UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research

The Prize was instituted by the Executive Board, at the initiative of the Government of the Dominican Republic, in connection with the commemoration of the centenary of Professor Bosch’s birth in 2009. In creating the Prize, the Member States on the Executive Board recognized the remarkable contribution of Professor Juan Bosch to the study of social and political processes in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean region.

Awarded every two years, the Prize is intended to reward the best social science thesis of young researchers. The thesis, on a Latin America and the Caribbean subject, has to have made a significant research contribution to the promotion of social science research geared to social development policies in the region.

It was awarded for the first time in 2012 to Ms Karen Nathalia Cerón Steevens (Colombia), in recognition of the quality of her research on youth violence in Central America.

Inspired by the life of Professor Juan Bosch and the humanist spirit of his work, the Prize seeks to foster critical, rigorous and independent research on contemporary challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, in ways that are useful for stronger public policies and practices. The objective of the Prize is to motivate young researchers to work in support of shared values of human rights and dignity and to promote new forms of solidarity.

UNESCO invites Members States, in consultation with their National Commissions, and non-governmental organizations maintaining formal consultative relations with UNESCO and active in a field covered by the Prize to propose candidates for the UNESCO-Juan Bosch Prize for the Promotion of Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017.