Bourse pour les Jeunes Chercheurs en Afrique Francophone

The GIS Études africaines en France (CNRS, UAR 2999) is organizing its 2024 Thesis Award for two laureates. A sum of €2,500 will be granted to each laureate to support the publication of their thesis with ENS Éditions.

Eligible works are those defended in French and in France, between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, in all disciplines of humanities and social sciences, and literature (anthropology, geography, history, languages and literature, political science, sociology, archaeology, etc.).

The GIS Études africaines Thesis Award aims to recognize two research works focused on the African continent and its diasporas that stand out for their excellence and particularly innovative content (in terms of empirical, methodological, or theoretical aspects).

Thesis Selection Criteria

• The quality of the contribution to studies on Africa and its diasporas;
• The originality of the subject, the innovative nature of the approach, and its relevance to the overall field (African studies);
• The quality of writing for publication.

Timeline

• Application deadline: February 26, 2024, at midnight (Paris time)
• Pre-selection jury at the end of March (selection of 8 theses)
• Final jury in June (two finalists ex aequo)

Documents to be sent before February 26, 2024, at midnight (Paris time)

The application file, exclusively in .pdf format, must include the following documents:

• Application form to download (1 to 3 pages), titled: NAME_Form_2024
• Thesis summary (maximum 5,000 characters), titled: NAME_Summary_2024
• Defense reports, titled: NAME_Report_2024
• Thesis, titled: NAME_Thesis_2024
• Send to the following address: kadiatou.barry@cnrs.fr

Application Conditions

The competition timeline is published on the GIS Études africaines website and will be relayed by appropriate means: https://etudes-africaines.cnrs.fr/type-actualite-gis/prix-de-these/

Applications must be submitted exclusively to the email address of Kadiatou Barry, Support Officer at GIS Études africaines en France: kadiatou.barry@cnrs.fr

Once their eligibility is validated, the files will be reviewed by an initial pre-selection jury of thirty-three members who will draw up a shortlist of finalist candidates (8 applications). This list will be published on the GIS Études africaines websites. Subsequently, a final jury will designate the two finalist laureates.

Eligible applicants are those who have defended their thesis:

• In the year preceding the award (between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023)
• Written in French and defended in France
• In all disciplines of humanities and social sciences
• For which a defense report will be available for the award juries

The prize cannot be combined with another distinction of the "thesis prize" type. Therefore, selected candidates commit to reporting any award received before the final jury (whose date will be available online on the GIS EAF website). Similarly, a thesis that is in the process of being published by other means cannot compete.

Evaluation Procedures

The evaluation of the theses and the award will be carried out by two successive juries composed of members of the GIS Études africaines, to which external scientific personalities may be added. During the selection process, each thesis will be reviewed by two evaluators. Jury members from the defense and follow-up committees are excluded from the evaluation, while researchers or teacher-researchers from the candidate's affiliated laboratory may potentially be part of the jury.

Contractual Obligations of the Laureates

• Participate in the award ceremony under the auspices of GIS Études africaines, which will take place in September 2024 at Campus Condorcet
• Submit a revised chapter of the thesis for submission to ENS Éditions before the end of 2024

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