This is a bit harder, as awards are usually given for a specific piece of research and as long as you haven’t produced anything, you cannot get an award. However, there are some opportunities. For example, on conferences there are often things like poster awards for work in progress research you can participate in.
I don’t think it’s that random, fwiw.
Even if it is less random than I think, I’d still argue that people should be more proactive when it comes to applying to awards.
Thanks for the post!
Does this apply at all to undergrads or graduate students who haven’t published any research yet?
This is a bit harder, as awards are usually given for a specific piece of research and as long as you haven’t produced anything, you cannot get an award. However, there are some opportunities. For example, on conferences there are often things like poster awards for work in progress research you can participate in.