Call for papers: Emotions in Politics and International Relations Working Group best thesis prize 2026
The Emotions in Politics and International Relations (EPIR) Working Group is pleased to announce the 2026 EPIR Thesis Prize, awarded for the best doctoral thesis on emotions in Politics and International Relations.
The prize aims to recognise and support outstanding early-career scholarship contributing to the study of emotions in Politics and IR, broadly and interdisciplinarily conceived.
The prize is sponsored by the EPIR Working Group in collaboration with the Brill Critical Emotion Studies book series. The winning thesis will be selected by a panel appointed by the Working Group conveners together with the series co-editors.
In addition to recognition at the 2026 BISA annual conference, the prize winner will be offered a meeting with the Brill series editors and the opportunity to submit the thesis for consideration for publication in the Critical Emotion Studies series.
Eligibility criteria
- Theses must have been submitted on or after 1 March 2023.
- Submissions should make a significant scholarly contribution to the study of emotions in Politics and International Relations.
- The thesis must be original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere.
- The thesis must not have been previously submitted for this prize.
- Applicants do not need to be BISA members, and attendance at the conference is not required.
How to apply
Applications should include:
- the doctoral thesis
- a short biography (150 words)
- a CV.
Please send all materials to: epir.group@bisa.ac.uk
Letters of recommendation are not required, and self-nominations are encouraged.
The deadline is 20 March 2026.
We warmly encourage scholars who have recently completed their doctorates, as well as supervisors who wish to bring this opportunity to the attention of their students, to consider applying.
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