ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2024 DOCTORAL THESIS INCENTIVE AWARD

UIC DOCTORAL THESIS INCENTIVE AWARD DIRECTIVE, 2024

The Board of Directors of the International Relations Council Association (UIC), by its decision dated September 5, 2023, and numbered 7, decided to establish the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award to encourage the writing of doctoral theses that will make an original contribution to the International Relations literature.

Under this award program, it is envisaged that doctoral theses completed in the last 1 (one) year in the discipline of International Relations and related fields, including International Law, Political History, Regional Studies, International Relations Theory, International Security, Geopolitics, and similar areas, will be rewarded.

The application, evaluation, and announcement principles for the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award are as follows:

APPLICATION CONDITIONS

Applications must be made with a doctoral thesis completed in the last 1 (one) year at universities in Turkey (for the 2024 applications, this limitation should be understood as those with a submission date of 2023 in the YÖK National Thesis Center Thesis Data Entry Form), in areas including International Law, Political History, Regional Studies, International Relations Theory, International Security, Geopolitics, and similar fields.

Theses consisting of previously published co-authored works (such as articles or book chapters) will not be considered for the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award.

Applications can be made by the thesis author themselves, or by their thesis advisor, rectors of universities with International Relations Departments operating within the borders of the Republic of Turkey, deans of faculties with International Relations Departments, International Relations Departments, senior academics working in a professor position in an International Relations Department for at least 5 years, as well as members of the UIC Board of Directors and the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award Evaluation Committee, by nominating a candidate.

APPLICATION PERIOD

All documents related to the application (including the fully completed Application Form) must be sent electronically to [email protected] by February 19, 2024.

Applications made after this date and any delays in the email will not be considered.

DOCUMENTS TO BE ATTACHED TO THE APPLICATION

Digital copies of the following documents must be attached to the application file:

• Application form; (click here to download and fill out the form)
• Completed doctoral thesis;
• Copy of the YÖK National Thesis Center Thesis Data Entry Form;
• Candidate justification letter: If the application is made by the person themselves, the reasons for candidacy. If the candidate is recommended by someone else, the justification support letter from the recommending person/institution.
• Detailed resume of the candidate;
• If any, a list of the candidate's publications (acceptance letters for publications accepted for publication should be attached);
• Full texts of up to three publications deemed important by the candidate;
• If any, a list of citations to the candidate's publications (Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar Citations outputs);
• A full list of projects the candidate has worked on, academic and administrative duties, memberships in scientific organizations, and awards (project acceptance letters, photocopies of award documents, etc.)
• If the candidate is applying themselves, 2 reference letters; if an institution or person is recommending the candidate, 1 reference letter (must be sent by mail in a sealed envelope with a wet signature to the association's address by the application deadline).

OBLIGATIONS

Individuals deemed suitable for the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award; must attend the 2023 International Relations Studies and Education Congress and personally receive their award. The 2023 Congress will be held from May 23-26, 2024.

2024 UIC DOCTORAL THESIS INCENTIVE AWARD EVALUATION COMMITTEE

(In alphabetical order by surname)

• Pınar Bilgin, Bilkent University
• Münevver Cebeci, Marmara University
• Şevket Ovalı, Dokuz Eylül University
• Bahar Rumelili, Koç University (Committee Chair)
• Oktay Tanrısever, Middle East Technical University

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award Evaluation Committee, during the review of the candidates' scientific files, will consider: the contribution of the thesis to the International Relations literature, its scientific quality, and originality. It will evaluate whether the thesis identifies gaps in the targeted field and provides original and innovative contributions to fill these gaps. During these evaluations, the thesis's main research question, methodology, references to the relevant literature and conceptual framework, discussions on the gap it aims to fill in the literature, its contribution to the field, the potential for publications derived from the thesis, and the originality of the work will be scored.

EVALUATION PROCESS

The technical completeness of the applications will be checked by the UIC Secretariat, and files meeting the application conditions will be delivered to the evaluation committee members.

The Evaluation Committee members will review the candidates' files between March 1 and April 1, 2024, and fill out a scoring table for each candidate. They will also prepare a reasoned report for the candidate(s) they believe should be awarded. The tables and reports prepared by the committee members will be discussed at the UIC Board of Directors meeting to be held in the second week of April, and the scientist deemed suitable for the award will be decided.

The final decision to award the person(s) determined by the committee will be made and announced by the UIC Board of Directors.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS

The announcement of the thesis/theses deemed worthy of the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award will be made in writing to the authors and publicly on the http://www.uik.org.tr website.

Individuals deemed worthy of the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award; will be invited to the International Relations Studies and Education Congress, their accommodation and travel expenses will be covered, and they will be presented with the UIC Doctoral Thesis Incentive Award certificate, plaque, and memorabilia during the congress. The award winners will be announced on the association's website and social media accounts and will be granted a 3-year free subscription to the Journal of International Relations.