The purpose of the David M. Olson Award is to honour a younger scholar engaged in parliamentary / legislative studies, the focus of David Olson’s research and teaching. The recipient will be rewarded for the best self-authored paper presented in one of the RC08 panels at the IPSA World Congress in Lisbon in July 2021. Eligible are doctoral students and PostDocs who completed their PhD dissertation after 2013 (and not serving as a full professor). Authors of co-authored papers are only eligible if all authors satisfy this condition. The Award will then be split among the co-authors. The Award is funded by the Research Committee of Legislative Specialists / RC08 and will be given after the 26th IPSA World Congress. Nominees must have uploaded their full papers on the IPSA website.

Criteria:

  • The paper must be of excellent quality. 
  • The paper must cover a highly relevant topic for parliamentary research. 
  • The paper must make a substantial contribution to parliamentary research. 
  • The paper should have an innovative approach. 
  • The paper should have a strong methodological basis. 

Nominations for the award can be made by one of the following ways: 

  • by a board member of the IPSA Research Committee 08 (RC08); 
  • by the convenor, chair, co-chair or discussant of any RC08 panel at the IPSA World Congress 2020; 
  • jointly by two or more IPSA members of at least two different nationalities; 
  • by an incumbent IPSA Executive Committee (EC) member; 
  • by an IPSA Research Committee other than RC08 (in case of co-sponsored panels). 

Deadline for applications: 31 August 2021

Jury: A jury will decide on the best IPSA World Congress paper on parliamentary issues by a younger scholar. The jury will be composed of the current Chair of RC08 / Legislative Specialists and four additional board members.