Emerging Scholar Award

Emerging Scholar Award

The ANZATS Emerging Scholar Award is designed to encourage doctoral students and recent graduates to communicate their research and to gain recognition for their work by the community of scholars. The award is for the best academic essay in a theological discipline by an emerging scholar presented at the ANZATS Conference.

Entries for the award can be completed through the conference Call for Papers. Successful entrants are expected to attend the Conference and present their paper in a session determined by the conference organisers.

Only one submission per entrant will be accepted.

All finalists will receive free registration to the conference.

Prize Winner Benefits

  • $800 bursary to support future studies or research
  • Consideration for publication in Colloquium (subject to peer review)
  • Publication of name on ANZATS website

Eligibility

Applicants must be

  • an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, or enrolled in or a graduate of an institution that is a member of ANZATS; and
  • either students currently enrolled in a doctoral award in a theological discipline; or
  • persons with a doctorate in a theological discipline who graduated after 1 January 2023.

Submissions

  • Include evidence of eligibility (doctoral enrolment or date of graduation)
  • For doctoral students: include a letter of support from your Principal Supervisor
  • Essay to be between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length (including footnotes)
  • Essay must not have been previously published

Judging Panel and Selection Criteria

The ANZATS President appoints three ANZATS members as the judging panel for submission. The judges are responsible for:

  • deciding whether the entry is accepted as a paper by a New Scholar for presentation at the ANZATS Conference
  • selecting up to three entries as finalists based on the written submission
  • attending the conference presentations by the finalists
  • selecting one of the finalists as the winner based on the written submission and the conference presentation

Entries are judged on their scholarly excellence with reference to content, style, clarity, and presentation.

The judging panel may exclude applications from ineligible persons, or submissions which are outside the word limit. The judges’ decision on all matters is final.

ANZATS reserves the right not to make the Award during any given year.

Announcements

  • Successful entrants will be advised if their paper has been accepted for presentation no more than 3 weeks after submission.
  • Entrants will be advised if they are a finalist at least three months prior to the conference.
  • The award will be presented to the winner during the conference.

Past Winners

2024
Winner:Maren Phillips – Connected Through Beauty in Genesis 1:1-2:3
Finalists: Sarah Lawson – The Religious Imaginations of Bluey,
Aden Cotterill – Thomas Halik: A Theology for the Post Secular
2023
Winner:Adam Couchman – An Open Table – Converting, Confirming, and Connecting
Finalists: Michelle Eastwood – Shame, Shaming and Disgrace: a hermeneutical lens for reading shame cognates in the Psalms,
Wagdy Samir – The Theological Anthropology of Father Matta Al-Miskin, a Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Desert Father