Best Paper Prizes
Our growing portfolio of best paper awards are a mix of cash and book prizes generously donated by publishers, foundations, charities, and academics.
Contents: 2019 2017 2015 2013 Full list of prizes (Symposia Iranica)
Best paper awardees
Fourth Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies
12–14 April 2019, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews
Ilse Sturkenboom (Vienna), Melis Taner (Harvard), Aslıhan Erkmen (Istanbul), and Margaret Shortle (Boston)
Ancient India and Iran Trust Prize on Pre-Islamic Iran
Olivia Ramble, PhD 2020, École Pratique des Hautes Études, France
Performative Uses of Monumental Writing in Ancient Iran
Honourable mentions
- Alberto Bernard, MA 2019, University of Padua, Italy
Magi as Mowbed: The Late-Antique Roman Representation of Zoroastrian Clergy - Mariano Errichiello, PhD 2021, SOAS, University of London UK
The Iranian Root of Ilm-e-Khshnoom: A Comparative Analysis with the Beliefs of the Ābādī Sect
Brill Publishers’ Prize in Architecture History
Mahroo Moosavi, PhD 2019, University of Sydney, Australia
Representation of Materiality in 17th Century Safavid Art: An Intertextual Survey of the Epigraphic Programme and Content of the Prayer Hall of Shaykh Lutfullah Mosque
Honourable mentions
- Borna Izadpanah, PhD 2019, University of Reading, UK
Early Persian Printing and Typefounding in Europe - Cailah Jackson, DPhil 2017, University of Oxford, UK
An Illuminated Muzaffarid Manuscript in the Bodleian Library
Brill Publishers’ Prize in Art History
Ana Marija Grbanovic, PhD 2020, University of Bamberg, Germany
Ilkhanid Architectural Interiors and their Re-decoration Interventions: Obscurum per Obscurius?
Honourable mentions
- Andrea Luigi Corsi, PhD 2021, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
A Shared Repertoire: Observations on the Stuccoes of the Abbasid Friday Mosques of Isfahan and Nayin - Fuchsia Hart, DPhil 2020, University of Oxford, UK
The Lustre Tilework from the Tomb of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Samad, Natanz
British Institute of Persian Studies Prize in Modern Iranian Studies –
in memory of Dr Michael Axworthy (1962-2019)
Julia Hartley, DPhil 2016, University of Oxford, UK
Making (Ancient) History: Women and Power in Jane Dieulafoy’s Parysatis (1890)
Honourable mentions
- Maral Sahebjame, PhD 2020, University of Washington, USA
Marriage as a Public Affair: What Cohabitation Unmasks about Civil-Religious Hybridity in Iranian Law - Guan Kiong Teh, PhD 2021, University of St Andrews, UK
‘Middle Eastern Ways of Life’: The Contributions of John Mowlem & Co. Ltd and Iran National to Iranian Soft Power Diplomacy, 1954-66
Combined Academic Publishers’ Prize on Contemporary Iran
Maral Sahebjame, PhD 2020, University of Washington, USA
Marriage as a Public Affair: What Cohabitation Unmasks about Civil-Religious Hybridity in Iranian Law
Edinburgh University Press Prize in Sufism –
in memory of Dr Leonard Lewisohn (1953-2019)
Reza Tabandeh, PhD 2019, University of Exeter, UK
The Role of Gunabadi Sufis in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran
Honourable mention
Parwana Fayyaz, PhD 2020, University of Cambridge, UK
The Role Played by Absāl in Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl
German Oriental Studies Trust: Das Bild – The Visible Orient Prize in Persian Classical Miniature Painting and Manuscript Culture
Theresa Zischkin, MA 2019, University of Vienna, Austria
The Timurid Miʿrājnāma Revisited: Visual Idioms Shaping Religious Space
Carole and Robert Hillenbrand Prize
Alberto Bernard, MA 2019, University of Padua, Italy
Magi as Mowbed: The Late-Antique Roman Representation of Zoroastrian Clergy
Honourable mention
- Delphine Poinsot, PhD 2018, École Pratique des Hautes Études, France
Zoological Knowledge in Sasanian Iran (224 – 651)
I.B.Tauris, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishers’ Prize in Post-Antique History
Manuel Giardino, MPhil 2018, University of Oxford, UK
Medicine as an Example of Yuan-Ilkhanid Intellectual Exchange
Honourable mention
- Alberto Bernard, MA 2019, University of Padua, Italy
Magi as Mowbed: The Late-Antique Roman Representation of Zoroastrian Clergy
I.B.Tauris, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishers’ Prize on Modern and Contemporary Iran
Robert Steele, PhD 2019, University of Exeter, UK
‘A Monarch Better than his Crown’: The Coronation Ceremony of 1967
Honourable mention
- Leonard Michael, MLitt 2019, University of St Andrews, UK
Khaterat-e Hitler by Mohsen Jahansuz: A Persian Adaptation of “My Struggle”?
