The Carnegie Trust Robertson Medal

The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of the Scotland has awarded Robbie Maxwell, a research student in history, the Robertson Medal for the most outstanding application to the trust for doctoral funding in 2010.

Robbie graduated with a First Class honours degree in History from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 and returned to the School as a graduate student, gaining an MSc degree with distinction in 2010. His doctoral project, supported by a Carnegie scholarship, examines the development of modern American conservatism through the study of educator George Benson.

The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland supports staff and students of the universities of Scotland in a number of ways, providing a limited number of scholarships for graduates with First Class honours degrees to undertake research leading to a PhD. Sir Lewis Robertson, an eminent industrialist and administrator, is a past Chairman of the Trust and the silver Robertson Medal was introduced in 2003 to mark his services to the Trust over a period of forty years.

This is the second time in three years that one of the School's research students has been awarded the Robertson Medal. Laura Bonsall, an archaeology student, won the medal in 2008 for her doctoral project "A biocultural perspective on the health and socio-economic status of women in two Romano-British communities".

Presentation of the medal will take place later in the academic year at the University of Edinburgh by the current chairman of the Trust, Professor Sir David Edward.