Only young researchers, attached or associated with an IACFS member centre are eligible. They include full-time researchers, masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students. Former students of a centre may also apply as long as there is a demonstrable association with the member centre. The age limit is 35 years old at the time of tabling the application.
Young researchers are invited to submit a journal-length article (8 000 - 10 000 words) on a topic dealing with an aspect of federalism. The topic does not need to be linked to the theme of the IACFS annual conference. The paper must be an original work. It may have already been submitted for publication but not published. The paper must be written in English.
The Ronald L. Watts Award for 2023 was awarded to Shahal Khoso (PhD candidate in Political Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain), for the paper "Postcolonial Federalism: tracing colonial state-formation in the Global South".
He presented his paper at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Philadelphia, USA, on 26 October 2023.
The Ronald L. Watts Award for 2022 was awarded to Dr Borui Song, PhD (School of Politics and International Relations, The Australian National University) for the paper “Fiscal Federalism, Equalisation and Political incentives: Evidence from China”.
He presented his paper at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Bilbao, Spain on 28 October 2022.
The Ronald L. Watts Award for 2021 was awarded to Simon Bouthillier (McGill University) for the paper ““Untangling the Gordian Knot: The Regulation of Conditional Transfers in Canada”.
He presented his paper at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Innsbrück, Austria on 28 October 2021.
The Ronald L. Watts Award for 2020 was awarded to Dr. Michelle R. Maziwisa (LLD University of the Western Cape, LLM University of Cape Town, LLB Nelson Mandela University) a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, for the paper "The Role of South African Cities in External Economic Engagements".
She presented her paper at the IACFS Annual Conference held online, on 14 October 2020.
The Ronald L. Watts Award for 2019 was awarded to Jesse Hartery (Honours B.A. in History, University of Ottawa; J.D./B.C.L., McGill University; Diploma in Federalism, University of Fribourg), a teaching assistant to Professor Johanne Poirier at McGill University, for the paper “Institutional Barriers to Sub-National Sovereignty in Myanmar: Lessons from India's Federal Design".
He presented his paper at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Speyer, Germany, on 17 October 2019.
The IACFS Young Researcher Award for 2018 was awarded to Dr. Maja Sahadžić, Research Fellow at the University of Antwerp, for the paper “Can asymmetrical constitutional arrangements provide an alternative answer for the Disputed? Bringing constitutional asymmetries into play in the Middle East peace process”.
She presented her paper to great acclaim at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Canberra, Australia, on 27 October 2018.
The IACFS Young Researcher Award for 2017 was awarded to Ben Fraser, when he was undertaking a Masters of Law at the University of Melbourne, for the paper “Australian Intergovernmental Agreements: Accountability Through a Compact Clause”. He was then (and is now) an Assistant Parliamentary Counsel at the Parliamentary Counsel's Office (WA).
He presented his paper to great acclaim at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Fribourg Switzerland, on 12-13 October 2017.
The IACFS Young Researcher Award for 2016 was awarded to Dr Alice Valdesalici (PhD University of Verona, Italy), a senior researcher at Eurac Research - Institute for Comparative Federalism (Bolzano/Bozen) for the paper “Measuring fiscal responsibility: from 'law in books' to 'law in action'”.
She presented her paper to great acclaim at the IACFS Annual Conference held in New Delhi, India, on 16 November 2016.
The IACFS Young Researcher Award for 2015 was award to Dr Marc Sanjaume (Ph D Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Catalonia), a post doc student at CREQC, University of Quebec at Montreal, for the paper “Reconciling liberal democracy, nationalism and political divorce in federalizing contexts”.
He presented his paper to great acclaim at the IACFS Annual Conference held in Montreal, Canada, on 3 October 2015.
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