Institute of Iranian Studies’ Bahram Beyzaie Prize in Iranian Cinema and Performance
Nazli Nikjamal, PhD 2018, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
The Notion of Collective Identity in the Literature of Authors of Iranian Origin in Germany
Honourable mention
- Sheida Dayani, PhD 2018, Harvard University, USA
Andarunis and Birunis of Iranian Plots: Traditional Architecture in Modern Theatre
Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies Prize in Art
Natasha Morris, PhD 2019, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
The King and I: Qajar Portrait Miniatures
Honourable mention
- Shutong Liu, MA 2019, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
Chinese Landscape Elements in the Ilkhanid Manuscript Illustrations: Sources, Adaptations and Perceptions
Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies Prize in History
Andras Barati, PhD 2019, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
The Characteristics and Formulary of Nādir Shāh’s Royal Decrees
Honourable mention
- Arash Poorakbar, PhD 2022, University of Szeged, Hungary
Zīj-e Īlkḥānī: A Study on the Authenticity of its Manuscripts
Best paper awardees
Third Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies
11–12 April 2017, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
Oliver Bast (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Arvin Khoshnood (Lund), Alexander Nachman (Oxford), and Kevjn Lim (Tel Aviv)
Ancient India and Iran Trust Prize on Pre-Islamic Iran
Jamie O’Connell, MA 2017, SOAS, University of London, UK
The Nature of Ritual in the Avestan Hymn to Haurvatāt
Zhan Zhang, PhD 2016, Harvard University, USA
Secular Documents in Khotanese: How to Edit Them and What Do They Tell Us?
Honourable mentions
- Mariano Errichiello, MA 2017, SOAS, University of London, UK
Reactive to Creative: a Khshnoomist Perspective of the Evil Force - Peter Zilberg, PhD 2018, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
On Princes, Exiles and Scribes: An Analysis of the Iranian Name Corpus in Achaemenid Babylonia
Brill Publishers’ Prize in Architecture History
Ms Polina Ivanova, PhD 2019, Harvard University, USA,
and Mr Maxime Duroche, PhD 2017, Paris-Sorbonne University, France
Mapping Artisans’ Signatures in Medieval Anatolia in the Twelfth to Fifteenth Century
Brill Publishers’ Prize in Art History
Naciem Nikkhah, PhD 2019, University of Cambridge, UK
Depicting the Beloved: Text and Image Relationship in Sixteenth Century Persian Painting
Honourable mentions
- Dorothy Armstrong, PhD 2020, Royal College of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK
Reframing the Carpet: The Afterlife of the Ardabil Carpets in the West - Roxana Zenhari, PhD 2014, University of Göttingen, Germany
Prophecy and Propagating Shi‘i Islam Among the Folks: A Survey of Illustrated Lithographed Books of the Qajar Period
Gingko Library Prize in Art History
Borna Izadpanah, PhD 2019, University of Reading, UK
Early Persian Movable Type Printing in India and Egypt
Honourable mentions
- Ricarda Brosch, MA 2017, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
Circuit of Gazes in the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb - Yasmin Siabi, MA 2017, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London UK
Gifts and Gifting and the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasb
Gingko Library Prize in History
Pouye Khoshkhoosani, PhD 2017, University of Arizona, USA
Verbal Representation of Power in Public: Patterns of Safavid Legitimacy
Honourable mentions
- Ceren Çıkın Sungur, MA 2014, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey
