Supporting early-career scholars is a particular priority for the Association for African Studies in Germany (VAD e.V.). In 2026, the Association will present the VAD Young Scholars Award for the twelfth time. The award is endowed with 3 prizes of 1,000 Euros each or 2 prizes of 1,500 Euros each. A jury composed of members of the VAD Executive Board and Extended Board decides on the award.
Eligible for the award are outstanding dissertations and master’s theses from various disciplines on a topic related to Africa completed between 29 February 2024 and 28 February 2026 at a university in a German-speaking country.
All VAD members may submit nominations for a thesis they deem worthy the award. Self-nominations are permitted.
The works and the accompanying reviews must be submitted to the organizing team of the VAD Conference at the University of Basel by 3 May 2026 in electronic form. To do so, please send all documents with the subject line “Nachwuchspreis” to sgas-vad-2026@unibas.ch. The documents must be named as follows, using only the names of the nominated candidates:
- Name_Firstname_thesis.pdf
- Name_Firstname_review.pdf
Printed documents will not be considered.
The VAD will notify beneficiaries at the beginning of August 2026. The award-ceremony will take place in the framework of the VAD-Tagung in Basel.
