Organisers of the P1 Marine Foundation’s annual National Awards have opened up the scope of the scheme by dropping the previous category requirements. The competition aims to reward outstanding projects that have a positive and sustainable impact on the marine environment and it is now open to all students attending universities across the UK.

Students can either enter individually or as part of a team with nominations coming from Heads of Departments. The projects need to be innovative and present outstanding work in protecting the marine environment and the most pioneering examples will be rewarded with funding. The deadline for registration is the end of April 2012.uk.boats.com

The Projects and Development Manager, Sabrina Taseer, said: “We want to find some truly innovative research projects and hopefully one or two which are really ground-breaking. We believe the new simplified format and expanded entry opportunity will deliver some outstanding results.” A shortlist of the best entries will be announced in August 2012 and the two winning projects will be revealed during a special ceremony at the Powerboat P1 SuperStock UK Championship final in Albert Dock, Liverpool in September, for details see P1 SuperStock