The Idealised Ghazi Topos and Âdâb (Codes of Courtesy) in Dâsıtan-ı Tevârîh-i Mülûk-i Âl-i Osman - Reza Zarghamee, PhD 2019, University of St Andrews, UK
Narrative Displacement in Herodotus’s Account of Deioces: The Convergence of History and Legend
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize on Post-antique Iranian History
Peter Edward John Good, PhD 2017, University of Essex and the British Library, UK
Silk, Ships and Shiraz Wine: The Evolution of the East India Company’s Farman in Persia 1622-1747
John Edward Latham, PhD 2018, SOAS, University of London, UK
Shadow of Anushirvan: The North Caucasus in Medieval Iranian Sources
Honourable mention
- Robert Steele, PhD 2018, University of Exeter, UK
Costly Mistake or Valuable Investment? Evaluating the Economic Effect of the 2,500th Anniversary Celebrations
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize in Modern and Contemporary Iran
Anahita Hosseini Lewis, PhD 2020, King’s College London, University of London, UK
Neo-Nazim in Iranian Cyberspace
Honourable mentions
- Shekoufeh Behbehani, MA 2016, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sex Change Operations in Iran: Liberating or Limiting? - Siavash Rokni, PhD 2019, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada
The Rock Music Scene in Iran: Cultural Hybridity as an Expression of Political Enunciation
Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies Prize in Literature
Marko Jovanović, PhD 2018, University of Belgrade, Serbia
The South Slavic Persian Literature
Honourable mention
- Niloo Sarabi, PhD 2017, University of Maryland, USA
Excessive Subjectivities: Shahrnush Parsipur’s Women Without Men and the Girl Who Became a Tree
Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies Prize in Contemporary Art
Daniel Walter, MA 2016, Lund University, Sweden
“Calming Down” the Megalopolis: State-Sanctioned Murals and Tehran’s Visual Cityscape
Honourable mention
- Golbarg Rekabtalaei, PhD 2015, North Carolina State University, USA
Imagining the Nation: “Film-Farsi” and the Depiction of Quotidian Modernity
Best paper awardees
Second Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies
8–9 April 2015, Downing College, University of Cambridge
Ana Marija Grbanovic (SOAS), Richard Piran McClary (Edinburgh), and Robert Hillenbrand (St Andrews)
Ancient India and Iran Trust Prize on Pre-Islamic Iran
Aleksander Engeskaug, MA ‘14, University of Bergen, Norway
Villages and Rural Settlements in the Imperial Economy of Sasanian Persia
Honourable mentions
- Raul Vitor Rodrigues Peixoto, Ph.D Candidate ’17, University of Brasília & Federal University of Goiás, Brazil
The Levelling of the Earth and the River of Molten Metal: Influences of the Great Bundahishn in the Ethiopian Book of Enoch (Book of Parables) - Breton Langendorfer, Ph.D Candidate ’17, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Achaemenid Syntax: Architecture, Metalware and Modularity
Brill Publishers’ Prize in Iranian Architecture History
Richard Piran McClary, Ph.D Candidate ’15, University of Edinburgh, UK
From Nakhchivān to Kemah: The Western Extent of Persianate Funerary Architecture in the 6th/12th Century
Honourable mentions
- Ana-Maria Grbanovic, MA ’14, SOAS, University of London, UK
A Re-examination of the Ilkhanid Buq’a Pie-e Bakran’s Decoration and its Aesthetics - Agnieszka Lic, Ph.D Candidate ’16, University of Oxford, UK
Sasanian Motifs in Christian Stucco Decorations in Mesopotamia and the Gulf Regions in Late Antiquity
Brill Publisher’s Prize in Iranian Art History
Ilse Sturkenboom, Ph.D Candidate ’15, University of Vienna, Austria, and University of Bamberg, Germany
The Paintings of the ‘Freer Dīvān’ of Ahmad Jalā’ir as Non-Illustrative Designs
Honourable mentions
