Apply for New Mandala’s Emerging Scholar Award

Dear readers

Have you recently completed, or will you soon complete, a PhD program in the social sciences or humanities, with a thesis topic related to Southeast Asia? Are you looking to bring the insights of your research to bear on discussions of Southeast Asia’s past, present and future?

If it’s yes to both, then I’m pleased to invite you to apply for New Mandala’s Emerging Scholar Award. With support from the Australian National University, through this initiative New Mandala aims to promote the dissemination of outstanding PhD research on Southeast Asia to a global readership, and build emerging scholars’ skills in drafting and editing their work to reach audiences beyond academia.

The program will award 15 successful applicants A$1,000 each to work with New Mandala’s editors to prepare a 3,000 word essay based on their doctoral research, which will be published at New Mandala in early 2025.

Your research and the essay that is based upon it should focus on a country or countries in Southeast Asia (which here means the members of ASEAN plus Timor Leste). We especially encourage submissions from authors working in disciplines that are underrepresented in public-facing commentary on Southeast Asian affairs, such as history, archaeology and linguistics.

To be eligible to apply for this Award, you must be in the third year or above of a PhD program or have graduated from a PhD program in 2022 or later. Please note that those who have received financial benefits from New Mandala in the past are not eligible to apply.

In deciding on which 15 applicants will be awarded this Award, consideration will be given to:

• the apparent originality of your research to academic knowledge about Southeast Asia;
• the relevance of your research to discussions of Southeast Asia’s past, present, and future of likely interest to New Mandala’s readership; and
• appropriate diversity of academic discipline, gender, and nationality among recipients.

How to apply

Please apply for the Award using this Google form by 5pm Canberra time on Friday 6 September 2024. (Please note that this will require you to sign in using a Google account).

You will need to provide the following materials:

• A 300 word abstract that outlines the focus of the essay drawing on your PhD research
• A current CV
• You will also need to certify that you are able to deliver a full draft of your article by 1 November 2024. 

Eligible applications will be considered by members of New Mandala’s Editorial Advisory Board and applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by 1 October.

Please get in touch with me at [email protected] if you have any questions that aren’t answered by the information provided here. We look forward to reading your submissions and helping you bring the insights of your research to a global audience.

Liam Gammon | editor