The John McCain Dissertation Award is awarded annually to up to two outstanding doctoral dissertations for exceptional academic contributions in the field of political science, history or policy analysis with an emphasis on transatlantic relations — including its security, technological, political, trade and financial, social and cultural dimensions. The award has several components, including participation in Munich Security Conference (MSC) events and a first prize grant of 10,000 Euros.
Excellent doctoral dissertations written in English or German on any aspect of transatlantic relations are eligible for consideration for the McCain Award. Dissertations must have been successfully defended between November 1, 2019 and October 31, 2020 in order to be eligible for the 2021 award. In keeping with Senator McCain’s legacy, preference will be given to dissertations with a primary focus on an essential and important element of transatlantic relations, clear policy implications, and an innovative, rich and rigorous research design.
The selection process will be led by an expert jury which includes Eugénia da Conceicão-Heldt (Hochschule für Politik München/TUM School of Governance), Carlo Masala (University of the Federal Armed Forces), Berthold Rittberger (Geschwister-Scholl-Institute for Political Science, LMU Munich), Trine Flockhart (University of Southern Denmark), Stephanie Hofmann (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), Andrew Moravcsik (Princeton University) and Mark Green (McCain Institute).
Nominations need to include a support letter by a supervisor or member of the thesis committee, a pdf copy of the full dissertation, an executive summary of no more than two pages and a brief academic CV. Self-nominations are not possible. Entries are to be mailed to mccainaward@securityconference.de no later than December 1, 2020.
Find the full Call for Nominations here: https://securityconference.org/assets/02_Dokumente/02_Ausschreibungen/McCainAward_2021_CallForNominations.pdf.