Ministère de la Justice - Vendôme Award

Vendôme Award (Prix Vendôme)

You will receive a 3,000 EUR prize for a doctoral thesis in the field of criminal law, criminal procedure or criminology. The prize winners are also invited to take part in the ‘Résidences Adamas’ research residency at the Château de Goutelas in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The French Ministry of Justice and the Robert Badinter Institute have been awarding the prize once a year since 2007.

Who can apply

• Degree: You have written and successfully defended a doctoral thesis (PhD).
• Field of study: Your dissertation focuses on criminal law, criminal procedure or criminology and addresses a topic that is relevant to the work of the Ministry of Justice.
• When you defended: You have successfully defended your doctoral thesis within the specified timeframe. For the 2026 round, this period runs from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2025.
• First-time applicants only: You cannot apply if you entered in an earlier year.
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply; there are no restrictions for the current round.
• University: Every university at which you obtained your PhD counts.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted via the Institut Robert Badinter website. The call for applications opens every year towards the end of February, and the deadline for applications is 15 April. A jury first shortlists three doctoral theses, each of which is assessed by two reviewers, and then selects the winner at a joint meeting.

How realistic are your chances?

This prize has very strict criteria. Only completed doctoral theses in the field of criminal law or criminology that have been defended within a short period of time and are of significance to the Ministry of Justice are eligible. As a result, the pool of eligible candidates is small. If your thesis fits precisely within this field and timeframe, you have a genuine chance of winning; however, as only one winner is selected each year, the quality of the thesis is ultimately the deciding factor.