LONDON.- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced the shortlists for the annual RIBA President's Awards for Research 2010. The awards reward and encourage outstanding research in architecture.

Eleven pieces were selected for the final stage of judging in the following three categories:

• RIBA President's Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis
• RIBA President's Award for Outstanding University-located Research
• RIBA President's Award for Outstanding Professional Practice-located Research

The following pieces of research have been shortlisted:

RIBA President's Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis

• Victoria Perry, Bartlett School of Architecture, Slavery, Sugar and the Sublime
• Yat Ming Loo, Bartlett School of Architecture, City of the Non-Descript: Post-Colonial Architecture and Urban Space in Kuala Lumpur
• Jan Kattein, Bartlett School of Architecture, The Architectural Chronicle - Diary of an Architectural Practice
• Nikolaos D. Karydis, University of Bath, Early Byzantine Vaulted Construction in Churches of the Western Coastal Plains and River Valleys of Asia Minor

RIBA President's Award for Outstanding University-located Research

• Ralf Brand, University of Manchester, The Urban Environment - Mirror and Mediator of Radicalisation?
• Albena Yaneva, University of Manchester, An Ethnography of Architecture
• Kester Rattenbury and Murray Fraser, University of Westminster, Archigram Archival Project

RIBA President's Award for Outstanding Professional Practice-located Research

• CJ Lim and Ed Liu, Studio8 Architects, Smartcities and Eco-warriors
• Andrew Waugh, Waugh Thistleton Architects, Stadthaus, Murray Grove
• Dawson Stelfox, Consarc Design Group, Stone by Stone - a guide to building stone in the Northern Ireland environment
• Christian Derix, Aedas Architects, Open Framework for Spatial Simulation: the computation of design knowledge for architectural and urban spaces

Entries will be judged on their contribution to architecture, which is assessed using the criteria of originality, significance, rigour and communication and the winning entries must be regarded as making an exceptional contribution to architectural knowledge. The judges may also award commendations to one or more other shortlisted submissions in each category.