The Society for Romanian Studies (SRS) is pleased to announce the Eighteenth Annual Graduate Student Essay Prize Competition. This competition recognizes outstanding, unpublished essays or thesis chapters. Submissions must be single-authored, written in English, and focus on a subject related to Romania or Moldova, broadly and inclusively understood, in any social science or humanities discipline.
The 2026 prize consists of $150, plus a one-year individual membership to the SRS, which includes a subscription to the journal valued at $75. If given, the second-place honorable mention award includes a one-year subscription to the journal.
Current master’s and doctoral students, as well as those who defended dissertations in the 2025–2026 academic year, are eligible to participate in the competition. Submitted works must have been completed within the last two academic years and must not yet have been published. If the essay is a dissertation chapter, include the dissertation abstract and table of contents. Expanded versions of conference papers are also acceptable, provided they are accompanied by a description of the panel and the candidate’s conference paper proposal. Candidates should clearly indicate the format of the submitted essay. Essays and chapters should be no more than 10,000 words and should be double-spaced, including citations.
Applicants should clearly indicate their institutional affiliation and include their current email and postal addresses. Questions can be directed to the committee chair, Professor Corina L. Petrescu (petrescu@olemiss.edu). Please send a copy of the essay and any accompanying documentation in both Word and PDF formats, as well as an updated CV, to all three committee members.
Applicants do not need to be SRS members to be eligible.
The deadline for submissions is October 30, 2026. The winner will be announced on December 15, 2026.
The call in pdf format is available here.
SRS Essay Prize Committee Members:
| Corina L. Petrescu University of Mississippi Email: petrescu@olemiss.edu | Cristian-Nicolae Gaspar Central European University Email: Gasparc@ceu.edu | Andrada Fatu-Tutoveanu Babes-Bolyai University Cluj Email:Andrada.pintilescu@ubbcluj.ro |