After a six-year hiatus, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday announced the names of 469 meritorious students from public and private universities for the prestigious Prime Minister Gold Medal across three academic sessions.

According to a list published on the UGC website, the recipients were selected for academic excellence in their undergraduate programmes across the 2019, 2020, and 2021 graduating batches.

A breakdown of the list shows that 178 students were nominated from the graduating batch 2019, 141 from 2020, and 150 from 2021.

Dhaka University (DU) bagged the highest number of medals, with 32 of its graduates securing the award. Rajshahi University (RU) followed in second place with 28 awardees, while University of Chittagong (CU) stood third with 25 recipients.

Each awardee will receive a medal crafted from 4.5 grammes of 22-carat gold and 10 grammes of silver, alongside a certificate of merit.

In a press release, the UGC said the final list of 469 students was prepared following scrutiny of nominations submitted by respective universities and subsequent re-verification by the institutional authorities.

The commission requested candidates or university authorities to submit any observations, objections, or claims along with supporting documents to the Director of the UGC Research Support and Publication Division through proper channels in writing or via email (award.ugc2026@gmail.com) by 31 October. No complaints will be entertained after the deadline, and the published list will be treated as final.

The Prime Minister Gold Medal was instituted in 2005 to encourage academic excellence and scholarly focus at the tertiary level, honouring faculty toppers in undergraduate programmes. The awards were last conferred on 26 February 2020 for the 2018 academic session by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Originally limited to public universities, the policy was amended in 2018 to bring permanently chartered private universities under the award’s purview. The latest roster also features qualifying graduates from accredited private institutions.