Best PhD Thesis Prize
Best PhD Thesis Prize
The Best PhD Thesis Prize recognises an outstanding PhD thesis that makes an exceptional and original contribution to contemporary European Studies. Applications are currently open and will close on Monday 25 May 2026 at 23:59 BST.
The Best PhD Thesis Prize is open to anyone. You do not need to be a UACES member to apply though only current members are eligible to receive the award. If you are not yet a member, you can join at www.uaces.org/membership.
Self‑application is warmly encouraged. You do not need your supervisor to put you forward, though applications submitted by supervisors and other colleagues are equally welcome.
Eligibility
- The thesis must have been written in English
- The thesis must have been passed in the 2025 calendar year
- By “passed” we mean the point at which your final revisions were approved
- The thesis must be on a topic within European Studies broadly defined
- A thesis may only be submitted once
Prize
- A £500 cash award
- A commemorative glass award
- A certificate
- Three‑day attendance at the UACES 56th Annual Conference in Prague
- An opportunity to speak in the UACES Award Winner webinar series
- Promotion across UACES social media channels
How to apply
If you meet the eligibility criteria and would like to apply for this award, either for yourself or on behalf of someone else, please complete the online application form.
The form will ask for information about the thesis and confirmation of eligibility, as well as a supporting statement addressing the award criteria.
To help you structure your statement, you may wish to consider the following questions.
- What is the research question, methodology and key findings of the thesis?
- What is the original contribution of this thesis to knowledge in European Studies?
- What new questions does it answer or what new directions does it open?
- What do you see as the future potential of this research? Has any work arising from the thesis already been published?
Previous Winners
Year
Year
Author
Author
Thesis Title
Thesis Title
Institution
Institution
Year
2025
Author
Laura Nordström
Thesis Title
Power of Experts in the EU: Birth of the Troika and Resilience of EMU Paradigm in the European Debt Crisis of 2010
Institution
University of Helsinki
Year
2024
Author
Jeffrey Rosamond
Thesis Title
Green Intergovernmentalism? The European Council, the Council, and Climate Change Policymaking in Times of Crisis
Institution
Ghent University
Year
2023
Author
Yaning Zhang
Thesis Title
A Supranational Guardian with Two Faces: An analytical typology of the European Commision's toleration of noncompliance with EU law
Institution
Fudan University
Year
2022
Author
Marij Swinkels
Thesis Title
The role of EU leaders and ideas in managing the Eurozone crisis: navigating uncharted territory
Institution
Utrecht University
Year
2021
Author
Charlotte Godziewski
Thesis Title
Health in All Policies’ at EU Level: A Critical Analysis
Institution
University of Sheffield
Year
2020
Author
Niels Gheyle
Thesis Title
Trade policy with the lights on: The origins, dynamics, and consequences of the politicization of TTIP
Institution
Universiteit Gent
Year
2019
Author
Anna Wambach
Thesis Title
The European Union in British news discourse from 2014 to 2015: A Dialectical-Relational Critical Discourse Analysis
Institution
Year
2018
Author
Koen Slootmaeckers
Thesis Title
From ‘Strategic Accession’ to ‘Tactical Europeanisation’? The Promotion of and Resistance to LGBT Equality in Serbia’s European Integration Process
Institution
Queen Mary University of London
Year
2017
Author
Lisanne Groen
Thesis Title
The Importance of Fitting Activities to Context: The EU in Multilateral Climate and Biodiversity Negotiations
Institution
Free University of Brussels
Year
2016
Author
Paul Tobin
Thesis Title
Explaining Climate Policy Variation in Developed States
Institution
University of York
Year
2015
Author
Rikke Wagner
Thesis Title
Exit as Voice: Transnational Citizenship Practices in Response to Denmark’s Family Unification Policy
Institution
London School of Economics and Politics Science
Year
2014
Author
Sonja Kittelsen
Thesis Title
The EU and the Securitization of Pandemic Influenza
Institution
Aberystwyth University
Year
2013
Author
Ania Zbyszewska
Thesis Title
Gendering the European Working-Time Regimes - The Universe of Political Discourse, Working-Time Regulation, and Gender Equality in the Wider European Union and in Poland
Institution
University of Victoria
Year
2012
Author
Alison Johnston
Thesis Title
European Monetary Union and Institutional Change: The Perverse Effects of Supranational Macroeconomic Regimes on Wage Inflation
Institution
London School of Economics & Political Science
Year
2011
Author
Eike Klüver
Thesis Title
Lobbying in the European Union: Interest Group Influence on Policy Formulation
Institution
University of Mannheim
Year
2010
Author
Ronan McCrea
Thesis Title
Religion and the Public Order of the European Union
Institution
London School of Economics & Political Science
Year
2009
Author
Frank Häge
Thesis Title
Decision-Making in the Council of the European Union: The Role of Committees
Institution
Universiteit Leiden
Year
2008
Author
Mihalis Kritikos
Thesis Title
Institutions and Science in the Authorization of GMO Releases in the EU (1990-2007): The False Promise of Proceduralism
Institution
London School of Economics & Political Science
Year
2007
Author
Thomas Larue
Thesis Title
Agents in Brussels: Delegations and Democracy in the European Union
Institution
Umeå Universitet
Year
2007
Author
Sara Hobolt
Thesis Title
Europe in Question: The Role of Political Information in Referendums on European Integration
Institution
University of Cambridge
Year
2006
Author
Maria Strömvik
Thesis Title
To Act as a Union: Explaining the development of the EU's collective foreign policy
Institution
Lunds Universitet
Year
2005
Author
Dermot Hodson
Thesis Title
Economic Governance and the Dual Outcome in Euro Area Fiscal Policy 1999-2002
Institution
London School of Economics & Political Science