Regulamentul „Premiului pentru teze de doctorat Șerban Papacostea” în limba română (descarcă)

Call for Submissions for the “Serban Papacostea Dissertation Prize”

The Balkan History Association (BHA) is delighted to announce the inaugural competition for the “Serban Papacostea Dissertation Prize”. The prize will be awarded in honor of Professor Serban Papacostea (1928-2018), descendant of a family of intellectuals from the Pindus Mountains, disciple of Gheorghe I. Bratianu and Andrei Otetea, member of the Ligurian Academy of Sciences and Letters, director of the “Nicolae Iorga” Institute of History in Bucharest (1990-2001), member of the Romanian Academy, and nephew of Victor Papacostea, founder of the Institute of Balkan Studies and Research in Bucharest in 1937. As a PhD supervisor, Serban Papacostea was a source of inspiration for many doctoral students, whom he encouraged throughout his long career.

The annual award carries a financial component of €200 plus a year’s membership of the BHA, and the possibility to include the dissertation as a monograph in the book series “South-East European History” published by Peter Lang. BHA members will receive two hardcopies of Hiperboreea per year. Their latest publications as well as other scientific activities will be included in an annual newsletter, which will be distributed among members, partners, and collaborators.

Eligibility criteria: The submitted doctoral dissertation must be written in English by a researcher in any social science or humanities discipline (including archaeology), whose research is related to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of the Balkan region.

Applications from all over the world are accepted, with a special attention to South-East Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey). If you are not sure whether your dissertation is eligible, please send an email to the vice-president of the BHA, Dr. Dorina Dragnea (dorinaonica@yahoo.com). Dissertations that were completed during the last two academic years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) will be taken into consideration. BHA members can also apply.

Peer-review policy: Peer-review will be made by one or two specialists appointed by the Executive Board of the Association, who will fill in a specific form. They will be selected to represent the diversity and scholarly excellence of the discipline related to the application. The Executive Board may reject the applications which are not following the eligibility criteria before selecting the reviewers.

Submission and Deadline: To be considered for this competition, please send a brief letter of interest that includes the title of your dissertation, an abstract, and some proof of eligibility in regards to citizenship or residence and when your dissertation was completed (max. 1200 words). This proof may be as simple as an email or signed letter from your dissertation advisor, confirming the academic year when the dissertation was deposited. We need to receive the initial inquiry before January 15th, 2023, in order to ensure speedy reply. The letter of interest needs to be sent to the vice-president of the BHA. Deadlines do not have a fixed date, but may vary depending on review delays or other logistical reasons. These will be set each year in advance.

Please send the dissertation in a digital format that can be easily shared, as a pdf or Word document. The dissertation needs to be sent to the vice-president of the BHA. Documents that are very large may not come through. If you have illustrations that render the document very large, please contact us directly. The deadline for submitting the dissertation is February 1st, 2023. It can be extended if there are not at least two registered candidates. The winner of the competition will be announced no later than May 15st, 2023.

In memoriam Șerban Papacostea. Requiescat in pace!