The Student Peace Prize is awarded biennially to a student or a student organization that has made a significant contribution to creating peace and promoting human rights. The prize is awarded on behalf of all Norwegian students, and is administrated by the Student Peace Prize Secretariat in Trondheim, which appoints a national nominations committee with representatives from universities and colleges in Norway, as well as an independent Peace Prize Committee that awards the prize. The award ceremony takes place during the International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT).

As of 2010 the Peace Prize Committee has nine members, and is composed of four representatives from the National Union of Students in Norway (NSO), one representative from the Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH), and four non-student expert members.

The members of the 2011 committee are among others Ole Danbolt Mjøs, former chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, Børge Brende, former Minister of Trade and Industry and current general-secretary of Red Cross Norway, district- and news editor in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) Gro Holm, Vigdis Lian, head of the Norwegian UNESCO-commission, President of the National Union of Students in Norway (NSO) Anne Karine Nymoen and President of the Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH), Runar Myrnes Balto.

Under the title of Peace Prize, the following prizes are awarded among others:

Charm Tong (born in 1981, Shan State, Burma) is a Shan teacher and human rights activist. She is head of the School for Shan State Nationalities Youth in Northern Thailand. Charm Tong is also one of the founders of Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), which published the 2002 report License to Rape.

When Charm Tong was six years old, her family left Shan State to escape the ongoing fighting between Shan forces and the Tatmadaw (Burmese state military), part of Burma's ongoing internal conflicts. The family then took up residence in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, enrolling her in a Catholic orphanage. She began her work as a human rights activist at the age of 16. The following year, she spoke before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva about issues facing Shan women, particularly the use of systematic rape as a weapon of war.

In 2002, SWAN published its report License to Rape: The Burmese military regime's use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State, which attempted to document "173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army troops in Shan State." The report describes "systematic and widespread incidence of rape" and includes 28 detailed interviews with rape survivors. Its publication attracted global attention to the issue of sexual violence in Burma's internal conflicts. The Burmese military government, the State Peace and Development Council, denied the report's findings, stating that insurgents are responsible for violence in the region.

Majid Tavakoli (Persian: مجید توکلی ‎; born 1986, Shiraz, Iran) is a prominent Iranian student leader, human rights activist and political prisoner. He is a member of the Islamic Students' Association at Tehran's Amirkabir University of Technology, where he studied shipbuilding. He has been arrested at least three times by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence^{[citation needed]} — most recently on 7 December 2009, during the student protests over the disputed Presidential Election of 2009 — and is currently in prison. His arrest and imprisonment is the subject of a campaign of protest against by Iranian men photographed wearing hijabs.

In 2006, he was imprisoned for 15 months for insulting religion and the country's leadership in student publications, an accusation he denies.

Tavakoli was arrested on 7 December 2009 after addressing a crowd at Amir Kabir University of Technology on National Student Day (one of many protests over the disputed June 2009 presidential election). After his arrest, semi-official new websites including Fars News and Raja News published pictures of Tavakoli dressed in women's clothing or "hijab," taken while he was in custody, claiming Tavakoli attempted to avoid arrest by dressing in "women's clothing".

Duško Kostić is founder and president of the "Association of Roma Friendship", Luna. He comes from Beli Manastir in eastern Croatia, and studies at the University of Osijek. On the 25th of November 2010 it was announced that Duško Kostić will receive the Student Peace Prize for 2011, for his work concerning the Roma people’s rights. Through education and educational work he has sought to build bridges and understanding between Croatia's different ethnic groups. The Student Peace Prize is awarded on behalf of all students in Norway.