IUHPST - International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

IUHPST Essay Prize in History and Philosophy of Science 2025

Submission deadline: 15 January 2025

The International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPST) invites submissions for the 2025 IUHPST Essay Prize in History and Philosophy of Science. This biennial prize competition seeks to encourage fresh methodological thinking on the history and philosophy of science and related areas.

For this round of the competition, we invite entries, in the form of an essay of 5,000–10,000 words written in English, addressing persistent methodological challenges in integrated history and philosophy of science. Examples of questions that entries may address include:

What is the role of case studies?
Is current science so different from old science that history is irrelevant to philosophy?
How does philosophical pluralism/monism affect the historiography of science?
Is “scientific revolution” dead as a framing device for the history of science?

Entries may answer one of these questions or a variation thereof; they may also address another persistent methodological challenge in integrated HPS. All entries should consist of original work that has not previously been published. Entries written originally in another language should be submitted in English translation, along with the name and contact details of the translator. Entries will be judged on the following criteria, in addition to general academic quality: direct engagement with the prize topic, effective integration of historical and philosophical perspectives, and potential to provide methodological guidance for other researchers in the field.

The author of the winning entry will be invited to present the work at the 27th International Congress of History of Science and Technology in Dunedin, New Zealand, June 29 to July 5, 2025. Presenting at the Congress will be a condition of the award.

The award will carry a cash prize of 1,000 US dollars and a waiver of the Congress registration fee.

Other strong entries will also be considered for presentation at the Congress. In order to ensure this consideration, entrants should submit the entry also as a standalone paper abstract for the Congress by the deadline for that (December 1, 2024), following the standard instructions indicated on the Congress website.

Entries are invited from anyone, without restriction of age, nationality, or academic status. Co-authored work will be considered; if the winning entry is a co-authored work the cash prize will be shared out among the authors.

This prize is administered by the Joint Commission of the IUHPST, whose remit is to make links between the work of the two Divisions of the IUHPST: the DHST (Division of History of Science and Technology) and the DLMPST (Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology).

Entries for the prize competition should be anonymized and submitted in PDF format by e-mail to the Chair of the Joint Commission, Dr. Agnes Bolinska, Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina (bolinska [at] mailbox [dot] sc [dot] edu). Any queries should also be directed to her. The deadline for submission is 15 January 2025.