Research Committees

Established in 2025.

2025 Competition for Best Post-Graduate Student Paper Award

The International Sociological Association Research Committee on Social Transformations and Sociology of Development (ISA RC09) is pleased to announce for the first time a competition for the award honoring the best post-graduate student paper related to sociological research on social transformations. The winner/s will present her/his/their paper in one of RC09’s scheduled sessions at the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology in Rabat, Morocco, 6-11 July 2025 and their name(s) will be published in the RC09 Newsletter. The award consists of a certificate with a citation and a monetary reward in the amount of up to Euros 500,00 or of 500,00 Euros each in the case of a co-authored paper which can be used toward expenses for attending the Forum. A summary of the finalist paper will be published in the RC09 Newsletter.

Eligibility

Eligible are postgraduate student-authored papers accepted for inclusion into RC09’s program at the 5th ISA Forum of Sociology in Rabat. The author(s) must be registered for a postgraduate degree at a degree granting institution at the time the paper is submitted. Employment as academic staff or junior faculty is no reason for exclusion. Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree (B.A. or equivalent) and must be a PhD student (or equivalent) no more than two years before the completion of the PhD at the time the paper is submitted. A letter of the supervisor must be included confirming the date of the defence. Not eligible are papers that were co-authored with a faculty advisor or someone holding a PhD (or its equivalent), that have been published already, or that have been accepted for publication more than three years prior to submission. Papers must be submitted in English or French with an accompanying English translation in the latter case. The maximum length for the paper is 5,000 words, including bibliography, plus an abstract of not more than 500 words. Winners must be member of both the ISA and RC09 at the time of receiving the award.

Deadline to submit full paper: 15 February 2025

How to submit

Applications must be emailed to dorina.rosca@gmail.com with a copy to uschuerkens@gmail.com and the words “Post-Graduate Student Award 2025” in the subject line and the paper and cover letter as separate attached files. The paper must follow scholarly standards, including proper referencing and documentation of sources. It should be typed double spaced in 12-point font on numbered pages in a standard size (such as A4 or US letter of around 21cm × 29cm) with 3 cm margins. Notes and the bibliography should appear at the end. The paper may be formatted in one of these two formats: Adobe PDF (*pdf),or Word document (*.doc). The front page should bear the paper’s title, brief abstract, and up to five keywords, but not the author(s) name or affiliation.

The cover letter must include author(s) names, full contact information (for the period until July 2025), paper title, and a brief curriculum vitae indicating which institutions were attended in what years and what degrees were obtained or are in progress. The names of degrees must be indicated in the original language; English translation or explanation of equivalency may be added.

Candidates normally residing in the Economic South (= ISA’s category B/C countries) are encouraged to provide further details on their residency status and periods spent abroad to be considered for further special mentioning.

Submissions not conforming to these rules run risk of rejection. The jury reserves the right to request further particulars.

Selection

The papers will be evaluated by an international jury of distinguished scholars. The primary criteria for selection are originality of ideas, social relevance, conceptual rigor, analytical perceptiveness, and clarity of style.

In accordance with RC09’s Award Rules, the jury can decide to split the award, extend special recognition for the best paper from the Economic South (ISA’s category B/C countries), make honorary mentions of runners-up, or to not give an award at all. The winner(s) will be notified in or around late March 2025 so that the inscription to the Forum can be paid by the prize.

(French version available here.)

Recipients

The recipient of the 2025 Competition for Best Post-Graduate Student Paper Award is:

Abdul-Aziz Dembélé for his article “New Figures in Women’s Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Dakar Women Entrepreneurs between the Global and the Local.” More details here.