Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia

Wikipedia editing as part of The Edinburgh Award. This award asks you take part in a social and supportive group of 'knowledge activists' to improve representation & understanding online to strengthen your graduate competencies and help you stand out to employers. The award is open to all students and it runs from 21 October to 31 March.

  • Five students standing in the Edinburgh Old College courtyard. Background: a lawn, encircling campus buildings, a tower
  • Edinburgh Award students in Argyle House, with sunny Edinburgh in background out the window
  • Edinburgh Award students in the Playfair Library for the celebration event
  • Entrance of University of Edinburgh Main Library
  • Edinburgh Award students in the Playfair Library wearing Wikipedia t-shirts
  • 2024 achievers holding up their Wikipedia t-shirts
  • Three student and the project leader posing happily in front of the screen listing awards for Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia
  • Edinburgh Award students in the Playfair Library, holding up their award certificates
  • Edinburgh Award students in the Playfair Library for the celebration event

Register your interest or find out more

Registration is now OPEN for 2026/27 students interested in undertaking the award. Registration will close Wednesday 21 October 2026 at 5pm.

About this Edinburgh Award

Editing Wikipedia has never been easier using the new Visual Editor interface which makes editing Wikipedia as easy as using Microsoft Word or WordPress blogs. Now you can undertake Wikipedia editing as part of The Edinburgh Award, and receive accreditation for developing important digital research skills and applying these to improving the knowledge freely available online.  

The Edinburgh Award | The University of Edinburgh

In previous years students were interested in improving topic coverage of Japanese Fashion Subcultures (Gothic Lolita), Singaporean Biographies, the History of Borneo, Pictish Stones, Francophone Literature, Women authors of the MENA region, Biochemistry, Artefacts of the Republic of Congo, Ugandan cuisine and culture, Scots Law, Women in Astronomy, Young British Artists (and their artworks), 19th century photography and photographers, the African diaspora in Latin America, the Industrial History of Leith and much much more.

Learn more at our introductory workshop

This first introductory workshop will take place on Wed 21st October 2026 and is aimed purely at introducing the award and the how and why of Wikipedia editing; including:

  1. Why should you edit Wikipedia?
  2. How to create your user page
  3. Mastering the Visual Editor – Headings, bold, links
  4. Mastering the Visual Editor – Citations
  5. Mastering the Visual Editor – How to start drafting your 1st article.

By the end of it you can then decide if you would like to undertake this Edinburgh Award and consider the subject area(s) you are interested in: be it Scots Law, Gothic Literature, Citizen Science projects, Climate Change, Covid-19 research, International Development, Women in STEM, Black History, LGBT history or anything else that appeals to your head and heart.

You can then work individually, in pairs, or groups from the first mandatory workshop onwards to the final deadline in March 2027. You can even host your own Wikipedia editing events to encourage others in your school or college to get involved and thereby improve awareness of how knowledge gets online locally and understanding of your discipline globally.

You can also send an email if you want to learn more or register your interest for the 2026/27 award.

Email Ewan McAndrew about the Edinburgh Award (opens in a new window)

Please note: I am looking for an interested, committed group of students who can work work individually but form part of a team of editors to support one another.

Timeline for this Edinburgh Award

NB: The expectation is you would undertake 55-80 hours from 21 October to 31 March 2027 and attend the mandatory in-person Input sessions in this time.

21 October 2026Input 1 Workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library, 5.30pm-7:00pm
1 November 2026First reflection exercise deadline: 12:00 am
4 November 2026Wikipedia Training Workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library, 3:00pm-7.30pm
18 November 2026Project Discussion Day: Room 1.07, Main Library, 4:00pm-7.30pm
2 December 2026

Input 2 Workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library 4:00pm-7:30pm

Combined Christmas get-together with the Digital Skills Specialist award participants, 7:00pm-9:00pm (TBC)

11 January 2027Second reflection exercise deadline: 12:00 am
20 January 2027Midpoint progress check: Room 1.07, Main Library 4:00pm-7:00pm
28 January 2027Project goals to be agreed: Room 1.07, Main Library 4:00pm-7:00pm
3 February 2027Group research workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library 3:00pm-7.30pm
17 February 2027Group research workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library 3:00pm-7.30pm
3 March 2027Group research workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library 3:00pm-7.30pm
17 March 2027Group research workshop: Room 1.07, Main Library 3:00pm-7.30pm
31 March 2027Input 3 workshop, Room 1.07, Main Library 3:00pm-7.30pm
31 March 2027Third (Final) reflection exercise deadline: 12:00am
April 2027 (Reading week)Celebration event for ALL Edinburgh Award achievers at Playfair Library.

The Award encourages you to view your skills development as a three-step process:

  1. Identify the subject area(s) you wish to research (and improve Wikipedia's coverage of).
  2. Develop Wikipedia editing skills, copyright literacy, academic referencing and more through self-directed learning,  workshops and group work.
  3. Learn how to write for different audiences through publishing new and improved pages to Wikipedia.
  4. (optional) Stage fun & impactful editing events to encourage others in different schools, student societies to participate in an open knowledge community.

  • Increase your awareness of your strengths.
  • Make the most of your strengths, identify areas for development, and work on your individual action plan to develop these skills.
  • Confidently demonstrate what you have to offer to others.
  • Achieve a positive and lasting impact in your subject area(s).

  • Quick facts about Wikipedia at 24
  • A survey by Yougov found that around two thirds of the British public trust Wikipedia more than traditional news outlets including the BBC, ITV, the Guardian and the Times.
  • One of the most visited websites worldwide, and now one of the most trusted, Wikipedia is a resource used by most university students. Increasingly, many instructors around the world have used Wikipedia as a teaching tool in their university classrooms as well.
  • Indeed, as the drive for scholarly research to become ever more Open Access gathers pace, Wikipedia will increasingly become the digital gateway to this research.

Staff involvement - suggest ideas and resources

If you are a member of staff at the University then you can also get involved by suggesting topic areas (and resources... like course reading lists) that would be helpful and of interest to the students for project idea inspiration as to where they could so some good improving topic coverage on Wikipedia.

This article was published on