Perry World House Announces Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize Winners

The University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House is pleased to announce the winners of our first-ever Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize. The competition sought to reward scholars who were able to make their cutting-edge research on significant global issues more accessible to policymakers. Three prizes of $10,000 have been made to the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine’s Lisa Ruth Rand, Princeton University’s Melissa M. Lee, and the University of Southern California’s Stephanie Schwartz.

“Amid incredible competition from across the academy and a range of disciplines, these three emerging scholars stood out for their ability to distill complex research into concise policy ideas,” said Michael Horowitz, Interim Director of Perry World House. “These three essays about critical global issues are not only readable but also ready to be used by those policymakers trying to confront real world challenges.”

Earlier this year, Perry World House issued a call for outstanding essays to encourage scholars to translate their own academic work to be more accessible to policymakers in positions of influence and to advance policy debates on significant issues in global affairs. By limiting eligibility to junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students, the prize also sought to support emerging scholars.

Three winning essays were selected, two from Perry World House’s research themes—The Future of the Global Order: Power, Technology and Governance and Global Shifts: Urbanization, Migration, and Demography—and a third from a general global research category.

The winners of the inaugural Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize include:

General Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize Winner
Lisa Ruth Rand, Postdoctoral Fellow-in-Residence and Program Coordinator at the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine and NASA Fellow in Aerospace History at the American Historical Association.
In "Egalitarian Orbits: A New Regime for Geostationary Space," Rand looks at the challenges of governing geostationary space — the ideal environment for communications satellites — fairly and sustainably, and proposes reforms to the United Nations' Outer Space Treaty of 1967. 

Global Order Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize Winner
Melissa M. Lee, Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Cyril E. Black University Preceptor at Princeton University.
In her essay "Subversive Statecraft: The New Face of Great Power Conflict," Lee examines why United States policymakers have been slow to tackle foreign subversion and analyzes how they can respond effectively in future. 

Global Shifts Emerging Scholars Global Policy Prize Winner
Stephanie Schwartz, Assistant Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California. 
In "Calling Foul on 'Refoulement': Why Refugee Return is Not (always)  the Answer," Schwartz explores the risks of repatriating refugees. 

Perry World House is now working with each author to secure publication in a policy-relevant outlet. For more information on the prize and other grants and fellowships, please visit https://global.upenn.edu/perryworldhouse