University of Stirling Public Relations students have swept the board at the EUPRERA Master Thesis Awards – a major European event recognising excellent academic contribution to public relations.
Caitlin Carbury and Temitope Oyelade were named overall winners in the Theoretical Impact Award and Practical Impact Award categories respectively, at the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) Annual Congress in Prague.
Caitlin Carbury and Temitope Oyelade travelled to Prague to receive their accolades at the EUPRERA Annual Congress
The achievement marks a phenomenal run of success for the University at the event, which has now secured five winners in the last five years.
Award winning dissertations
Temitope, who graduated from MSc Strategic Communication and Public Relations (Joint Degree with Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and is currently working as a Digital PR Executive, was recognised for her thesis which looked at how non-government organisations (NGOs) use social media to engage with their audiences.
She said: “I am extremely pleased to be recognised and to travel to Prague to receive the award. Attending Congress gave me the opportunity to meet leading PR professionals from across Europe and gain valuable career advice.”
Caitlin’s dissertation explored the relationship between PR and feminist menstrual activism.
She said: “During my undergraduate degree I developed a great interest in how women and minoritised people, and their bodies, were portrayed in media – what messages were being produced or reproduced about them and how these messages were perpetuating and/or challenging socio-cultural issues. My masters thesis is an extension of this interest within a PR context.
“I didn’t expect to win – I was in disbelief. Attending Congress was a fascinating experience and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many of my peers and others working in PR across Europe.”
The awards received 18 applications from seven countries, with the jury selecting six finalists. Stirling graduate Scott McLean was also shortlisted as a finalist.
Other finalists included students from London School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of Leipzig, Germany and Leeds Beckett University.
Head of Division, Communications, Media and Culture, University of Stirling
We are extremely proud of our graduates. Winning in both categories amongst students from prestigious universities across Europe is a remarkable achievement and puts Stirling on the map as one of the best universities for public relations and strategic communication education in Europe.
Dr Alenka Jelen, Head of Division, Communications, Media and Culture, said: “We are extremely proud of our graduates.
"Winning in both categories amongst students from prestigious universities across Europe is a remarkable achievement and puts Stirling on the map as one of the best universities for public relations and strategic communication education in Europe.
“Temitope, Caitlin and Scott showed intellectual creativity, originality and passion in their work, which has received an international recognition. I would like to congratulate them on this fantastic achievement and also acknowledge the teaching teams at Stirling and Universitat Pompeu Fabra for their role in this success.”
The interdisciplinary, advanced postgraduate course in Strategic Communication and Public Relation is delivered jointly by the University of Stirling and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Stirling also runs MSc Public Relations and Strategic Communication, which was established in 1988 and was the first public relations degree in the UK and one of the first in Europe.