The panel to judge the 2026 BNAC PhD chapter competition met on Monday 18th May, comprising Prof Ben Campbell, Dr Uma Pradhan, Dr Krishna Adhikari and Patricia Mundelius. Seven submissions were received on the deadline of March 20th 2026 and the overall high quality of the submissions was noted.
The winner of the competition was overwhelmingly assessed to be Sierra Humbert (University of Copenhagen) for her exceptionally rich research and sophisticated analysis in her chapter on ‘Blood: Menstrual Waste’ from her thesis Body Dust: Menstrual Waste among the Newar in Sankhu, Nepal.
In addition, the panel awarded commendations for the submissions by William Lloyd (University of Durham) from his thesis Playing As If: An Ethnographic Study of Nepali Trail Runners, and Sangita Thebe Limbu (University College London) from her thesis Between Recognition and Erasure: Indigenous Knowledge, Gender, Culture, and Socio-Environmental Politics in Nepal.
Dr Sierra Humbert is awarded winner of the competition with a cash prize of £250
Drs William Lloyd and Sangita Thebe Limbu are awarded commendations with complementary one-year membership of BNAC.
The winner will make a short presentation at the Nepal Study Days, 15th and 16th June, hosted by the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham.
The criteria for judging the chapters include:
- original contribution to the study of Nepal
- original contribution to relevant discipline
- rigour in the research methods used
- originality and efficacy of any innovations in the research methods used
- richness of the empirical data in the paper/chapter
- critical use of the empirical data
- clarity of the paper’s structure, narrative and argument(s)
Our hearty congratulations to the winner.
BNAC Dissertation Prize Committee 2026