Student Awards

This award was launched in the academic year 2012-2013, according to the following criteria:

The aim of the prize

1. To commemorate the late Gabi Baramki for his services to his homeland and Birzeit University.
2. To honor distinguished students in three major domains: scientific (academic) excellence, excellence in community service, or excellence in university service.
3. to advance the spirit of competitiveness and excellence among students.

Conditions for earning the prize

• The student must be a regular full-time student at the university.
• The student should be free of warnings, behavioral or academic during his/her study years, and the discipline committee cannot have taken action against him/her.
• The student should be academically outstanding and on the honor list.
• The student should be a graduate student at the time of the award.
• He/she should submit three written recommendations from at least one professor at Birzeit University, and other qualified persons in society.
• He/she should make a real and tangible contribution to the university and community service.

Applications process

• The university president forms a special committee called the "Gabi Baramki Award of Excellence Committee," headed by the undergraduate programs Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the membership of the Dean of Student Affairs, and three faculty members appointed by the university president annually to select the winning candidate for that year.
• The Vice President for Academic Affairs invites eligible students to run for this award.
• A student may nominate him/herself, or may be nominated by others such as a dean, head of a department, or professor at the university.
• The nominations are forwarded to the student’s Faculty Council to be studied and evaluated.
• The Faculty’s Council filters the submitted applications, and chooses one student based on three aspects: scientific and academic excellence, excellence in community service, and excellence in university service. The deadline is the end of April of each year.
• The faculty’s dean sends the nomination to the award committee.
• The award committee members select only one winner, in accordance with the adopted criteria.
• The award committee sends their recommendation to the president and Vice President for Academic Affairs, not later than the end of May of each year (to complete the process before the annual graduation ceremony).
• The university president announces the winner before the official graduation ceremony, and the student receives his prize during commencement.
• In case there are no applicants or qualified candidates for the award, the award is put on hold.

The prize

• An official Certificate of Merit from the university
• A university Plaque, with the award's name and logo, as well as the name of the winner
• $500 in cash

Grant terms

• Candidates submit a one-page research proposal related to Tawfiq Canaan’s published research in the field of history, medicine, anthropology and archeplpgy
• The proposals are studied by a special committee appointed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs
• The winner is asked to prepare a research paper to be submitted to the Tawfiq Canaan Library Board of Trustees, and may also be asked to make a presentation
• A $1,000 research grant is also awarded
• The winning study will be supervised by a university professor
• Both graduate and undergraduate students can apply for this award
• The research findings may be published as a Master’s thesis or a research paper within the course symposia/seminars

On May 20, 2015, Nadia Tadros and Sarah Zahran in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department won the Tawfiq Canaan award.

This award was launched in the academic year 2007/2008, in recognition of an outstanding student in the English Language and Literature field. The prize is an award of approximately $500 and a certificate signed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Chairman of the Academic Council and the Dean of Student Affairs. It is awarded by the university to a regular student enrolled in the Bachelor's program in English language and Literature, whose academic record is excellent in his/her specialty courses and his/her outstanding literary production.

Nomination criteria

Applicants should have the following qualifications:

• Be a regular student that has completed at least 80 credit hours
• Have a cumulative GPA average not less (80%), and an academic record free of academic or other warnings
• Have substantially contributed to literary or analytical writings in English Language and Literature
• Have not been granted the award previously

Application process

The winner’s selection is based on the following procedures:

• The opening of the competition is annouced at the end of the first semester of each academic year on the Academic and Aministrative Portal “Ritaj”.
• The Council of English Language and Literature Department at the Faculty of Arts nominates a qualified student for this award, based on the above-mentioned criteria, not later than the second week of March.
• Student nominations are submitted to the Faculty Council at the beginning of April and they will select three candidates (at most) for that year. The candidates are then requested to prepare a file of personal literary productions and write an essay in English (800 words).
• At the end of April, the nominations are presented to the committee for assessment and, according to their findings, the committee members present their recommendations to the Vice President for Academic Affairs copying the president of the university not later than the end of May.

On May 20, 2015, student Eleni Mustaklem won the Ni’meh Faris Award of Excellence in English Language and Literature for her excellent academic record and her creative literary production.

On May 20, 2015, Media Department student Anas Abu Arish and Computer Science Department student Fatima Khalil won the Yousef Nawas Award for initiationg community service projects in addition to their academic excellence.

This award is presented annually by the Arab American University to Palestinian university students who have conducted the best scientific research. It aims to encourage students’ creative talents and recognizes outstanding work that aims to solve scientific and technological problems of social and economic impact while promoting the spirit of competitiveness between undergraduate students at Palestinian universities.

In 2010, the contest addressed three categories: communication engineering and information technology; water engineering and renewable energy; natural sciences and biotechnology. The winning student Maath Enairat, a senior Chemistry student in the Faculty of Science, presented a research paper entitled, "The manufacture and analysis of nanotechnology particles in the iron component used in the study of the absorbance characteristics of the segments of methylene blue," under the supervision of Professor Talal Shahwan.

In 2011, the contest was open to three fields: communication engineering and information technology; water engineering and renewable energy; natural sciences and biotechnology. The winning student Sa’adia Abu Siriyah, a senior Chemistry student in the Faculty of Science, presented a research paper entitled: "Green manufacturing (eco-friendly) for iron particles with nano scale used as a catalyst to purge ions and water dyes," supervised by Professor Talal Shahwan .

In 2012, the contest focused on the following sciences: engineering, medical and biological technology, agricultural sciences, and basic sciences, including physics, chemistry and applied mathematics. The winning student Shireen Zeidani, a senior Chemistry student in the Faculty of Science presented a research paper entitled, "The use of nano-sized iron particles installed on the zeolite for ridding aqueous solution of phenol pollutant," under the supervision of Professor Talal Shahwan.

In 2013, the contest addressed five fields of study: information technology, engineering, medical and biological technology , agricultural sciences, political science, in addition to physics, chemistry and applied mathematics, science and the environment, water and renewable energy. On July 5, 2013, Rana Yagmour, a senior Chemistry student in the Faculty of Science won the Zuhair Hijjawi award for her research paper entitled, "Removal of Blue Bromophenol

from the water using UV associated with the interaction of Vinton's rays using iron nanoparticles," supervised by Professor Talal Shahwan.