- Mohamad Reza Ghiasian, Ph.D Candidate ’15, University of Bamberg, Germany
The Topkapı Manuscript of Jami’ al-Tawarikh (H. 1654) from Rashidiya to the Ottoman Court - Natasha Morris, Ph.D Candidate ’17, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, UK
‘Opening the Face of Isfahan’: The Safavid Single Page Painting as a Venue for Portraiture - Mira Xenia Schwerda, Ph.D Candidate ‘18, Harvard University, USA
Picturing Revolution: The Role of the Postcard in the Constitutional Period
Global Heritage Fund Prize in Cultural Heritage or Conservation
Natia Dzigua, Ph.D Candidate ’18, Georgian National Museum and the Georgian State Academy of Art, Georgia
Medieval Islamic Metalwork from the Georgian National Museum: Technology and Conservation
Irina Gugunava, Ph.D Candidate ’15, Ivane Javakhishvili State University of Tbilisi and the Georgian National Museum, Georgia
Steel Kashkuls from the Georgian National Museum
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize on Iranian Medieval History
Philip Bockholt, Ph.D Candidate ‘17, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Persian Historiography Revisited: Khvāndamīr’s Habīb al-siyar of 1524 and the Question of How to Write History in Pre-Modern Times
Honourable mentions
- Nicoletta Fazio, Ph.D Candidate ’15, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Perfecting the Prince: Kingship and the Role of Alchemical Knowledge in Iskandar bin ‘Umar Shaykh’s Anthology MS BL Add. 27261. - Andreas Wilde, Ph.D ‘12, University of Bamberg, Germany
The Shāhnāma Revisited? The Imaging of Nādir Shāh’s Transoxania Campaign in Iranian and Bukharan Chronicles
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize on Iranian Modern History
Ruth Almagor Friedel, MA ’15, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Khomeini’s Image in French Intellectuals’ Eyes: A Cross Cultural Mirror Game
Honourable mention
- Alexander Nicholas Shaw, MA Candidate ’15, University of Leeds, UK
‘Strong, United and Independent’: Great Britain, the Communist Challenge, and the Internationalisation of Iranian Politics, 1945-46
Magic of Persia Foundation Prize in Contemporary Iranian Art
Volga Solak, MFA Candidate ’17, San Jose State University, USA
West Meets East Photography Collaborative
Shahnama Centre for Persian Studies Prize in Persian Literature
Sofia Lahuti, Ph.D Candidate ’15, Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia
Letter-Writing in the Shahnameh: Between the Pre-Islamic and the Medieval Persian Traditions
Honourable mentions
- Elliot Bannister, MA Candidate ’16, SOAS, University of London, UK
‘What Wonderful Pictures this Pen has Made!’ The Role of Classical Persian Poetry in Contemporary Iranian Art - Michelle Quay, Ph.D Candidate ’16, University of Cambridge, UK
Gender in Premodern Sufi Persian Literature: Zolaykhā’s Metamorphosis through the Qur’an, Sufi Tafsīr, and the Masnavīs of Farīd al-Dīn ‘Attār
Best paper awardees
First Biennial Conference on Iranian Studies
13–14 April 2013, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews
Timothy Nunan (Oxford), Dmitry Asinovskiy (Tel Aviv), Mary Ann Hiloko Yoshinari (Toronto), Alexander Nicholas Shaw (Leeds), and Ali M Ansari (St Andrews)
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize on Modern History
Denis Volkov, Ph.D Candidate ’14, University of Manchester, UK
Persian Studies and the Military in Late Imperial Russia (1863-1917): State Power in the Service of Knowledge?
I.B.Tauris Publisher’s Prize on Persian Art
Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, MA ’12, Williams College, USA
Persian Style, Christian Subject: Edmund Dulac’s Rendition of the Adoration of the Magi Using Persian Painting Techniques