Institut Robert Badinter - Jean Carbonnier Award

Jean Carbonnier Award

You are being awarded the 5,000 EUR for an outstanding first research paper on the subject of law and justice. The prize winners are also invited to the European Adamas residencies at the Centre culturel régional de Goutelas in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The prize is awarded once a year by the Robert Badinter Institute in collaboration with the publisher Lefebvre Dalloz and has been in existence since 2005.

Who can apply

• Type of work: You submit a research work on law or justice, at doctoral-thesis level or higher. This can be a defended thesis or a comparable major first work, published or not.
• Field of study: Any subject within the humanities or social sciences is eligible, provided your work deals with law or justice.
• Language: Your work must be written in French.
• Career stage: This must be one of your first research projects on the subject of law and justice. If you have already applied in a previous year, you cannot apply again.
• Timing: You must have completed your work or defended your dissertation in the two calendar years preceding the year of award. For the 2026 round: between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply.

How to apply

Please submit your application documents by 15 April in PDF format via the Institut Robert Badinter’s online platform. The documents must include your complete work, an abstract, two letters of recommendation and your CV. Incomplete applications will be rejected. The selection process consists of three stages: the jury will assess all entries and select eleven finalists, narrow these down to three around October, and announce the winner at the end of the year.

How realistic are your chances?

This is a single national prize in which doctoral theses and first publications from across the entire field of legal and social sciences are assessed; consequently, the competition is extremely fierce, and only one work is awarded the prize each year. Your chances depend on the quality of your research, not on whether you meet specific criteria. The requirements that your work must be written in French, be of the standard of a doctoral thesis, and be among your first works in this field do narrow down the field of applicants somewhat. However, a compelling, highly rated doctoral thesis, backed by two well-founded references, will stand out clearly from the rest.