QRA-RLAHA Luminescence Dating Award

This award has been set up in collaboration with the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford University. Up to six optically-stimulated luminescence dates (from Pleistocene or Holocene sediments) will be awarded once a year. The scheme is open to PhD students only and only one award will be made to each successful applicant during their degree; it is not open to undergraduate researchers or to those registered for a Masters degree. To be eligible for the scheme you must have been a QRA member for at least 6 months by the time of application and must not already hold a doctoral degree or a tenured academic position. Applicants must read the following guidelines carefully before applying:

1. The successful applicant will be expected to take the samples themselves in the field following prior consultation with RLAHA. RLAHA will supply full sampling kit and instructions as required.

2. Although it is possible to produce dates from samples taken without in-situ gamma spectrometry, spectrometer readings should ideally be taken in order to obtain more reliable and high-precision dates. If this course is adopted, this will require the presence of a member of staff from RLAHA on site for one day. The applicant should therefore ensure that they have funding to pay the travel expenses (and one night's basic accommodation, if required) for a RLAHA staff member to visit their site for a day to take measurements (UK sites only).

3. The successful applicant has the option to process all or part of the samples themselves in Oxford, under the supervision of RLAHA, if this is considered to be a desirable aspect of their PhD training. In this case, the applicant should ensure that they have adequate funds to support their stay in Oxford for the required period. Alternately, RLAHA will undertake to process all the samples and will provide the applicant with the dates.

4. Applicants for this award may not apply to the New Research Workers Awards for the same or closely related project in the same year.

A letter of support from the applicant's PhD supervisor must accompany the application. Successful applicants will be expected to submit a brief report (500 words) for publication in Quaternary Newsletter during the 12 months following the award. Applicants are encouraged to submit full-length articles to Quaternary Newsletter, which will be subject to the normal refereeing procedure for QN articles. Applicants submitting full-length articles are not required to submit the brief report in addition. The RLAHA and the QRA should be acknowledged in all resulting publications.