Awards
The Ambar Mukherjee Beautiful Minds Award and Suparna Rajguru Beautiful Minds Writing Award are cash awards given annually by The Friends of Ambar - Beautiful Minds Foundation. These awards are non-prescriptive, non-competitive in spirit, and could be used for any purpose including but not limited to funding a research project or trip, buying specific equipment, support one's education at SPA or financing an external educational/vocational course, to name a few.
Each year, from the nominated 2nd and 3rd year B.Arch. students, up to four students will be awarded the Ambar Mukherjee Awards of between INR. 30,000 to INR. 1,00,000 and one student will be awarded the Suparna Rajguru Writing Award, upto INR 50,000. The amounts awarded will depend on the merit and specifics of proposals provided by the shortlisted nominees. The money needs to be spent over a period of nine months, post disbursement.
Nominations for
the Ambar Mukherjee
Beautiful Minds Award
Applying for
the Suparna Rajguru
Beautiful Minds Writing Award
The first stage of selection of students for the award is by peer nomination (by other students of any year) or self nomination. Only currently enrolled B. Arch. students at SPA Delhi are eligible to submit nominations.
Only currently enrolled 2nd and 3rd year students in the B. Arch. degree program at SPA Delhi are eligible to be nominated for the award. These students can also nominate themselves. You can nominate only one person.
The nominated student should:
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have passion and talent, but lack the means to develop them.
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be interested in a new skill/expertise/investigation. This could be central to, or on the periphery of architecture.
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be able to undertake and identify with an 'internal journey' that enables personal growth and development through the award period.
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be unlikely to qualify for the existing merit or need-based awards at SPA.
Nominations should not be based on the popularity of the student, but rather fit within the spirit of the award and the nominating guidelines above. If you are nominating a friend, think carefully about why this person is the right fit for the award. Only one nomination can be submitted by one individual. All nominations are confidential only to be accessed by the foundation and selection committee members.
The recommendation text in the nomination form should be used to describe why you are nominating the person, how you think they may benefit from the award and what big or small journeys you think they could take if they were to be awarded. This is a space for ideas about people, please note that we do not encourage requests for funding electronic equipment such as tablets, phones, cameras etc. at this stage. You are encouraged to provide links to the nominee’s work. In case you are self-nominating, all the above guidelines still apply.
The nominations will be reviewed by a group of volunteer supporters and scored on the basis the nomination write-up submitted. The scores will be summed up, and the the top ten (10) nominees will be shortlisted for the selection process.
The Reviewers' & Jury's decision will depend on the quality rather than quantity of the nominations received for a person.
This award's purpose is to support aspiring writers in any genre (poetry, fiction, non-fiction) with preference for art, design' architectural journalism, or commentary.
Only currently enrolled 2nd and 3rd year students in the B. Arch. degree program at the School of Planning and Architecture are eligible for the award.
The selection committee will look for:
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A demonstrated interest and engagement with writing
to fill out the application form for themselves. You can nominate only one person. -
A passionate commitment to honing writing skills and developing a consistent writing practice.
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A plan to produce and share writing outputs across private and public platforms during the award period.
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Intent to participate in regular check-ins with coordinators, mentors and peers.
The selection process will entail:
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Completion of the application form.
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Submission of two writing samples.
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Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a selection panel.
Every awardee will receive:
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A standard award amount of Rs. 25,000 as an incentive to dedicate time and attention to their writing.
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An opportunity to interact with a published author (who the Beautiful Minds Foundation will identify and contact).
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A standardized docket of writing resources.
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Feedback on writing drafts from peers and, where possible, mentors.
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Additional funding may be available if your proposed project has specific needs and if the selection committee agrees.
Selection Process
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For the Ambar Mukherjee Award, a five member selection panel comprising of a School Faculty (1), a representative of the student body (1), and three panelist from the Friends of Ambar foundation (3). The Panel will review all submitted nominations to shortlist a subset . Typically 5 to 7 nominations will be shortlisted.
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The selection panel will reach out to the shortlisted students to inform them of their nomination. If the nominated student wishes to continue in the selection process, they will be asked to provide a short outline of how they plan to use the funds, if granted the award.
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The selection panel will make the final award decisions based on a review of these outlines.
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Final award decisions will be posted on this website within 45 days of the end of the nomination period.
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For the Suparna Rajguru Award, a three member selection panel comprising of a Foundation Board member, An Alumni, and a recent beautiful minds awardee or Student Council representative. The Panel will review all submitted applications to shortlist a subset .
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The selection panel will reach out to the shortlisted students to inform them of their interview selection.
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Interviews will be conducted over a weekend in the month of April/May
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Final award decisions will be posted on this website within one week of the completion of the interviews.