CEPT Essay Prize
Overview
The CEPT Essay Prize was instituted in 2018 as an effort to initiate a dialogue with future collaborators, writers, researchers and stakeholders on architecture, settlements and habitation centred around the built environment in South and South East Asia.
The CEPT Essay Prize embodies the spirit of our belief in collaborations and connections, that we think can only be made possible through the participation of young and fresh graduates. We believe that it is of utmost significance that young graduates need to be encouraged to think and write about issues pertaining to the built environment in South Asia and South-East Asia. At a time of rapid development, it provides a meaningful pause, an occasion to ponder and deliberate, to put pen to paper, which further enables them to build up their confidence in their own writing skills.
The CEPT Essay Prize aims to invite submissions from recent graduates of Architecture and allied disciplines from across the world. The intention is to build up on each cycle of the Essay Prize, and to help create a body of written essays that are marked by sound thinking, yet is simple and lucid, and display empathy and a deep understanding of social issues.
With the initiation of the CEPT Essay Prize, CEPT University intends to establish further its intent, as a leading institution that encourages writing skills at every stage of its education, right from the undergraduate foundation stage, up to the final year of architectural, environmental planning, and design education. Because we believe, like philosophers, educators, thinkers, writers, artists and every ‘self-aware’ being, that writing ‘insists’, and CEPT Essay Prize aims to provide meaningful platforms every year, through its essay themes, towards this belief.
- The writing should be accessible to a wider readership beyond the architecture and planning audiences; and it should also be able to connect with readers across the world beyond South and South-East Asia.
- Clarity of thought and simplicity of language will be preferred.
- Directness of communication or arguments presented is encouraged.
- Graduates from any allied areas of architecture, planning, interior design, sociology, literature, and urban design, under the age of 30 years (not more than 29 yrs 11 months as on 30-Apr 2026) are eligible to apply.
- Only individual/single author entries are allowed.
- Any candidate can apply to the CEPT Essay Prize for a maximum of two cycles; however, those who have been awarded the first or second position in any cycle are no longer eligible to apply for a subsequent cycle.
- The essay competition will be held in two stages.
- First, we invite participants to submit an essay abstract of about 500 words, along with their CV, proof of last academic degree attained and DOB (date of birth).
- A panel of experts will blind-review the abstracts and shortlist the entrants.
- The selected participants will be required to submit a long-form essay of 3000 words (excluding references), which will be further blind-reviewed by a panel of eminent jurors.
- Submit the abstract and documents for entry to the competition on this Google Form.
- The final essay (if you are shortlisted) will be submitted by email to: essayprize@cept.ac.in
- First Prize: INR 100,000*
- Second Prize: INR 50,000*
- Honorary mentions
*subject to tax deduction as applicable
Selected top essays are published as CEPT Essay Prize book (with ISBN) by CEPT University Press. All the contributors are awarded a certificate and a complimentary copy of the book as a token of appreciation and participation. Additional copies of the books can be bought through CEPT Press.
The applicants must submit an original and well-rounded 500-word abstract for the competition entry, clearly articulating the objective and intent of the essay.
Please follow the technical guidelines elaborated on the website. The selected candidates should ensure their full essays are suitably edited for language, grammar, consistency in referencing, etc., before submission of the essay. CEPT Essay Prize reserves the right to consider well-written, edited, and well-thought-out essays only.
The submissions must ensure grammar edits and language corrections as a basic requirement for the first round of selection.
CEPT University
Kasturbhai Lalbhai Campus
University Road, Navrangpura
Ahmedabad 380009
Email: essayprize@cept.ac.in
Phone: +91-79-68310000 | Ext No: 207
