CSLS Prize in Language and Social Justice

The Center for the Study of Language and Society (CSLS) at the University of Bern seeks to support research on language and social inequality in the Swiss context and to promote the importance of language and language issues for the creation of a more just and equal society.

As part of this goal, the CSLS has created the CSLS Prize in Language and Social Justice. The prize is awarded annually to a junior researcher (PhD student or early postdoc) who has conducted research on language, inequality and social (in)justice in Switzerland. The winner will be awarded a prize of CHF 3'000, intended to support them in communicating their research findings to a non-academic public and/or in developing real-world applications of their research. The winner will also be invited to present a guest lecture about their research in December 2022.

Eligibility

• Current PhD students and early postdoctoral researchers (< 3 years post-PhD award) are eligible to apply.
• Applicants should be affiliated with a higher education institution in Switzerland. We encourage research and outreach activities that deal with issues of language and social (in)justice in Switzerland itself, though projects focusing on any area of the world are eligible to apply.
• The underpinning research on language, inequality and social (in)justice may be already completed or in progress, though if in progress it should be at a sufficiently advanced stage such that results, and potential applications of those results, can be discussed.

Application Process

• To apply, applicants should fill in the form below, where they will be required to provide a brief summary of the relevant research, a statement about how this research relates to issues of language, inequality and social (in)justice, and a description of the type of outreach and/or social impact activities the prize money would help to support.
• Applicants should email this form along with a short (2-page) CV to info.csls@unibe.ch by Friday 2 September 2022.
• Application materials may be submitted in German, French, Italian or English.
• The 2022 prize winner will be announced by the end of September 2022.