier during the year, came to the aid of a young person with a serious medical injury, administering first aid and contacting emergency services. The students were nominated by Adjunct Associate Professor of Biology John Rochford for keeping level heads and taking actions that exemplify Trinity's values.

The Associate Dean of Civic Engagement for Societal Impact, Professor Jo-Hanna Ivers and the Dean of Students, Professor Richard Porter also addressed the celebrations, celebrating the civic activity that happens across the university and the roles that staff and students play in tackling societal issues.

The proceedings were closed by the Trinity Cairdeas Community Choir with a rendition of 'Somewhere in My Memory' from Home Alone and 'joy to the World'.