University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne - Jean Maitron Award

Jean Maitron Award

The author of the best Master’s thesis in the social sciences and humanities on the history of social movements will receive a one-off prize of 1,500 EUR. The prize is awarded by the Centre for Social History of the Contemporary World (CHS), a research centre run by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. It honours Jean Maitron (1910–1987), a trade union educator and later lecturer who founded the centre and launched the biographical encyclopaedia of the French labour movement.

Who can apply

• What is judged: You must submit a completed Master’s thesis (mémoire de master). The prize is awarded for the thesis itself, not for a project or your marks.
• Subject: Your thesis is in the social sciences or humanities, for example in the fields of history, sociology or political science.
• Topic: Your work ties in with the themes explored by Jean Maitron, such as social history, the labour and trade union movements, social movements, gender history, and urban and cultural history. The time period covered may range from the 19 to the 21 century, both in France and abroad.
• Where you studied: You defended your doctoral thesis at a French university.
• Timing: You have successfully defended your doctoral thesis within the last two academic years.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply.

How to apply

Please email your final dissertation as a single PDF file to the awards office by 30 September, 10:00. A panel of judges will review all submitted theses and announce the winner in mid-November. There will be no interviews.

How realistic are your chances?

This award has a narrow scope: only Master’s theses that have been defended at a French university within the last two years and deal with a specific area of social history are eligible. As a result, the pool of applicants remains small compared to open scholarships. If your Master’s thesis corresponds precisely to these topics and has been awarded very good marks, it is definitely worth submitting it. As this is an award presented once a year, the final decision rests with the jury.