Book Prize Competition - ESCT Book Prize

The European Society for Catholic Theology will award two prizes for outstanding theological books at the Congress in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, August 20th to August 23rd 2025. The prizes will be awarded in two categories - “Established Scholars” and “Emerging Scholars”. 

General Criteria 

1. The book must have a theological theme and be a monograph. 

2. A book can be proposed by its author or by any ESCT member. 

3. It must be a European book, either by virtue of topic, or with regard to its sources, or because its author comes from Europe or is working in Europe. 

4. Applicants can be established or emerging scholars. Applicants are considered emerging scholars for five years after earning their Ph.D. degree. Two separate book prizes will be awarded: one for a book written by an established scholar, and one for a book written by an emerging scholar. 

5. Current and former members of the ESCT Presidium cannot apply for this award. 

6. The book must be written in a European language.
7. The book must have been published between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2024.  

Acceptance of the decision of the adjudicating panel is a condition of application.  

Application Procedure 

1. The proposer must present a short biography of the author together with a summary of the book setting out the central thesis and main arguments in 3,000 to 5,000 words. The proposal must be in one of the official languages of the European Society for Catholic Theology (English, French, German). 

2. The nominator must submit clear reasons demonstrating why the book should be considered for the prize and how it fulfills the general conditions for a submission. This explanation must be in one of the official languages of the European Society for Catholic Theology (English, French, German). 

3. A printed copy of the book, together with a pdf-file of the book, and the application documents, must be sent to the President of the evaluation committee, Prof. Dr. Margit Eckholt, by 15 March 2025.   

Prof. Dr. Margit Eckholt 
Professur für Dogmatik mit Fundamentaltheologie 
Institut für Katholische Theologie 
Universität Osnabrück 
Schlossstrasse 4 
49074 Osnabrück 
Margit.Eckholt@uni-osnabrueck.de  

The printed books will not be returned to the sender.  

Evaluation Criteria 

The book must meet the standards of quality expected of the academic discipline to which it belongs. In addition, a proposed book will be judged by whether it fulfils at least one or all of the following criteria: 

1. The book should contribute to raising the interest of a broad public in theology. 

2. The book should bring theological research into dialogue with current public issues, such as social, political, or economic problems.
3. The book should make a clear and significant contribution to the scholarly development of theological research.

 Evaluation Committee and Prize 

The committee will make a recommendation to the ESCT Presidium, the Presidium normally confirms these recommendations. The prizes consist of €1,500 in the category “Established Scholars” and of €1,000 in the category “Emerging Scholars”. The prize winners will be the Society’s guests, with all costs covered, at the next International Congress (Dublin 2025).