ASOR offers a $500 prize for the best student paper at its 2026 Chicago meeting

The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) will give a $500 prize to the student whose paper at its 2026 Annual Meeting best presents research on the societies of the ancient Near East and the wider Mediterranean. The meeting runs from 18 to 21 November at the Hilton Chicago and online, and papers presented remotely are eligible as well as those read in the room. ASOR announced the award on 9 October.

To qualify, the first author of the paper, who must also be the one presenting it, has to be a registered student on the day of the talk. Co-authored papers are eligible on those terms. ASOR asks for results set out clearly and argued convincingly, in terms a listener can follow.

Entry has two parts, both due by 4 November 2026: an online application form, linked from the announcement, and a recording of the talk, uploaded to the society's Dropbox folder for the award. The upload link, with guidance and tutorials for speakers, is on the meeting's presenter information page. Questions go to info@asor.org. The award is separate from the Sean Dever Memorial Prize, which the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research gives.

For Cyprus, a student who is first author and speaker of a paper can enter from either of the two parts of the meeting's Archaeology of Cyprus session on the afternoon of Friday 20 November, chaired by Kevin Fisher and Catherine Kearns. Among the ten papers there is doctoral work: Anna Kordas presents early results of her study of masons' marks on building blocks from Nea Paphos, Palaipaphos, Geronissos, Kourion, Latsithkia and Amathus.