The AQR Parker Prize will be presented to a person under 30 years old with up to 3 years' experience who works, in any capacity, within the research industry.

Ken Parker truly championed all aspects of our industry, including field recruitment, viewing facilities and platforms and we would love that to reflect in our nominees. Since its inception the award has attracted nominations from all sectors of our industry. Nominees do not have to be client facing to be entered for this award. Who can you think of? Please consider nominating an exceptional colleague for this special award.

The award will recognise someone with a flair, charisma and passion for their job. They are a person who deserves to be recognised for not only doing their job well, but for doing it brilliantly.

The prize fund

The sixth AQR Parker Prize for Emerging Talent will be presented by Trish Parker at the AQR's AGM on Wednesday 25th June 2025. The winner will receive access to a prize-fund of £500. They will also receive a year's free membership to AQR.

How can the fund be used?

Ken Parker, after whom the prize is named, was passionate about helping young people develop their passions so we'd like the fund to be put towards personal development. Think conferences, courses, talks, learning a new language, developing a new skill, or trying a new experience, from semiotics to sky-diving. The fund will be held by the AQR secretariat and can be allocated to one or multiple courses or experiences (up to the value of £500) over the course of the year. If any part of the prize remains unspent, we'll ask the winner to nominate a charity to donate the funds to.

Judging the Prize

Nominations should be a collaboration between a colleague of the nominee and the nominee themselves. They can be colleagues of any level or job type. These will be reviewed by the judging panel and a maximum of six shortlisted candidates will be invited to a virtual session with a small group of the judges in June. Further details will be sent to the successful candidates. The judges will then meet to decide on the worthy winner.

Timetable for the 2025 Prize

Monday 28th April 2025
Deadline for submissions

Mid-May 2025
Up to six candidates will be shortlisted

Early-June 2025
Three finalists will be announced

Wednesday 25th June 2025
Winner announced at AQR's AGM

Judging Panel 2025

Ken was a champion of all aspects of our industry and it's important to the Parker Prize team that the judges represent all corners of the industry too! They'll be Trish Parker, Kat Cunningham née Parker, Elaine Francis of Criteria Fieldwork, Alan Hathaway of Discovery Research, Ben Parker of Spectrum, and AQR Board Member, Natasha Ward of Acacia Avenue.

Sponsors

The prize is generously sponsored by Criteria Fieldwork Ltd, Discovery, and Spectrum.