The Executive Board of European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) is delighted to announce the opening of the competition for the annual Taiwan Studies Dissertation Award (TSDA) for the academic year of 2021-22. The TSDA is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled at a European or British institution who submit their dissertations during the academic year of 2021-22. Students in the disciplines of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences whose dissertations are focused on, related to, or comparing Taiwan with other case studies are eligible to participate in the competition for TSDA.

To encourage the development of Taiwan Studies across disciplines in Europe, EATS will issue two undergraduate awards and two postgraduate awards. Each will be presented with an official certificate and a modest monetary prize. All submissions will be blind reviewed independently by experts in the relevant fields. The working language is English. The word count for undergraduate dissertations is between 10,000 and 12,000 words. The word count for postgraduate dissertations (Master’s, MPhil) is between 10,000 and 15,000 words. The primary criterion for assessment is the intellectual rigour of the dissertation. The deadline for submitting both undergraduate and (MA/MPhil) dissertations is 31st January 2023. The deadline has been extended to 28th February 2023. 

There are two channels for submission:

(1) by self-nomination: if you are a student, please send your dissertation together with your CV (including the names of your supervisors). 

(2). by recommendation: if you are a supervisor and would like to nominate a dissertation under your supervision, please send a copy of the dissertation.

Please submit to and direct any related queries to Dr Chun-yi Lee at chunyi.lee@eats-taiwan.eu

Please title your email as:

2021-22 TSDA submission-BA dissertation or

2021-22 TSDA submission-MA/Mphil dissertation

Winners of the 2020-21 Taiwan Studies Dissertation Award

  • Jiaxu Yao, Ta Kung Pao and the Republic of China’s Irredentist Narratives on Taiwan in the Wartime Years, 1941-1945 (BA of Arts in History and Politics, University of Oxford)
  • Dominika Remžová, Between Retribution and Restoration: Contextualising Transitional Justice Legislation in Post-Transition Slovakia and Taiwan (MA Taiwan Studies, SOAS).

Winners of 2019 and 2020 Taiwan Studies Award

  • (2020) Sam Robbins, SOAS University of London, The Democratisation of ‘Unsafety’: Framing Taiwan’s ‘Danger Wave’ of 1996-1998. BA in Sinology (Modern and Classical Chinese).
  • (2019) Maja Korbecka. Chinese Diaspora Filmmakers in Contemporary Taiwan Cinema. MA in Film and New Media Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, June 2018.
  • (2019) Peril Li. Engaging the Public: What Can Taiwan Tourism Learn from the Sunflower Movement? MSc in Asian Politics, SOAS University of London, September 2018.
  • (2019) Giulia Mengato. Government Support or Private Investment? Developing Community-based Tourism on Taiwan’s East Coast. MA in Anthropology of Travel and Tourism, SOAS University of London, September 2018.