Prize papers for 2025
At the Annual Commemoration Ceremony on 8 November 2024, the University announced the subjects of the prize papers for 2025.
Besides the interdisciplinary prize paper, the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Theology call for prize papers.
The papers must be submitted by
12:00 noon on Wednesday 15 January 2026
via email to the faculty in question:
Humanities: prisopgave@hum.ku.dk
Theology: pic@teol.ku.dk
Interdisciplinary prize papers must be sent to prisopgaver@adm.ku.dk
The medals will be awarded at the Annual Commemoration Ceremony in November 2026.
Prize papers for 2025
The sea affects the life of the entire globe, both human and non-human. The sea is the source of life on Earth and a fundamental for nature, the climate, ecosystems and hence human existence.
In some places, the sea is the key livelihood, while elsewhere on the globe people can go through life without ever seeing the sea. However, the importance and influence of the sea on life on the planet is indisputable.
The University of Copenhagen is announcing a call for an interdisciplinary prize paper themed:
The sea
Prize papers can be based on issues relating to the marine ecosystem concerning, for example, temperature rises, pollution, microplastics, changes in ocean currents, biodiversity, loss of habitats such as coral reefs and the like and their consequences for human and non-human life.
Papers can also examine geopolitical, economic, social, legal or other societal challenges to the sea such as means and barriers to immigration, commercial interests in resource extraction at sea, offshore oil and gas or other activities such as deep-sea mining.
Another area is the cultural significance of the sea, for example in the form of aesthetic, historical or philosophical issues that can contribute to understanding human coexistence, influence on and exploitation of the sea.
The chosen topic about the sea should provide new insights into environmental and climate challenges, and it will be an advantage in the assessment if the problem statement transcends academic disciplines and faculties.
It is a requirement that the prize paper includes cross-disciplinary perspectives, and we encourage students to write the paper in groups to ensure a combination of different academic views and angles.
Department of Arts and Cultural Studies
Art History
1.
An empirically grounded analysis of the production and material afterlife of monuments (sculpture and architecture) within a
defined period in art history, as well as a discussion on the tradition of monumental memorials in Danish contexts with reference to contemporary art and the current public debate.
Contact: Professor Mathias Danbolt, danbolt@hum.ku.dk
Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics
Linguistics, Indo European
1.
A phylogenetic study of a phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and/or semantic topic pertaining to one or more Indo-
European branches.
Contact: Thomas Olander, olander@hum.ku.dk
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
Middle Eastern Languages and Society
1.
In Denmark we have witnessed a growth in translated literature from the Middle East in a little more than five years. Readers’ and the professional critics’ interest in and attention to this literature is growing, too. However, there has been a tendency among critics to view the literary works from the Middle East as socio-political documents in stead of viewing them as the aesthetic works they (also) are. We ask for a text-oriented analysis of a literary work (in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish) with a focus on its structure, aesthetic aspects, and through these its message(s) to the readers. A reader-response critical angle may be added to the text-oriented analysis.
Contact: Claus Valling Pedersen, Associate Professor in Persian Language, clausp@hum.ku.dk
Study of Religions
2.
A critical examination of selected theories on the meaning of religions for interpretations of climate change.
Contact: Associate Professor Peter Birkelund Andersen, peterba@hum.ku.dk
Native American Languages and Cultures
3.
Is the concept of ”myth” still useful in efforts to achieve an understanding of the cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North-, South- and Mesoamerica. The request is for a critical analysis of the meaning of the concept ”myth”, and its past uses and continued usefulness in the academic study of one or more of the Indigenous cultures and peoples of the Americas.
Contact: Associate Professor Magnus Pharao Hansen, magnuspharao@hum.ku.dk
Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies
1.
In 2017 Paul Auster said, “If I had to boil it down to one phrase, it’s this: ‘learning to live with ambiguity.’ This is the essence of The New York Trilogy.” (Auster and Siegumfeldt, A Life in Words, 2017: 88). This is an intriguing statement and we invite prize papers that discuss the notion of ambiguity in two or more of Paul Auster’s works.
Contact: Inge Birgitte Siegumfelt, Associate Professor, siegum@hum.ku.dk
2.
How can Science Fiction (SF) and Comedy complement each other?
The prize paper requested is one with primarily theoretical and philosophical emphases centered around the genre of SF Comedy, particularly in terms of how SF and comedy can fundamentally influence each other conceptually.
The question of SF’s and Comedy’s mutual complementation may be answered on the following basic terms:
- Analysis of creative work(s) primarily of SF Comedy. The creative work(s) could be of literary, visual and performative (TV, cinema, theater, stand-up, etc.), and/or other creative media.
- Theoretical and philosophical analysis may include sources of theory and/or philosophy relevant to the genres of SF and comedy, as well as their combinations.
- Historically analytical components can, if and when appropriate, be applied for the purpose of supporting the theoretical problems and readings of creative works.
Contact: Robert William Rix, Professor, rjrix@hum.ku.dk
Biblical Studies Section
A critical analysis of Bible and/or Quran interpretations in the 21st century.
Supervisors: Thomas Hoffmann, Frederik Poulsen, Jan Loop
Church History Section
Salvation of body and soul. An inquiry in dynamics of theology and medicine in the 18th-century Danish-Norwegian conglomerate state.
Supervisor: Tine Ravnsted-Larsen Reeh
Systematic Theology Section
Theology of the Planet - focusing on global justice and/or the human relationship to the non-human nature
Supervisors: Elizabeth Li, Christine S-V Põder, Niels Henrik Gregersen, Mikkel Christoffersen
Interdisciplinary prize paper
A contemporary interdisciplinary theological study of the relationship between the different theological disciplines. The question can be answered with a focus on two or more disciplines.
Supervisors: Lars Cyril Nørgaard, Jesper Høgenhaven