As part of its centenary celebrations, the University will award up to four honorary degrees to largely unsung heroes from the Bristol area who have made a real difference to the quality of life in their local communities. The degrees will be conferred at the Civic Degree Ceremony in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building on Wednesday 15 July 2009.

The University has teamed up with the Bristol Evening Post on this one-off project. In a major feature published in January, the paper invited its readers to nominate people for a Bristol University Centenary Degree and to explain in up to 250 words why they think the people concerned deserve such recognition.

Nominations must arrive at the Evening Post by Friday 27 February. The address is Centenary Degrees, Editorial, Bristol Evening Post, Temple Way, Bristol BS99 7HD. Nominations and accompanying 250-word statements can also be emailed to Rob Stokes, the Post's Deputy Editor (r.stokes@bepp.co.uk).

The University is inviting staff and students to submit nominations via the same route.

The Evening Post will forward all nominations to the University, and the Honorary Degrees Committee will consider them at a meeting in March. Once the committee's proposals have been approved by the University's Senate and Council, the Evening Post is likely to run stories about the individuals concerned and to give significant coverage to the degree ceremony in July.

Endorsing the project, Vice-Chancellor Professor Eric Thomas said:

'We want the University's centenary celebrations to mean something to people in and around Bristol. These special honorary degrees will recognise a few of the largely unsung heroes who help create successful communities within the city-region. We hope people will come forward with plenty of nominations and we promise to give each one very careful consideration.'