Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries - Prix d'Excellence du Gouvernement du Québec

Prix d'Excellence du Gouvernement du Québec

You have won a prize of 3,000 Canadian dollars (about 2,000 EUR) for an outstanding academic paper on Québec. The funds are provided by the Government of Québec. The prize is awarded once a year by the Society for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) in collaboration with the Association internationale des études québécoises. You will receive it during the GKS annual conference. Please note: funding has not yet been secured for the current round of applications; therefore, you are applying at your own risk.

Who can apply

• Who you are: You study or do a doctorate at a university in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
• What you submit: An outstanding final thesis (Master’s thesis, diploma thesis, state examination thesis or doctoral thesis) or another published academic work, such as an article, a monograph or an edited volume.
• Field of study: Humanities and social sciences, such as cultural studies, literary studies, linguistics, political science, sociology, history or economics.
• Topic: Your work must focus specifically on Québec. Works that deal generally with Canada, with other provinces or at federal level do not count.
• Language: You have written or published the work in German or French.
• Timing: You wrote or published the work within the two years prior to the award ceremony.
• No double application: You cannot apply for another GKS prize at the same time.

How to apply

Please send your application by 31 October to the GKS office, addressed to the GKS Chair. Please enclose the application form together with a German and a French summary of your work, each limited to a maximum of 300 words. The GKS Executive Committee will make its decision based on your application documents. You will receive a response by 1 February of the following year at the latest.

How realistic are your chances?

This award has very strict eligibility criteria. Your work must focus on Québec, be written in German or French, and originate from a university in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. This means that the pool of eligible candidates is small. If you clearly meet the requirements with a compelling, recent thesis or publication, your chances are good. Bear in mind, however, that funding for the current call for entries has not yet been confirmed; you should therefore weigh up the effort involved against this uncertainty.