USJF Now Taking Nominations for Second Annual PhD Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies

The United States-Japan Foundation (USJF) is now accepting nominations for its second annual dissertation award recognizing excellence in social sciences research on Japan. Departments may nominate up to two dissertations accepted between January 1, 2025, and June 13, 2026; complete nominations are due June 15, 2026, and should be emailed to scholars@us-jf.org.

This year, the award has been named the Richard J. Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies, honoring the distinguished scholar’s lifelong contributions to the study of Japan and to USJF’s mission of deepening understanding between the United States and Japan.

The 2026 Samuels Dissertation Award in Japanese Studies defines the social sciences broadly to include—but not be limited to—anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, and related fields such as demography, finance, and global/regional studies. Applicants are not required to be U.S. citizens.

An honorarium of $2,500 will be awarded to the author of the dissertation that best uses Japanese sources and social science methods to offer fresh insights and innovative perspectives with implications for Japan’s contemporary politics, economy, or social relations. The awardee will also be invited to deliver a presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in March 2027. Qiaoyan Li Rosenberg was awarded in 2025 for her original research on labor migration programs in Japan. Dr. Rosenberg is a graduate of UCLA’s Department of Sociology and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University.

“I am proud to be associated with the USJF’s effort to honor excellent research in Japanese Studies by U.S.-trained social scientists,” said Samuels, a former Trustee of the Foundation, the Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and director of the MIT-Japan Program. “It is my hope that this initiative will draw attention to important work by promising young scholars and deepen the public’s understanding of contemporary Japan.”

"Dick Samuels is a giant in the field and we believe that presenting an annual award in his honor will inspire future scholars to follow in his footsteps," said USJF President Jacob M. Schlesinger. 

The 2026 award committee will be composed of Sabine Frühstück, Distinguished Professor and Koichi Takashima Chair in Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara; David Leheny, Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda University; and Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies, Professor of Sociology, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

Submission guidelines

• Dissertations must have been accepted between January 1, 2025, and June 13, 2026.
• Nominations must be submitted by the PhD recipient’s department head or academic dean; self-nominations are not accepted.
• Each academic department may submit no more than two dissertations.
• Completed nominations (PDF of the dissertation plus a cover letter detailing the dissertation’s specific contributions) are due by June 15, 2026, and should be emailed to scholars@us-jf.org.
• The winner will be announced by September 1, 2026.

About the United States-Japan Foundation (USJF)
The United States-Japan Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization working to strengthen bilateral ties and address shared challenges. We empower next-generation leaders and fund innovative initiatives, catalyzing collaboration and exchanges among stakeholders in search of solutions. Learn more at us-jf.org.

Inquiries: scholars@us-jf.org