The Royal Air Force Museum is delighted to announce the winners of its academic awards to Doctoral, Masters and Undergraduate students. The prize winners for 2025 are Imogen Graham (BA), George Hudson (MA) and Ian Thompson (PhD).

These awards are made to final year students, without regard to nationality or academic affiliation, on the recommendation of a selection panel composed of members of the RAF Museum’s Research Board. The bursary and prizes are awarded for writing in the field of ‘air power studies’ in the broadest sense, encompassing areas including but not limited to: the history of air warfare; archaeology, international relations; strategic studies and social and cultural histories. This year’s applications were assessed during the course of 2025.

The winner of the Undergraduate Prize is Imogen Graham (Swansea University) for her dissertation ‘”The Few in Fiction and Memory: The Cultural Construction and Endurance of the RAF Fighter Pilot Archetype.’ The Academic Awards Selection Panel found her research fascinating, and felt it was thoroughly deserving of the award. Her use of archive sources showed considerable skill, and they felt it was a highly structured dissertation.

The winner of the Masters Prize is George Hudson (University of Nottingham) for his thesis ‘Mirroring Risk: The Vietnam War (Tet Offensive) and the Iranian Revolution.’ The Academic Awards Selection Panel felt that the dissertation was well-written, with a diligent literature review. The work was placed in the existing body of knowledge, and the dissertation enabled an important discussion from the case studies.

The PhD Bursary Winner is Ian Thompson (University of Portsmouth) for his thesis entitled ‘RAF Air Transport Capability Development during the period 1970 to 1989.’ The Academic Awards Selection Panel felt that the sample chapter well-founded with lots of data, and that the final thesis should be required reading for politicians, the MoD and industry. The project makes an important contribution to the study of Air Power, and is an individual and well-researched project

The winners of the RAF Museum Awards will be invited to attend the RAF Museum’s 2026 Conference, where they will be formally presented with their awards.

Details of how to apply for one of the RAF Museum’s 2026 Academic Awards will be shared later in the year. If you would like further information, then email the RAF Museum’s Historian and Academic Access Manager Dr Megan Wang (ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org).