Six Australians have won in the Undergraduate Awards, which honour the Irish organisers’ pick of the best research papers by students across the world, in 21 discipline groups. The programme is “a labour of love,” under the patronage of Ireland’s president Michael Higgins.

Michaela Taylor-Williams (UWA) wins in engineering. Matthew Barton from ANU takes the history prize for a study of lifesavers between the world wars. Melany Toombs, also from ANU is the law winner for her paper on “legal spaces in Al-Andalus” (Muslim Spain in the middle ages). And another ANU-ite, Rosalind Moran is honoured in the music, film and theatre category. Pascale Wehr (University of Queensland) picks up the life sciences award and James Monaghan from the University of Sydney is the philosophy winner.

Last year Australians won for four awards.