The Early Career Award is intended to reward promising junior researchers in the field of the Psychology of Religion. It is awarded once every two years at the IAPR conference, for outstanding quality of research.
Eligibility criteria
Young scholars at the postdoctoral or early career academic level (holding a PhD for 0-7 years maximum) working in the field of psychology of religion.
The date of the first PhD (defense date) is considered for the calculation of the eligibility period. The eligibility period can be extended beyond 7 years for the following properly documented circumstances, provided they started before the call deadline:
Maternity/paternity: extension by the documented time of maternity/paternity leave taken until the call deadline for each child born before or after the PhD award.
Long-term illness, military service, care leave for close relative: extension by the documented time of leave taken until the call deadline for each child born before or after the PhD award.
Young scholars committed to actively participate at the upcoming IAPR conference meeting.
The winner of the award is committed to attend the IAPR2025 meeting (Birmingham-the United Kingdom) and deliver a keynote addressing the relevance of his/her work for the field of psychology of religion and describing the future direction of his/her research. The winner is expected to submit a 8-10K word manuscript to the Archive for the Psychology of Religion one month before the award-winning ceremony.
Assessment criteria
The award intends to support and stimulate young scholars who aim to pursue a scientific career in psychology of religion. The award is in recognition of their work.
Criteria are
- Candidate with high potential to become an expert scholar in psychology of religion
- Novelty in research content and/or research methods.
- Significant publications or other means of dissemination, both in international and national proceedings (with emphasis on first-author publications).
- Significant contribution to the discipline of psychology of religion – research and/or practice (visible in, for example, publications in psychology of religion-journals, presentations at conferences in the field or on the work floor, indications of a network in the field of psychology of religion, etc).
The working context of the Candidate (size of the lab, available expertise at the lab, location of the lab) is taken into account.
Procedure
Nominations and self-nominations are possible. Research portfolios should be sent via email to Hisham Abu-Raiya. The message sent should be titled “Nomination for the IAPR Early Career Award”. The deadline of the application is 15 Feb 2025.
The research portfolio consists of:
- Candidate’s curriculum vitae, including a list of publications, recognitions, presentations, master student supervisions, grants, and other achievements or output.
- A synopsis (max. 600 words) describing the research career and significant contributions to the discipline, characterizing the research completed and in progress.
The jury decides on a list of 3 ranked nominees. The list is sent to the IAPR Board. Nominees receive an official nomination e-mail and their names are printed in the next edition of the IAPR Newsletter. The first-ranked nominee is contacted. When commitment is given with regard to the keynote & manuscript, he/she is recognized as an award winner. If the first-ranked nominee declines, the second-ranked is contacted. Nominees who are not selected as an award winner are encouraged to re-apply in the next edition (if still eligible).
The award committee
- Lars Danbolt
- Kate Loewenthal
- Vassilis Saroglou
- Mary Ruth Esperandio
- Hisham Abu-Raiya