PhD Thesis Prize

APSA PhD Thesis Prize  Guidelines

Heads of Department in Australian Universities are invited to nominate student doctoral dissertations passed in the previous year for consideration for the Australian Political Studies Association PhD Thesis Prize. Each university may submit only one nomination. It would be the responsibility of the relevant Heads, Directors, and Discipline Chairs within each university to coordinate and ensure a single PhD thesis is nominated for their institution. In cases where multiple nominations are submitted, APSA will accept only the first received. Departments are strongly encouraged to nominate students from groups traditionally under-represented among Australian PhD students.  The submission to APSA should come directly from the Head of School/Department, or if this is not possible, s/he should be copied into the submission email in which it should be indicated that the submission has their endorsement. In the nomination letter, any relative to opportunity circumstances effecting the student can be outlined. The winner of the prize will be announced at APSA 2025 Conference. The prize of A$1000 and a certificate will be awarded at the 2025 APSA Conference. 

A dissertation is eligible for entry in the 2026 competition if it has been passed by its examiners between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025, and the student must be a current financial member of APSA in the year of nomination. 

To nominate a thesis for the prize:

Complete the APSA PhD Thesis Prize Nomination Form (see below) and upload to the prize nomination website with the following attachments:

• A brief report by the supervisor outlining the merits of the dissertation, 
• An electronic / PDF copy of thesis,
• Electronic / PDF copies of all examiners’ reports for thesis, and 
• Evidence of date on which the PhD was passed by the Graduate Research School or equivalent university body (e.g., a copy of the email advising the candidate that their PhD has been passed). This date must fall between 1 January and 31 December 2025. 

Eligible theses will be sent to the judging committee appointed by the Executive Committee of APSA. The judging committee will rely both upon the examiners’ reports and their own reading of the thesis to make their determination. The judging committee will be committed to principles of scholarly merit, equity and inclusion in its decision-making process. Each judge will write a report on the theses they are considering, confer, and reach agreement on the thesis to be awarded the prize. The Chair of the Panel will convey the Panel’s recommendation to the APSA Executive Assistant, who will then advise the winner. 

Members of judging panels should adhere to the Guidance on Identifying and Managing Conflicts of Interest. If the Chair of a judging panel has a significant conflict of interest, they must relinquish their position as Chair to one of the other panelists.

Nomination Form

Download Nomination Form here. 

Please submit your completed Nomination Form as an upload attachment via the Crisp Prize nomination website