Each year, the iIIRG awards its members at any point in their academic or practitioner career who have produced work of outstanding quality or have done something extraordinary for the benefit of investigative interviewing.  The awards take place at our international bi-annual conferences and include:

1. The iIIRG Tom Williamson Award (can occasionally be awarded to a non-member)
2. Practitioner Excellence Award
3. Academic Excellence Award  

Further details of each award can be found below. All members are encouraged to nominate someone who has produced work of outstanding quality or have done something extraordinary for the benefit of investigative interviewing. 

Nomination deadline: 26 June 2026
Submit nominations to: Professor Christopher Kelly (c.kelly@iiirg.org) & Ms. Susanne Flølo (s.flolo@iiirg.org)

The iIIRG Tom Williamson Award

This highly prestigious award is reserved for an individual who has made a significant contribution to investigative interviewing either nationally or internationally.  The award will be given to the person who, during his or her career, has distinguished themselves in an exceptional way by their work, practice or teaching, which complies with the mission pursued by the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG) – the promotion of best practice in investigative interviewing (the search for truth) and in the respect of fundamental human rights.

This award will be determined by the iIIRG membership, through its Executive and Scientific Committees, and nominations should include the following information:

• The way/s in which the candidate has distinguished themselves in an outstanding way by their work, practice or teaching which complies with the iIIRG mission;
• The proposer must provide a short write-up of the candidate (no more than 500 words) and a summary of his or her main achievements which should show they are in line with the iIIRG mission;
• All nominations must be submitted by an iIIRG member and the recipient must also be an iIIRG member.  The list of finalists will be voted for by the iIIRG Executive and Scientific Committees.  The result of this vote will be publicly unveiled at the iIIRG Annual Conference;
• More than one person can simultaneously receive this award, but only in exceptional circumstances.

Practitioner and Academic Excellence Awards

These awards will be determined by the iIIRG membership, through its Executive and Scientific Committees, and nominations should include the following information:

• Name of the nominee;
• Name of proposer/s;
• Details of their research or practice;
• A covering letter which clearly identifies the particular merit of the work and to receive such an award.

Student Awards

Awards and funding are also given to students to encourage participation at iIIRG events. The iIIRG understands the importance of recognising students’ hard work and encourages all of its student members to apply for prizes at the Annual Conferences.

• PhD Student Bursary Scheme: The iIIRG offers a small number of bursaries to PhD students who wish to attend the iIIRG Annual Conference. This is a brilliant opportunity to receive financial support in order to enable you to attend the event at a much lower cost. We encourage early applications as these bursaries are very popular!
• Poster Award (for posters being presented at the conference): This award is given to the best poster presented by a student at the iIIRG Annual Conference. The posters are judged by members of the iIIRG Executive Committee. This is another great opportunity to have your hard work recognised within the group. 
• Paper Award: This is given to the best student presentation at the iIIRG Annual Conference. The presentations are judged by members of the iIIRG Scientific Committee. This is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your presentation skills and be recognised for these skills. Often, oral presentations are seen as being a less enjoyable aspect of academic work and therefore receiving a prize in acknowledgement of a high-quality presentation may ease the process for future presentations.
• Article Award: The iIIRG-S presents this award to the best student article submitted to the iIIRG Journal. The winning article is published in the Journal and this is therefore an ideal opportunity for students to have their work read by both academics and practitioners within the field.