NAPS offers to members of the Society the opportunity to apply for grants or awards in the following categories:
(All decisions and notifications are expected to be finalized by early- to mid-May.)
(1) Best First Article Prize – This prize is awarded in even-numbered years to a member of the Society who has, in the most recent two-year period, published their first article, and whose article has been deemed by the prize committee to be the best among those submitted for consideration. The amount of the prize is $250. The prize committee is the editorial board for the Journal of Early Christian Studies. The deadline for submitting articles for consideration is January 31 of each even-numbered year. To submit your article for consideration, or to nominate someone for this prize, please contact the JECS editor, Stephen Shoemaker (jecs.editor@gmail.com).
(2) Best First Book Prize – This prize is awarded in even-numbered years to a member of the Society who has, in the most recent, two-year, calendar period, published their first monograph, and whose monograph has been deemed by the prize committee to be the best among those submitted for consideration. The amount of the prize is $500. For the 2026 award, the book must have been published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025. The prize committee is the editorial board for the society’s monograph series, Christianity in Late Antiquity (formerly, Patristic Monograph Series). To submit your book for consideration, or to nominate someone for this prize, please contact the CLA editor, Joel Kalvesmaki (cla@patristics.org). Nominations must be received by January 31, 2026. Previous winners:
- 2024: Julia Kelto Lillis, Virgin Territory: Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity (Oakland, 2023)
- 2022: Mattias P. Gassman, Worshippers of the Gods: Debating Paganism in the Fourth-Century Roman West (Oxford, 2020)
- 2020: James Corke-Webster, Eusebius and Empire: Constructing Church and Rome in the Ecclesiastical History (Cambridge, 2018)
- 2018: Brian Dunkle, SJ, Enchantment and Creed in the Hymns of Ambrose of Milan (Oxford, 2016)
- 2016: Young Richard Kim, Epiphanius of Cyprus: Imagining an Orthodox World (Michigan, 2015)
- 2014: Eric Scherbenske, Canonizing Paul: Ancient Editorial Practice and the Corpus Paulinum (Oxford, 2013)
(3) Graduate Student Paper Prize – This prize is awarded every year in which NAPS holds its May meeting. Up to five prizes will be awarded in any one year. The amount of the prize is $250. The prize is for graduate students scheduled to present a paper at the annual meeting. Students submit a complete text of their conference paper (no more than 2,500 words, not including footnotes/endnotes) to naps.sectreas@gmail.com by March 1.
(4) Dissertation Progress Grants –
a. Dissertation Research Grant: The grant will be $5,000. This is for a graduate student in the research phase of the dissertation. Submissions will be evaluated and the recipient selected by the Awards and Prizes Committee. Up to two grants may be given in any one year. More information about this grant, including details about how to apply may be found by clicking here. Unless otherwise noted in any announcement on the NAPS news page, the deadline for this award is January 31 of each year. Applications should be sent to naps.sectreas@gmail.com.
b. Dissertation Completion (i.e., Final Year) Grant: The grant will be $8,000. This is for a graduate student in the final year of the dissertation work. Submissions will be evaluated and the recipient selected by the Awards and Prizes Committee. One grant may be given in any one year. At the discretion of the Board and if funds are available, a second-place candidate for this grant may also be awarded some funds. More information about this grant, including details about how to apply may be found by clicking here. Unless otherwise noted in any announcement on the NAPS news page, the deadline for this award is January 31 of each year. Applications should be sent to naps.sectreas@gmail.com.
(5) Small Research Grant (for Early Career Scholars) – Multiple awards may be made in this category every year. This is for scholars who have completed their Ph.D. within the previous five years of the application date. Applicants need not be affiliated with an academic institution; independent scholars are welcome to apply. Applicants may request up to $1,500. Up to five of these awards may be given in any one year. The number of actual awards given in any one year will be determined on the basis of the health of the Society’s investment funds. More information about this grant, including details about how to apply may be found by clicking here. Unless otherwise noted in any announcement on the NAPS news page, the deadline for this award is January 31 of each year. Applications should be sent to naps.sectreas@gmail.com.
(6) NAPS Regional Meeting and Study Group Initiative. All applicants for funds must be NAPS members in good standing. The applicants should make a formal proposal not exceeding 1000 words. The proposal should include (a) a brief statement about the purpose of the new initiative or group and the expected outcome; (b) a clear rationale for the support; (c) a detailed budget; and (d) a statement about in-kind funding/support that is being sought (or has been granted) from another source, group, or a sponsoring institution. Funding for all successful proposals will be strictly capped at $750. If a new initiative or group is foreseen as on-going, then funding will be potentially renewable; however, that renewal is subject to formal Board approval on the basis of a new formal application. The deadline for applications is January 31 of each year. Applications should be sent to naps.sectreas@gmail.com.