Welcome to the 2025 Laird Essay Competition essay submission site.
All University of Kansas students actively pursuing interests in Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies in any KU academic program are eligible to submit an essay of approximately 2,000 words on any topic dealing with the region. The essay should be a "think piece," not a formal research paper. Please click here to learn about think piece guidelines and how to differentiate a think piece from a research paper.
- Undergraduate Award: $250 Cash Prize
- Graduate Award: $500 Cash Prize + $75 of Books
The Laird Essay Competition is supported by the Professor Roy D. and Betty Laird Endowment. To learn more about this award and to view past winners, please click here.
All essays must be 12pt font and double-spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides. Please use Times New Roman as your font. Please make sure that your essay does not include your name, neither in the essay nor in the file name. The deadline for submitting an essay for this competition is Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
Winners may be invited to present their papers at a CREES Brownbag toward the end of the Academic Year and may have their papers posted on the CREES website. If you have questions or experience any problems with your submission, please contact Esra Predolac at esrap@ku.edu.