Research Committees

Established in 2012. Current edition: 2026.

The RCHS Junior Scholar’s Prize was instituted in 2012 by the Research Committee on History of Sociology (RC08) of the International Sociological Association.

The sixth edition is open for entries.

Aim

The aim of the prize is to encourage research among junior scholars within the field of history of sociology.

The competition

Papers eligible for consideration will focus on topics, case studies, debates and/ or perspectives linked to the interests and goals of this research group. These papers have ideally been discussed at an academic meeting within the last two years, including specially sessions arranged by the RC08 (either the online conferences held during 2024 or the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology held in Rabat, 2025). Papers that have already been published, or submitted for publication, are not eligible for consideration.

The winner of the prize (€500) will be announced by the jury to the Steering Committee. The awarded paper will be considered for publication in Serendipities: The Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences. The Jury may also recommend one or two runners up for the prize, and these papers may also be considered for publication in the same academic journal.

Information about Serendipities: The Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences can be found at: https://tidsskrift.dk/Serendipities.

Eligibility

The contest is open to any active members of the RC08 in the early stages of their careers, i.e. they should be either PhD candidates or their PhD degrees should not be older than three years (the degree should have been awarded during 2023 or later).

Submission

Submissions to the ISA RC08 Junior Scholar's Prize need to include:

• An anonymised version of the paper (maximum 8,000 words);
• A statement to confirm AI has been used responsibly, that is, only for searching information or improving language. Any abuse or misuse of these tools may result in the elimination of the paper from the competition;
• A short CV (maximum 2,000 words);
• A covering letter with a brief bio (max. 300 words), contact information, title and abstract.

Submissions should be sent via email (with “RC08 Prize” in the subject line) to the RC08 secretary (depereyra@sociales.uba.ar) no later than February 15, 2026. The Secretary will forward all submitted contributions to the jury members directly after the deadline. Please note: candidates must not enter into any discussion about the prize with jury members.

Evaluation

The prize committee will consist of three jury members, of which at least the chairperson should be drawn from the RCHS Board. For the 2026 edition, the Jury will be comprised of Hedvig Ekerwald (Sweden), Philipp Altmann (Ecuador) and Stéphane Dufoix (France).

Announcement

The winner of the prize will be announced by the jury to the Steering Committee and a decision publicly announced in the June Newsletter of 2026.