Awards
Student Awards
The Canadian Sociological Association, Research Clusters, and Congress sponsored awards featured as part of the annual Conference.
The Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) is committed to the values and principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization. We recognize and honour the intersectionality of equity-based identities. The CSA therefore invites and encourages the nomination (including self-nomination) of members from marginalized groups, including Indigenous peoples, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, persons who identify as women, and/or LGBTQ2+.
Award Recipients:
CSA - Best Student Paper Awards
PhD Category: Harmata Aboubakar, University of Toronto - Shared History Yet Divergent Memory: Reconstructing the Violence of Chad’s Cut-Cut Massacre
MA Category: Adhika Ezra, University of Regina - The Role of Milieu in Governance: The Case of Homelessness and Extreme Weather in Regina
Undergraduate Category: Julia Moniz-Lecce, University of British Columbia - Racial Disparities in Homeschooling: Exploring Motivations, Barriers, and Access to Alternative Education in Canada
Research Cluster Best Student Awards
Economic Sociology: Nicolas Viens, University of British Columbia - Public Funds, Private Gains: Offshore Havens and the Limits of De Risking Decarbonization
Internet, Technology and Digital Sociology: Zihao Zhou, University of Toronto - Do discrimination and exclusion leave with dating apps? An exploration of self-presentation of Chinese gay men dating on Douban Group
Internet, Technology and Digital Sociology - Honourable Mention: Kathleen Rose, University of Windsor - It’s all Fun and Games: Gender and Body Positivity in Gaming
Political Sociology and Social Movements: Ahmadreza Mohammadpouryazdi, Concordia University - Mobilizing Collective Trauma: How the PS752 Families Association Turned Grief into Transnational Justice and Political Resistance
Sociology of Childhood and Youth: Mehdia Hassan, OISE-University of Toronto - Afghan youth’s metaphorical and relational understandings of the self and the world
Sociology of Mental Health: Fahimeh Mehrabi, University of Calgary - A Meta-Analysis on Social Robots Filling the Void of Loneliness in Later Life
Work, Professions and Occupations: Michael Slinger, University of Ottawa - Managing Ignorance through Everyday Clinical Interactions: How Practitioners Use Ignorance to Reaffirm Their Professional Authority
Work, Professions and Occupations: Yan Xu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Ranks and Goals at Workplace: Employees’ Organizational Commitment in a Manufacturing Start-up in China
Congress Student Merit Awards
Abu Saleh Mohammad Sowad, Concordia University
Ahmadreza Mohammadpouryazdi, Concordia University
Capri Kong, University of British Columbia
Chenyu Liu, University of Manitoba
Elizabeth Cameron, Dalhousie University
Isabella Palumbo, Brock University
Jessica Stallone, University of Toronto
Md Saidur Rashid Sumon, University of Manitoba
Neela Hassan, University of Waterloo
Ping Lam Ip, University of Alberta
Pouya Morshedi, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador
Sonia Lewis, York University
Sophie Xiaoyi Liu, University of British Columbia
Xueqing Zhang, University of British Columbia
Awards Offered
Nomination Deadline: April 15, 2025
This award is presented annually by the Association to the graduate student whose paper, presented at the Annual Canadian Sociological Association Conference (in-person or virtual section) in the year of the award, is judged by the Association’s Awards Committee to be the best among those received for adjudication.
Author Eligibility:
1. Member of the Canadian Sociological Association (must be active at the time of application and through June 13, 2025).
2. Registered Congress delegate with the Canadian Sociological Association in-person Conference section June 1 - 5, 2025 OR Registered for the Canadian Sociological Association virtual Conference section June 9 - 13, 2025).
3. Currently registered Undergraduate, MA, or PhD student (at the time of application and through June 13, 2025).
Note: An author may submit only one paper for consideration in a given year and cannot have received the award in the previous three years.
Paper Eligibility:
4. Paper must be student authored or co-authored. Papers co-written with faculty are not eligible.
5. The paper must be approved for presentation (and subsequently presented) at the Canadian Sociological Association Annual Conference in-person or virtually.
6. The paper must be unpublished and not yet approved for publication.
7. Paper length may not exceed 10,000 words (40 pages) maximum, including bibliography and appendices.
9. Paper must be formatted in Times New Roman font (12) and the margins must not be adjusted (2.54 cm margins).
10. May be written in English or French.
Submitting Nominations:
Students may self-nominate.
Download nomination submission instructions
Email nomination packages to the CSA Office (office@csa-scs.ca) by April 15, 2025.
Honouring the Award Recipients
The award recipient will receive a certificate, a prize of $500 CAD (to be shared amongst co-authors if applicable), and acknowledgement in Canadian Sociological Association communications and on the website.
Deadline: April 4, 2025
The Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) supports its scholarly associations’ collective desire to facilitate the participation of exceptional graduate students in Congress activities. Graduate students enrich the Congress experience for all participants by contributing to knowledge production through research and presentations, and, more generally, through their presence and interactions with fellow colleagues and members of the broader community.
The Federation in partnership with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has introduced a pilot program to provide funding to select graduate students as endorsed by member Associations.
The Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) will be eligible for up to five endorsed students who will each receive a $500 award. The intention is for this award to be based on merit rather than financial need and offered in addition to other student funding programs utilized by the Associations. A commitment to increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion is to also be considered when selecting students to endorse.
Eligibility
1. Member of the Canadian Sociological Association (must be active at the time of application and through June 13, 2025).
2. Currently registered MA or PhD student (at the time of application and through June 13, 2025).
3. Registered Congress delegate with the Canadian Sociological Association in-person Conference section June 1 - 5, 2025.
4. Approved presenter in the Canadian Sociological Association Conference session (in-person Conference section June 1 - 5).
Note: Applicants may not have received this award in previous years.
The CSA Conference Program Committee will be adjudicating this award and will be communicating the results on or about April 15, 2025.
Apply for the 2025 Congress Student Merit Award
Several Canadian Sociological Association Research Clusters adjudicate Best Student Paper Awards as part of our annual Conference programming.
Research Clusters may select up to 3 recipients in a specific year based on student level (Undergraduate, MA, or PhD). All recipients will receive a certificate and ‘Commit Sociology’ T-shirt (while supplies last). Each cluster may select only 1 recipient in a specific year to receive a $100 prize sponsored by the Canadian Sociological Association.
Economic Sociology
Internet, Technology and Digital Sociology
Political Sociology and Social Movements
Race and Ethnicity
Social Theory
Sociology of Childhood and Youth - Presentation Award
Sociology of Culture
Sociology of Mental Health
Sociology of Migration
Urban Sociology
Work, Professions and Occupations